Sampling the (Muddy) Trails in Wales

We had a week off for spring break, and decided to head to Wales for some scenery and hiking. We knew the weather in March wouldn't be best, but we can't sit at home waiting for sunny days, can we? So we set off with the dogs for 3 nights at the coast (Amroth) and 5 more in central Wales.

Wales is a separate country from England (separated by the black-dashed line on the above map), but part of the United Kingdom. Every label and sign we saw was in two languages: Welsh and English. Otherwise it might have been difficult to tell that we had left England.

There were however more hills and mountains than I'm accustomed to seeing in our part of England. The scenery everywhere was fantastic. We also really enjoyed the two charming cottages we found through AirBnB. Both featured wood stoves with plenty of firewood, and those kept us warm during the cool March weather.

Converted Barn - now cosy!

Made the weather bearable!

in charming valley near coast

During the planning, I was impressed to learn that Wales boasts several long-distance hiking paths, including:

• The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path (186 miles)

• Offa's Dyke (177 miles)

• Glyndwr's Way (135 miles) this website has details

We aimed to walk a little bit of all three trails. (I loved the quaint names and histories I read up on.) But did I mention the weather has been super rainy in the UK this spring? 😆☔️ So even though we had rain gear and were blessed with some clear days during our visit, a serious hiking enemy remained: MUD.

British trails enjoy rights-of-way through towns, beaches, forests, fields, and farms. When hiking in rural areas, we've found ourselves quite often following paths through pastures. If you don't mind muddy boots, that's not a problem. But on our first day of walking the spectacular coastal trail, a steep and muddy section proved so slippery I could not make it down the hill without falling. Luckily I only suffered a sprained wrist, but that somewhat curtailed our activities for the rest of the week.

Kim & Gin on coastal path

Robin & Bentley on dry section

A large group got ahead of us!

We still managed to continue with our walks on short sections of Offa's Dyke and Glendwr's Way, and those brief tastes made me hope to come back someday and experience more of them. Here are some images of our walks (and other scenes that charmed us):

View from Welsh hillside

Along Offa's Dyke Path

Oh, Fun!

Usual great signage

Bentley gets a ride

Helpful sign

Camera Zoom isn't great but...

Village church + Meerkats?

Award-winning pub

Great Dinner at Harp Inn

Meanwhile we learned that southern Wales served as an entry point for long-ago invaders of England, and thus there are MANY castles built to defend the incumbent nobility and royalty. We went inside just one - the imposing Pembroke Castle. I find these remnants of medieval times fascinating, and seeing all of them in the UK could be a full-time job. I may be getting to that point of "seen one, seen 'em all," but there are one or two left on our list.

Manorbier Castle near coast

unknown monument in pasture

Pembroke Castle

Now that we are home from Wales (i.e. back in Oxfordshire), we must buckle down for the last seven weeks of our spring semester teaching jobs. We hope to take a few short excursions on our days off, and be out walking in the sunshine soon.

PS - I really enjoy reading your comments, but this blog platform doesn't identify the commentators. You can remain anonymous, or type in your name at the end of your comment! Thank you for being my audience, and for letting me relive our sabbatical experiences as I write them down.

🏰 ☔️ 🌷