Day 10 Llandegla to Bodfari or Ice Cold in Bodfari

Joy, from the Raven in Llanarmon, picked us up as arranged to take us back to Llandegla to start the penultimate leg of the journey. The pub is leased by the community and run by volunteers so it was a real pleasure to support them.

The stunning scenery as we crossed the Clwydians was with us for most of the day and the sunshine and blue skies added to the sense of natural beauty.

What looked on the map to be a similar days walking to the previous day turned out to be a really tough stage! Goldilocks had definitely left the porridge in the microwave for too long today as well which didn’t make things any easier!

I didn’t know what our newest member of the team, my old Teesside Poly mate Kev, would be fit enough but he was fine and barely seemed to break sweat. He did slow us down though… by asking us to pose for photos all the time!

Lots of fields were crossed and LOTS of metres were climbed. There were almost 1300 metres of ascent in over 17 miles. The scenery made it all worthwhile though. It seemed to get better every time we turned a corner.

A herd of cows were blocking a stile in the corner of a field at one point and there was some wariness amongst the team. Fortunately the cow whisperer was on hand to save the day!

Moel Famau was the highest point of the day in a ‘metres above sea level’ sense but it felt unfortunate to be passing through on a Saturday, especially one with beautiful weather. There were lots of families and young people there, which is good to see, but I couldn’t help but feel they hadn’t put the work in I had to get there!

Another photo from Kev aka David Bailey

Moel Arthur was the next peak and the profile on my routing app suggested it would be all downhill from there. Sadly, that wasn’t the case and there were more hills to get over before Bodfari. Ian remarked that the first pint in The Dinorben Arms would be like the famous scene with John Mills in ‘Ice Cold in Alex’

Eventually, fuelled by Kev’s sizeable bag of snacks, we conquered one final stile to arrive in Bodfari. The pub was located, Covid protocols observed and we were sat on the balcony with suitable refreshments! Never have they felt more deserved.

Pete from The Farmers Arms in St Asaph, picked us up forty minutes later and a hearty dinner and more refreshments were enjoyed.

11 miles remain tomorrow of my 177 mile trek. I am looking forward to having a paddle on the beach at Prestatyn and not having to walk anywhere the next day!