The whole of today's walk was on the old railway line Mawddach Trail named after the river which flows out at Barmouth. For the first quarter of a mile I was with the school kids until they turned off - felt a bit incongruous, the geriatric walker at the end of 280 miles amongst these youngsters. Some were chatting in Welsh and others in English. One young couple were holding hands and obviously attached - gosh, I never got that far before leaving school.
This is a fine cycle route but I only saw two or three bikes over the whole distance. Views down the estuary were magnificent with blue sky and a fresh wind. A perfect end to the walk finishing over the railway bridge surrounded by hills and sea.
I am overnighting in Barmouth then off to visit my brother (RR) and his wife in Hereford.
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I have enjoyed this Macmillan walk more than the Abbotsbury one earlier this year. It seemed to be more connected with the real England I think of, and also had the wonderful climax of crossing Wales.
I have been extraordinarily lucky with the weather. In the earlier flatlands there was quite a lot of crop field walking, and also ploughed fields which would be a nightmare in the wet. Later, paths became more genuine ancient inter-village connections and old lanes. There has been a huge amount of Tarmac which I don't mind, most of it on almost deserted country lanes. The hills in Wales are no problem to me, that is a large part of what makes it attractive,
and I found myself summiting them more easily as I became more tuned in.
I kept a stile count up to 102 then lost count. I reckon the total would have been around 135.
One great big thank you to Mick and Gayle who gave me four nights accommodation and chauffeured me backwards and forwards and into Wolverhampton to buy new shoes amongst their many other kindnesses and generosity - true friends.
The tree lined Mawddach Trail opened out into glorious estuary-scape later
Crossing the river not far from Dolgellau the trail crossed back again later
First sight of the Barmouth bridge, well I could see it but the camera is struggling
Crossing the Barmouth bridge (rail and foot only - cars have to drive a heck of a way round).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I've enjoyed following that. Indeed, I've even pored over the map and think I can come up with a version which avoids quite a bit of the tarmac, so there's the possibility that we might do a variant Boston-to-Barmouth one day. Or, as we travel from home to Barmouth a few times a year anyway, maybe we'll just do half the route: Barton-to-Barmouth.
ReplyDeleteIt was great having you to stay and you are, of course, most welcome any time you happen to be passing this way.
Congratulations on finishing the Cross Britain Way. We have enjoyed following your journey & hearing about your very varied days of walking with all the humorous anecdotes.It was interesting & enlightening for us to hear about the differences in your accommodation experiences on route across the country. We look forward to following your next adventure. with very best wishes from Edward & Eileen at Browntoft House Bed & Breakfast.
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