WB 11: Rydych wedi gwastraffu eich amser

Progress

Progress has been good this week, and  I am still on schedule. I have travelled from Combwich, Somerset to Llantwit Major, Wales covering 139 miles.

 
 

Hardships

Once again the weather makes it into this section. We had our second cold snap and accompanying snow of the year. This made for some very cold de-pitching and on Sunday the wind and snow created blizzardy conditions that made the going fairly tough. 

I had heard about a sort of Bermuda Triangle of paths in Somerset, where paths that are meant to exist seem to have disappeared and proposed paths never materialise. This could have had a massive effect on my walk on Wednesday, but due to a stroke of luck whereby my rest day host Lorna knew a farmer on one side of a particular sluice who knew the farmer on the other side of the sluice I was given permission to cross, this meant I did not encounter any real issues in the Somerset area apart from a couple of arrows that had been suspiciously removed.

The waterlogged ground, though not overly effecting the walking (even though the mud may of slowed me a bit), had a quite significant effect on my choice of pitch locations. Once in Wales I was on low lying areas, and the grass either side or near the paths was just saturated and would have completely soaked into the tent if I had pitched. I therefore on three occasions had to walk further than expected to find somewhere to pitch, once finding a good location tucked out of the way in a picnic area that unsurprisingly was not used much at this time of year, and on the other 2 times managing to get permission to stay in beer gardens where the ground though wet was perfectly good for pitching a tent.

General

Beginning of the Wales Coast Path

It was great to start a new chapter on the walk, when after crossing the First Severn Bridge I entered Wales. The Wales Coast Path will be my companion for the next 6 weeks or so, and like the SWCP it is meant to be very well signposted. It covers a wide range of coastline from dunes, to cliffs, to estuaries, embankments and a few islands including Anglesey.

Guests

I've got lots of guest joining the walk over the next couple of weeks which will be really nice, though means I have to be extra careful with the admin to ensure I make it to the meet points roughly at the meet time, so far I have always arrived at my meeting points pretty much on time.

On the theme of guests a few people have expressed an interest in joining in more remote areas but are apprehensive about travel arrangements, over the next week or two I may try and get a few 2 or 3 day stretches that are remote but could be accessed at either end by train or car.

Spring

After this latest cold snap I have decided it is now spring, and with campsites now also finally opening I have an extra option when it comes to accommodation. This warmer weather (this is me being hopeful), and longer days means that when I camp I will cook on my stove more and also hopefully start swimming in the sea and rivers (I can't believe I have got almost to April without swimming!)

 

Daily Diary 

Please click links below to find out more detail about each specific day:

Thank You

Specific thank yous:

Emma & Neil Phillips, Uphill – thank you for providing me with a bed for the night and a lovely dinner.

Charlotte & Tom, Clevedon - thank you for providing me with floorspace for the night and a lovely dinner.

The Lighthouse Inn – thank you for allowing me to pitch in your beer garden

The Captains Wife, Swanbridge - thank you for allowing me to pitch in your beer garden as well as giving me a complimentary dinner.

Rachel & Geoff, Cowbridge - thank you for providing a bed and several lovely meals over the two nights of my rest day, as well as joining me on the last part of the walk to Llantwit Major.

 

Also thank you to everyone who donated last week, and all the kind messages that I received. 

 

The walk can be followed on Facebook and Instagram and any donations are greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

charles compton