Robin’s Walk and AXA PPP Step Up Challenge
Hay on Wye, Hay Bluff, Hatterall Hill and Pandy
Hay on Wye is asleep as we rise. A big challenge ahead of us with a nearly five mile up hill walk to 2400 feet at Hay Bluff followed by 12 miles of gentle descent in to Pandy. We are ready to go at 7.30 and are going to go across to Londis where we hope to stock up with sandwiches for the day. As we are preparing ourselves Russell from the Seven Stars, where we are staying, comes out and offers to cook us early bacon sandwiches. He has been the perfect host so far but this is such a great start to the day. Cereal, tea, bacon sandwich and oj to start the day plus doorstep cheese and tomato sandwiches for lunch. Russell is a star and contributes to the charity and really sets up our day. Big thanks Russell. 
We start our customary very steep ascent up towards Culop. As we cross the field we see a roe deer darting across in front of us. So elegant and gracefully running up the hill field with no effort at all. How can something so fragile be so agile and powerful. The cows in the field also notice her and the whole herd starts chasing her. This is such a funny sight and we wonder what would happen if the cows actually caught up with her.
Not that there was any chance of that.We cross the stile after an exhausting climb and Rob turns to me and say ‘only 2000 feet to go’. Rob is actually still quite grumpy and it takes a couple more miles before he eases up. Last night he lost all the photos from yesterday on his pc. I assure him they can’t be lost and we will find them but he is furious. For a man who can take up to 750 photographs in one day this is a huge loss.
We climb higher and meet an agile walker descending lightly down another very steep hill we are climbing towards Upper Dany Forest. He is a local who lives up the hill and stops to talk. Rob asks him if he has to go down the hill all the time to get his milk and provisions. He tells us he does not drink milk, tea, coffee, beer or wine. He also does not want Rob to photograph him and will not tell us even his first name. We are interested and intrigued. Rob thinks he is SAS in training. He should be worried if he is as Rob did take a photo and who knows what fate now awaits him. We wonder if he lives in Cadwgan House which we pass by shortly.
We have walked 2.5 miles and are up 800 feet with only 1600 feet to go in the next three miles. We have our first sighting of Hay Bluff and the Brecon Beacons all in a line. We come out in to moorland in Gorpal Pass which is very soft underfoot and we see about twenty horses with four foals all roaming free.
We are later told these are wild horses and we see many more across the ridge as well as some wild ponies. At the top of Hays Bluff we watch a paraglider floating in the air currents. It is amazing to watch and he is probably up there for an hour as we approach. Eventually he comes to earth about a hundred yards from us.
We ascend and ascend and ascend. Most of it is fine but at the peak at Pen i Brecon at 2014feet of our climb we come to a very thin path section and a very steep drop to our left. I freeze, go jelly legged and am terrified. Mouflon Rob stops two feet from the edge to take his photos and insists we stop and take in the views. I am white faced and silent with fear and can’t wait to move on. After a brief stop I am off and well ahead. 
With adrenaline pumping through my body I race up the next four hundred feet in about 500 yards until I feel safe and my heart stops racing. Totally irrational I know but if you are terrified you are terrified and I was. Rob is totally unsympathetic and tells me to pull myself together. When I feel safe I meet Margaret Turney who lives near Hay and is out for a Saturday morning walk. She used to live in Gladestry.
We walk along a little further and stop for an energy bar and are caught up by the Exchange Crazies I and Exchange Crazies II. A mix of German, English and New Zealand from the Deutsch Bourse who are training for the Caledonian Challenge. The challenge is a 54 mile walk along the West Highland Way which will be completed in 24 hours on June 12th. We are suspicious that they are a religious sect when we pass them later and see them in contemplation in a circle appearing to chant. We are even more suspicious when one of them shouts come and pray with us.
Close to the top of Hattershall Ridge at 2310 feet we meet Steve Young from West Bridgeford. Steve has recovered from cancer and is on his first walk in over a year. A fellow Forest fan and we talk about the schools we went to in Nottingham. 
A little further along there are more coincidences as we meet Paul Cherry from Weston sitting beside Katie Blunt. We have friends in Weston and Paul and Stephanie our friend have sat on the same committees. 
There is also a charity event today for the Longtown Moutain Rescue. People are attempting 47 km, 27 km or 17km sections some running some walking. They pay a fee to the rescue service which helps pay for the service and many are also raising funds for other charities. We now understand why there are so many runners across the top and why the ridge appears like Oxford Street on a busy Saturday morning with the number of walkers going by.
The views are indeed breathtaking and make us wonder what we missed in the Clwydian Range last week.
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