Walk 26 (OD 1) -11.8 miles - Total 335.5 miles - To Go 664.5 miles

Robin’s Walk and AXA PPP Step Challenge
Prestatyn, Gwaenesgr, Tai Marian, Rhuallt and Sodom







Rob and I approach the Offa’s Dyke walk with trepidation and expect it to be a big challenge for both of us. 56 and 53 years old and only just trained up via London Loop and the Dorset Coast we know this is a new level for us and we are going to learn a lot about ourselves. Offa was the king of Mercia (Midlandsish to Welsh Borders) in the eighth century and built a dyke to keep invaders from Wales out and his kingdom in. It is believed to have taken 5000 men and 9 million tonnes of earth to build it. The walk is designated Robin’s walk to give support to the big challenges he (Prof Robin Franklin) and his team are confronting in their research in to myelin repair at Cambridge University. We are taking on this challenge to raise money for his research and want him to succeed. This walk is also supported by AXA PPP who will use our recorded progress for their step challenge. Their step challenge encourages subscribers to walk locally and whatever distance they walk can be mapped on to Robin’s walk. Rob is capturing photographs and map coordinates along the way so people can ‘step’ along with us on walks they do locally.We start by the seafront at Prestatyn. Karen (my wife and this inspiration for this cause) takes our photo and sees us off.

It is misty but mild and we head off up the high street. We stop at Kay’s Deli and give our orders to Samantha for our packed lunch. She makes the mistake of asking us how far we are walking and is then impressed by the 1000 miles story and the hope we are hoping to raise through Robin and his team. Les gives us a local speciality bread/cake called Bara Brith and Samantha’s butties look a treat and they were. Samantha you are up there with Kim as our best butties yet and so welcome as we rested at Tai Marian in pouring rain. Samantha was incredibly sweet by insisting on paying for our butties also. We really appreciate it and your contribution has been donated to the cause.

We wander up the hill and have breakfast at Pendre Coffee Shop where we meet the delightful Debbie. She greets us with a big smile and looks after us well. Debbie is a star having been runner up versus 20000 people in her NVQ exams over 14 months for catering and was Deeside College student of the year. We want her as prime minister and are thoroughly convinced she will do a much better job than all the candidates being offered up on tv at the moment. She declines wanting to focus on her catering. Great breakfast and this is the end of all the easy stuff today!

We climb and we climb and we climb up the hill out of Prestatyn up to Bryn Prestatyn Hillside. It is damp, dank and dull as we ascend and visibility is about 15 feet. The guide book tells us of the fine views to Snowdonia and the sea but we might as well be in Hounslow on a foggy day on the London Loop for all we can see. I am fine when there is a fence to the right of the path protecting us from a sheer drop but we then approach an open section. My heart starts beating fast and I focus on a point on the ground about 2 feet in front of me and my legs are turning to jelly and I am scared. I struggle with heights. I am doing fine and coping until Rob walking in front of me says ‘don’t look down Len.....it is a really steep drop’. I try to blot him out but then he stops to take a look. I don’t want to stop I want to get to the other side and get this bit behind me and tell him to keep moving. From then on I go in front so I can get the scary bits (for me) over with quickly.

The rain gets heavier and heavier and visibility less and less and there is lots of up and down. We take a rest at Tai Marian. Just before we see ahead two ghostly figures which we wonder if they are the gods in the sky that Rob had been telling me we were going to meet. As they approach we meet George and Alan from Burnley finishing Offa’s Dyke going the opposite direction to us. They look fine having completed it in 12 days and tell us tomorrow is the second most difficult section with steep up and down climbs.

The remaining walk is challenging and knees and ankles are complaining already. The rain gets even heavier and we see even less. We arrive at Sodom (no Gomorrah) and our B and B Fron Haul where we can take off all our wet gear and stuff our boots full of newspaper hoping they will be dry for day 2 tomorrow.