Windsong - may 19th

Today we walked from Llanvetherine to Grosmont, 6.5 miles over hill and dale. The clouds rolled across the blue expanse above, the wind not permitting them to linger long enough to rain on our parade. We did get "misted on" briefly a couple of times, but at no point did we feel the need to don our Hallowe'en costumes, aka TMNT or hunch backs.

Although thankful for our walking sticks for balance and extra umph while climbing up hills and gingerly stepping over stiles, we have not yet required them to beat back any rampaging bulls. Sorry Kris. The sheep scatter at the mere sight of our hats, the little lambs scurrying after their mothers who watch us warily as if they have never seen anything so strange in all their lives.

At the four mile mark our written guide offered us a choice of walking the tarmack to skirt the base of the mountain, or to bravely challenge a steep increase in elevation to go right over the top of it. Keep in mind these so-called mountains do not compete with our Rockies with regard to full elevation, but they do pose a challenge to inexperienced hikers. It would compare to Bear's Hump in Waterton Park.

We chose to enjoy the panoramic view available only from the top of this very steep incline. Just before we entered the treeline we found the bench placed there by the Monmouth Ramblers for walkers to break for lunch, enjoy the panoramic view and catch their breath. Little do we know the climb continues straight up through the forest for quite a steep rise yet.

The trails on this journey were clearly marked, the instructions less vague and our enjoyment comparably increased - not one mug bog that we were forced to traverse.

Our reward?

Grosmont Castle ruins were very impressive. The broken, decrepit holes through which arrows were once aimed at intruders was now the nurturing ledge for a beautiful delicate flower. As we sat and enjoyed the remainder of our lunch inside the ruins, we watched as a couple of horses nipped at each other, playing roughly in the meadow we could see through one of the castle openings.

Having completed our tour of the castle we made a quick tour of the main street of Grosmont. We decided on the Gentle Jane Teahouse for refreshments. We enjoyed Winter Spice tea and flapjacks while chatting with a local lady who had just had a visit from her niece who lives in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. She was only too happy to join us at our table.

As we left the teahouse there was an enterprising young man, about 10 years of age, entertaining passersby by playing his Devil sticks and his electric guitar, which was not plugged in. Once in a while his younger sister would join in by playing a tune on her recorder. This seemed like it would be a fruitless endeavour as this small town didn't appear to have much industry to attract many passersby, but they seemed quite content with the 50p each we gave them for allowing us to take pictures of their activities.

As no town visit could be complete without visiting the local cathedral, we obligingly paid a visit. Almost every small town church here has post cards available within for a small, specified donation upon your honour.

We ended our walk by using the bright red traditional phone booth to call our hosts for pick up. Paul came right away and kept us entertained with stories of his spark plug collection as he returned us to the B&B. Now we have some time to spruce up before heading back to the Hunters Moon Inn to dine on poor Old Rosie.