Offa;s Dyke

Lltangattock Lingoed  to Longtown

September 8m 2024

After having such a larger supper so late I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night.  I guess it didn't help that the bed was harder than a sheet of granite.  Even though it was a full 8 hours (11:00 pm to 7:00 am)  I didn't feel very well rested.  Getting out on the road into the rain sure didn't feel like something fun to do. 

Never the less we were on the road at 9:00 am.  The rain wasn't hammering down but was more of a steady light rain.  I had worn a short sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts under the rain gear to try and keep a little cooler.  I think it helped but I was still soaked on the inside of the rain jacket and pants in no time.  

The first 4 miles of the route was mostly through a lot of pastures which were quite muddy from all of the rain they have gotten over the last few days.  About three miles in the rain let up and we had a few minutes of sun shine which was quite nice.  This made the walking a lot better and everyone's spirits improved remarkably. 

By the time we got to mile 6 we had a choice to make as we could continue down the road to the inn or we could follow the path which ran up to the top of this ridge.  The path ran along the ridge and then to get to the inn you have to follow this very steep path back down to the inn.  We could not see the top of the ridge as there was a nasty black rain cloud which came about three quarters the way down the ridge,  Going to the top was going to be a 2000 foot climb and you probably couldn't see anything any way.  So we elected to follow the road up to the inn.  

The inn isn't much of a place.  The bed is barely 6 feet long and there is no shower in the room just a bath tub.  I ordered a bowl of soup of the day and after 45 minutes when it had not come I went up and asked about it.  The bar man with out looking or checking snapped "Its coming - there are other people waiting"  The only other people in the place had come in after us and had already been served. I snapped back "So is Christmas"  Which drew a rebuke that kind of talk wouldn't be tolerated around here from the barman.  Lets just say that this place will not be getting wonderful review.  

Finished the day with 8.2 miles and 728 feet of elevation so the road saved about 0.7 miles and almost 2000 feet of climb.  Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny and we get to climb the ridge again so we will not have missed anything except abig trudge in the rain.  

Terry