Day 50 Chirk to Bangor-on-Dee

Today I set off feeling light at heart and light of load. I had borrowed a day pack from Stephanie and was only carrying lunch and waterproofs. Stephanie dropped me off at the station where I met the couple we had been bumping into for the last few days. They were on their way home so we chatted for a few minutes-all my GPS devices take a while to set up- before I set off out of the station towards the aqueduct.

The aqueduct was built in 1801 by Thomas Telford and the viaduct in 1846-8, higher “to suggest railway supremacy” according to the notice board. It was a great sight, watching the boats queuing up and motoring along it

I had decided to follow the Maelor Way which started off alright despite the fields being a bit wet. And then I thought I’d take a clever shortcut through a wood. If I’d stayed on the original path through the wood all might have been well. But I didn’t and it wasn’t. I scrambled through, over, and around vegetation for what seemed like hours before emerging onto a path that clearly went through a gate marked Private. I went through it anyway. Carried on, reached Wat’s Dyke Way (no I have no idea who Wat was), navigated a cow field with no problems, found myself in a muddy lane. The sort of lane that in drier times might be called a green lane but was now four or more inches deep in mud. The lane deposited me at Sodyllt Old Hall. Sod it indeed, I thought, I’m having my lunch and I’m not taking another footpath all day.

I enjoyed my lunch, sitting on the old milk churn thing (what is the word for it?) and so nearly succumbed to footpath temptation. But then I remembered the mud and headed resolutely for the road. I knew the road quite well, it’s one I drive along from time to time (when visiting Stephanie for instance) and it was quite odd walking along it. Emboldened by a mile or so of brisk pace I decided to take a footpath down to the river. It started well (it so often does), there were kissing gates, and a visible path, until suddenly there wasn’t. Why, oh why don’t I learn? I floundered about in waist high vegetation, caring not a fig for the orchids underfoot. Nope, couldn’t find the path. Back to the road and a mile wasted. To add insult to injury, the day was already a couple of miles longer than I had anticipated. I was feeling disgruntled, and even a pavement appearing couldn’t cheer me up. On I marched to Overton. And there I found a cafe. An open cafe. Admittedly an about to close cafe but I had a very welcome takeaway milk shake which I was able to drink at a picnic bench in the Overton community garden (really just a bit of land at the side of the car park and the not only open, but also free, public loos). My spirits revived, I marched briskly the two and a half miles to Bangor-Bangor racecourse has a lot of nicely mown verge – and arrived feeling a lot happier than earlier in the day.