Offa’s Dyke Day 1: Prestatyn to Bodfari
An account of walking the 177 mile long-distance trekking route between Prestatyn and Chepstow, in 12 days.
Day 0 of this walk cat be found here.
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It was raining.
This was not entirely unexpected as the weather app had told me last night that there was a one hundred precent chance of rain at 10am, but this was 8am. We were sitting in the conservatory of the B&B having breakfast with Bill and Danny, from Colorado, who had just finished walking the trail. The rain was doing that thing of sounding much louder and heavier on the roof than it would do if you actually went to stand outside.
Bill and Danny had flown over to the UK, purely to walk the Offa’s Dyke path as they wanted undulating countryside with no bears, mountain lions or snakes! You never know what you should be thankful for, do you? We had very little in the way of deadly fauna to worry about (if you avoid the adders who were unlikely to be out in the rain). Malcolm, our host warned us to avoid slipping on the climbs today, as they would be very slick after the overnight rain. Bill and Danny told us we’d have a wonderful walk and keep an eye out for amazing views, and as we set off.
Unfortunately, the views from the top of the ridge above Prestatyn were not a breathtaking as they might have been, due to a heavy drizzle, although we did find a massive roman helmet sculpture in a local park.
We had a satisfying cardio session getting up on top of the hill and continued along an undulating route for the the next seven miles or so, in varying degrees of rain. I would rate todays precipitation between light mist and downpour! The stream in the Valley of the Mills was certainly in spate!
Certainly when we stopped for lunch in Rhuallt, we were drenched through. Wet enough to deliberately choose the leather seats in the bar area of The White House, rather than the fabric covered ones in the restaurant. Wet enough to wring my socks out when I stopped mid way to adjust them, mid morning. My lovely leather boots are very waterproof, but the rain had been running down my leg and into my socks leading to a sloshing feeling within the boots. Both Damian and I had chosen not to wear waterproof trousers are we thought they would be too hot and sticky on the climbs. I haven’t decided if this was a wise plan or not yet; I’m sure there’ll be plenty more time to experiment!
Despite the rain, we had a really satisfying morning’s walking and the weather cleared over lunch, so we started back in on the path in sunshine. We met a couple of older guys who were redoing the sections of the walk they’d missed out the first time round and seemed to be having a whale of a time.
We passed through fields of horses, cattle and sheep and now that the sky had cleared, we had beautiful views back to Rhyl and across to Colwyn Bay. We thought we could make out the bank of cloud over where Snowdonia would be too.
As we approached Bodfari, where our B&B was, the heavens opened again. I’d dried out quite nicely with a bit of sun and wind in the afternoon, but was back to being drenched. It was great to find that although we were early, our B&B had left the door open for us and had plenty of hot water.
In spite of the rain, this was a really good first day’s walking. My lungs are not quite over last week’s cold, making the ascents slower than I would have liked. However we did 12.5 miles in 5 hours 10 minutes at a comfortable pace. Total ascent 2427 feet/740 meters. Number of stiles: too many to count!
I think we could have happily managed another 4 miles or so today, but I think that’s a little limited by accommodation options. My bad back is holding up well!
Day 2 of this walk can be found here.
We are raising money for The Teenage Cancer Trust during the walk. If you would like to donate, we’d be very grateful.
Our trip was organised by Celtic Trails Walking Holidays, who I have so far been very impressed by. I have received nothing from them for this endorsement.
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