Big Adventure

We planned a short walk over to the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, which took us along country footpaths clearly marked on the OS map. Evidently the local farmers pay little heed to historical rights of way, indeed one displayed a clear sign that "trespassers would be shot" next to the fenced off and barbed wire enclosed chicken run that stood where the footpath should have been - no effort had been made to encourage the rambler to take an alternative route. There was another solution nearby which we tried but once again we were unable to find the designated footpath, therefore we had to walk down the busy main road to find the third option, eventually gaining access to the canal via a boggy lane. We had not put our walking boots on for this short amble so ended up with muddy feet. We returned to site via a further alternative to escape the foot soaking.
The following day we planned to walk to Raglan Castle, a route of about 10 miles on the road but 5 miles as the crow flies. According to the OS map we could follow footpaths pretty much in a straight line from our site at Pontkemys. Once again the local farmers made no effort to assist the walker as to the whereabouts of the public footpaths, but armed with our interactive map and GPS locating phone we were able to follow the route closely this time. In a couple of instances, however, the traditional route shown on the map had disappeared with no clue as to where we ought to be walking.
Raglan Castle was quite a spectacle and must have been most impressive in its day. We had a rummage about then wandered into Raglan to pick up with Richard and Mad (eline) prior to driving to The Three Ponds Farm to meet with Kirsty and Matt.
We enjoyed a tour of Kirsty and Matt's wedding venue, and sampled some of the farm produce which was very tasty. Seeing the venue has put the girls into serious wedding planning mode.Läs mer