Total ascent, 661m (2169ft).
Wednesday, 24th July.
I was staying in a lovely little village called Wentnor last night, in the Crown Inn. It was still really warm outside at 10pm and my room was roasting. I'd made the mistake of ordering one of their 'classic' steak and ale pies, which would have benefitted from not being microwaved, and just made me even hotter. Other than that the pub was great, as was the beer.
I was so shattered that neither the heat nor the lock-in downstairs (well it was Tuesday) stopped me getting to sleep. I had an odd and strangely vivid dream that guests kept urinating out of the windows into the street, so the pub installed security cameras that flashed brightly and illuminated the culprits. People kept weeing and the camera kept flashing, but after one particular flash there was an almighty booming noise. I was awake in an instant; no urinating guests, no camera. It was the beginning of the most violent thunderstorm I have seen and heard in this country. It was BIBLICAL! The lightning flashes were every couple of seconds and the street was a river (of water, not urine). Rain was pouring onto the window sill so I had no choice but to shut the window and make the room even hotter.
The storm was the talk of breakfast, though the landlady had slept through it. I'd got up early to stretch my back out, and it seemed much happier than I'd expected. I've realised recently that the reason I'm reluctant to take medication, in this case co-codamol, is because I want to know how bad things are. If I don't take them I can say, "Blimey, my back's really bad", then the following day, "Wow, it's not getting better at all", and the next, "Is this ever going to end?" And so on until it gets better. Now in this case I can replace, "Wow, it's not getting better at all" with, "Ooh, it's much happier than I'd expected" and feel pleased with my body's natural healing capabilities. Jennie would definitely not agree with this.
The average temperature today was 4°C less than yesterday and it made a massive difference. Miles 2 to 6 were sensational. I was back on the Long Mynd (it's reallllly long, so I'd detoured off it last night to stay in Wentnor) and the views were glorious; so glorious I was too distracted to take any photos.
I was surprised how much I recognised today, such as Montgomery Castle to the west and later the Malverns in the distance to the east. There was one very prominent hill to the east I couldn't place, so I was quite pleased when the only other walker I met today (to go with the one yesterday) turned out to be local.
Me: Do you know what that tall hill in the distance is?
Man: I planted the trees on that hill.
Me: That's amazing! I didn't mean that hill though, I meant the tall one behind in the distance.
Man: Forty years I worked in that forest.
Me: That's brilliant! Do you know what the tall hill in the distance with no trees on it is called?
Man: And now I'm 75.
Me: Well, enjoy your walk.
If anybody knows the name of the tall hill in the distance with no trees on it please put me out of my misery.
Miles 7 to 13 were over small, steep hills followed by a lane down into Craven Arms. It was all very pleasant in the less unpleasant temperatures, and I saw several red kites and a hare.
Craven Arms isn't a beautiful place, but it is the start of the Heart of Wales Line Trail. I wandered over the railway bridge to the station, congratulated myself for starting the walk, then stopped at the supermarket. I had to get an evening meal as the chef in the pub near tonight's B&B has gone on holiday, which is pretty inconsiderate. I gathered some salad stuff and headed for the Secret Hills Discovery Centre for lunch; we'd stopped here for food on the way home from the Green Man Festival a few years ago and enjoyed it.
Today's visit would prove to be memorable for a different reason. I was second in the cafe queue behind a woman and her son who were buying ice creams, one chocolate and one raspberry ripple. The woman serving had painstakingly scraped out the chocolate tub to fill the second cone, put them in the holder on the counter, and was pushing in a flake at the precise moment the customer opened her bag to get her money out. The end result - a chocolate ice cream upside down in the bag and a raspberry ripple ice cream wedged upside down between the bag and her cream top. The highlight of the trip so far came when the woman behind the counter said, "I'll make you some new ones, but the last of the chocolate's in your bag so you'll have to choose another flavour."
I've therefore done just four miles of the official route so far, ending with a small detour to Linley Cottage B&B in Hopesay. Time for a salad in the garden and a (mile each way) stroll to the pub. As I demanded, today was indeed good.
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