LEJOG Day 37: Chirk to Malpas

Weather: Sunny, then partly cloudy with southerly breeze

Distance covered today: 26.0km (16.2mi)

Last night's B&B: Castle Mill (£30)

Cumulative distance: 723.1km (449.3mi)/ % Complete: 41.1%

GPS satellite track of today's route: Day 37 (click!)

Come back Offa!  All is forgiven! I had nonchalantly approached today secure in the knowledge that after a little gentle B-road work, I would be passing through the picturesque village of Chirk with its castle, canals, tunnels and aqueducts. Then there would be a quiet walk down the Maelor Way, which would meander along the Dee River Valley, virtually as a canal towpath, followed by a little stroll down country lanes to my B&B near Malpas.  I was in for a surprise!

For a start, I managed to get lost in Chirk; quite a feat because it is tiny and I’ve been there often enough. Once I had found the right map and reoriented myself, I had to find the Maelor Way. I should have known what was coming when the entrance to it was completely overgrown and almost impenetrable. This means people don’t use it, and they generally don’t use it for a very good reason!

Anyway, I blundered on and was pleased to find that the path opened onto farm tracks and fields and although the fields were newly ploughed and planted, and therefore a bit difficult to negotiate, the far boundary stiles were easily visible and I made slow but steady progress. A long call to Veronica did result in my losing the path and having to track back a bit, but all seemed OK until I reached the Dee. Far from the elegant, riverside walk I had anticipated, there followed a descent into the inferno. The next two hours made “Deliverance” seem like a picnic. The banks of the Dee were sheer down to the water’s edge. There was a path, but it had to find its way through dense, riverine bush and around large trees. The river has eaten away at the banks, often leaving cliffs behind. The result is a roller-coaster of ascents and descents as the path meanders along. Despite the drought, I would often sink to my ankles in mud, and always there was a sheer drop to my left hand side.

I consulted the map, thinking I needed to abort, but that would have meant back-tracking many miles, so there was nothing for it but to press on. Fortunately, the path did improve. Suddenly, there were little foot bridges over the tributary streams and the path became better defined through the dense bush. It seems that most people attempt this walk from the far end and turn back before the difficult bit, which was my saving grace. Lloyd George described this valley as “a little bit of heaven on earth”. Either he had a very dismal view of heaven, or he was a man who enjoyed his mud, but I certainly won’t be planning trips through his less favoured landscapes!

Eventually, the path led away from the Dee, over a flood plain, past a sewerage works and up a steep incline to the lovely little village of Overton, which has repeated won prises for its excellent housekeeping. I slunk into the local shop, bought myself a little celebratory chocolate, found a bench on someone’s front lawn and had my scrawny, stale and rather crushed sandwich, saved from yesterday’s walk, while the local residents looked on in various degrees of amusement or dismay.

The bad news was that I had assumed I’d be there by lunch-time, but it was already mid-afternoon, and the mums were beginning to arrive in all manner of fancy vehicles to collect their kids from the local junior school. I can tell that I am getting close to Cheshire. These yummy mummies drive Chelsea Tractors (huge 4x4s) and I amused myself by watching them as they stopped their vehicles, applied make-up, sometimes for minutes, and then exited to engage their fellow mums while they waited for the youngsters to show up. If this much care is required just to collect the kids from school, what on earth happens when they really have to dress up?

I dragged myself away from the pantomime, because I still had a fair distance to go. At least it was across flat farmland on quiet roads, so I made good time, though in the end the B&B wasn’t anywhere close to its map reference, which, when one is really tired, can be demoralising. But I found it in the end in the middle of nowhere and eventually my hostess, Kate, also arrived still on the phone to her daughter while taking the dogs for a walk. I had just broken the record for the longest distance walked on this journey and it felt like it!

Then everything changed!  Not only is Kate a charming hostess, but she lives in a cottage to die for. She is also a professional caterer and she had to go out to cater for someone else tonight. So she gave me a beer, rustled up a superb chicken dinner and a wonderful home-made berry pudding, and told me to get on with serving myself, after my bath. And so I found myself on my own in this lovely home, with two young Staffie pups for company, a roaring log fire and my netbook.


Earlier, I had a fascinating conversation with the one other guest, Andrea, who is a young and very busy wedding planner, but she had to rush home to pick up something she had forgotten, and so I have the house to myself!
 
What extraordinary people! What extraordinary trust!!

This ancient oak has recently split in half, but part of it is clearly still alive. It is called "The Oak at the Gate of the Dead" in deference to a terrible battle between the Welsh and the English. It dates from the eleventh century.

Telford's grand tunnel on the Llangollen Canal

The Telford designed aqueduct and viaduct at Chirk

The Bridge Inn, looking up at the aqueduct

Mileposts as they used to be! Salop is the alternative name for Shrewsbury. Note the use of Furlongs as a fraction of a mile. If you walk, you appreciate those touches! 

A typicall bucolic Shropshire farm scene

This pheasant followed me rather than ran from me!

A sea of buttercups in my eternal spring

The path next to the Dee. It doesn't show the precipice properly!

Sheer rock faces and caves on the banks of the Dee

Finally a broadening of the path back to civilisation!

Reflections in a more tranquil Dee

Journey's half over! The lovely White Horse Inn in Overton, flanked by equally gorgeous buildings