I started the day in a positive mood; positive that I did not want to back track at all.
So off we went following the marked path until we lost it. Using one of my apps we found it again but came to a sign telling us there was a diversion which meant I was grumpy with myself again. I had seen that on the website the day before but was too tired to study it.
We followed that trail and ended up back at the gate to the bloody castle again. F##k me days!! There, right in front of us was a notice with details of the diversion.
A bridge was out of action. We contemplated just taking the official route and risking a river crossing. We hadn’t seen any water courses here that looked uncrossable and we were both Te Araroa veterans who had crossed many proper rivers in New Zealand.
But best keep to the rules so off we went again, me cursing and swearing. The day was a shit show already.
Pandy was the next village on the trail so we decided that it would be a good idea to stop there and give me a short day and time to rest up. I am sure Kay was hoping for a major chsnge in my attitude
We arrived to find that the bnbs and pubs were full and jyst to add insult to injry I had a message saying I had used my months data already, a polar blast had arrived and I couln’t get the phone app working to top up.
We were given the number for Mary who would take us in for the night so I rang her. She sounded very old and doddery but she said she would be there to pick us up in 1o minutes that ended up about 30 minutes. I made Kay sit in the front with her as I did not feel like being polite.
Mary is 87 years old and tells us thst she has a new car and had taken a while to work out how to use the key and start the car. She has little sticky labels on the dash saying petrol, speed, lights, indicators. The console is also marker with go, reverse, hand brake etc. This is her first automatic car so she has a lot to learn.
The drive along the very narrow winding lanes to her house was a bit hairy, to say the least. Having lived her whole life in only two houses she gave us a running history of every cottage we passed, pointing out things, hands off the steering wheel and seemingly taken no notice of the road as she sped along. She talked at 100 miles an hour so we knew all about her 87 years of life by the time we reached her cottage.
I sat in the back laughing away and lost my bad mood completely.
Mary had a birthday recently and has all of her 57 birthday cards on display. We were given a running commentary of who they were from and how she knew them. The Post Office would need extra staff in May to cope with it all.
Having worked on the manual Telephone Exchange for 37 years she knew everyones business including Priness Anne’s conversation with a local landowner. Kay, being a bit a royalist, was able to name the man, which really impressed Mary.
We had tea from a pot, 3 pieces of velvet cake, a shower (do not flood it like some naughty man did 10 years ago), and Mary made sure we knew how to pull the curtaims so that they faded evenly, then it was time for a tour of her expansive gardens.
Mary still looks after them herself having made them from scratch 27 years ago, so we were introduced to nearly each plant separately. Thank goodness Kay knows about plants!
Mary prepared a salad dinner for us which was appreciated after a few days of instant noodles, porridge and cheese and crackers.
Then we went on another hair raising drive out to the Llanthony Priory. That was a place for monks to learn their stuff way back from the 12th Century until Henry 8th closed it down. Now it is another set of ruins with accomodation, a pub and a church. Mary knew every rock and person in the little pub.
We were then dropoed at the Skirrid Inn, the oldest pub in Wales. It also served as the court and the unlucky ones were hung under the stair case.
Everyone in there knew Mary or was related to her. We had a fun couple of drinks before ringing Mary to pick us up at 9pm.
That is a very late night fof hikers but wr still had to have supper and more cake before bed. We were exhausted from all of Mary’s constant chatter.
