Happy anniversary!
The 2womenwalking blog has now been running for just over a year and we have produced over 40 articles. There are around 2000 words per article, which means that we have generated a short novel. That is a lot of falling over and getting lost! We started this as the world was going into the Covid epidemic and none of us really knew what was going to happen. Scroll on a year, it is Easter weekend, the sun is shining and it is beginning to look as if things are getting a little better. We have both had great fun writing the blog, reminding us about some of the crazy things we have done, some of the people we have met and reflecting a little on what it means to have walked over 500 miles together. It seems like a good time to have a little reminiscence on some of the things we have written.
You can find all of the articles by clicking on to the tabs at the top of the 2womenwalking.com home page. this will take you to a page where you can find clickable links to all of the articles relating to that section of the path.
Rain, sheep shit and nettles- or where we found out how we felt about walking in Welsh rain
Setting off with just daysacks we got half way up the hill before I had to stop and gasp for breath - I’m rubbish with steep hills. Helen scuttles up them with the fortitude and efficiency of a little goat while I am a sweating, wheezing, galumphing blob in a lilac pac-a-mac. It was a day of uppy-downy, and when I say that, those experienced in the Ceredigion coastal path will know that the phrase is totally accurate. The rain rained on, with occasional easings off. However, the scenery was outstanding, and we kept looking back and saying, with pride and incredulity, “We’ve walked all that way!” We also repeated, accusingly, the question, “Whose stupid idea was this?” This was a day of hacking our way through overgrown bushes, flowers, bracken and stinging nettles.
Read more of this article here
The Laugharne and winding road- or where I pushed our relationship to its outer limits
'Oram, how's it going? Have you got all the tent stuff sorted?' (Oram is my "maiden name" and she insists on calling me by it - how maidenly I ever was is questionable).
'Yes, its all in the car, ready to go'
'I've got the cooking stuff all sorted and I will pick up some food on the way down. Don't forget the fairly lights for the tent, we need to camp in style!'
'Yes, no need to live in total squalor when we are living in squalor. I hope you have new boots and enough socks this time.'
'Yes, nice new boots and new socks. In fact I've got some new walking gear'
'Oh that's good, what did you get?'
'A pink dress and a banana outfit.'
There was a very, very long pause.....
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Little Haven to Marloes Sands...where we walked all day and didn't get lost.
Keeping to the right at any forks in the path, it was an easy walk. This section of the path is the oldest and it is very well walked in. Even we couldn't get lost on this section. The path around Borough Head dipped down and passed though a wonderful wooded area of oak and beech trees (two of the few trees I can reliably identify, I'm not that sort of biologist. Good on sand dune formation, rubbish with tree identification.) It was hot enough that we enjoyed the shade but with the shade came insects and I was soon a flailing mass of windmill arms in spite of having plastered myself with insect repellent and Avon 'Skin So Soft'.
'People swear by it Rhi,' I said and she nodded sagely, flicking away a particularly annoying fly .'I mostly swear at it. Bloody useless stuff.'...
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A summary of last year's walk in the Llyn where we were almost blown away and got on the radio.
We got up the next day rested and refreshed after our wholesome and abstemious evening (ahem...Helen had arrived with a variety of beers, lagers, cans of ready made gin and tonic, wine and champagne and we necked back quite a lot of it that first night. Please do not be fooled by Helen's "butter wouldn't melt" language here. We celebrated a successful start to the week with crisps, dip, alcohol with our supper and more alcohol after that) and set up the cars for the first full day of walking, this time on the North side of the peninsula, from Caernarfon to Trefor, a whopping 17 miler. We were confident. I would even go so far as to say ebullient and excited for the challenge. The previous day had been easy and my feet were in good shape for once. Plus the path was flat all the way and the vast majority of it was paved. Granted the weather was a bit iffy but we would be fine.
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Or hear our dulcet tones and the bar being restocked here
Machynlleth to Tre Taliesin where we found out that getting lost can sometimes be the best thing that happens all day
It turned out that we had missed the correct path, and found ourselves heading towards the Llyfnant valley by way of a rickety style and a very rough mountain track. But I noted several things as we navigated our way onto the right path:
There had been no sense of worry or panic when we realised we were not on the correct track
If we had followed the road as it was marked we would not have seen that view
From this I realised that several years’ experience navigating a path that is not always obvious has given us a certain confidence and sang-froid about losing our way. I also realised that I have learned something of a life lesson - that it is ok not to know, sometimes.
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The Whitesands of Time: Trefin to Whitesands Bay... where we meet Short, Tall and Grumpy
Ahead of us we could see St David's Head, and it was at this point that we were suddenly aware that we could see the sea on both sides of the headland, with Whitesands Bay and the city of St David's off to the left, and Cardigan Bay on our right. It was utterly glorious and brought a tear to my eye. It was like the moment at the end of Billy Elliot when Billy leaps on stage and his dad draws a great breath of sudden emotion. Sorry - getting a bit sentimental now, but it really was that lovely. I don't know why I didn't take a photo but that's just typical of my lackadaisical attitude.
Proof positive that I am less lackadaisical than Rhian when it comes to taking photographs. This is actually a cunning plan. When Rhian is yomping on into the distance and I need a breather I will stop and take a photo - cunning, eh? This is a view looking back from the St David's headland showing the headlands and cliffsides we had walked that day.
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This is just a little collection of articles from the blog that we thought you might enjoy over the Bank Holiday Monday with a cup of tea and some Easter eggs. I'm not quite sure what I thought that I would learn walking the coastal path. I think that I have learned that I'm tougher than I think I am, that family and friendship are the things that matter most to me in the world and that just when you think that you can't put up with much more you turn a corner and you suddenly realise that the end of the walk is in sight. The same sorts of things that we have all learned during the Covid epidemic. More specifically walking things I have learned, I can walk further than I think I can, I can't read a map for toffee, you need more socks than you have packed and magnificent adventures happen when you simply put one foot in front of the other. I have learned similar things, though I always have enough socks, if not enough knickers. I have learned that there is always, always something of interest or something to laugh at, something beautiful or something that you weren't expecting but that widens your metaphorical as well as physical horizons, because you are as close to the world and to life as you can get as a walker. There is nothing quite like it.
With luck we will all be back doing the things we love and for the two of us, this probably means more getting lost, falling over and getting scared by cows. Funny old world, isn't it?
Read more at 2womenwalking.com
A delightful summary, confirming my view that you should really think of publishing this once you've completed the itinerary.
Happy Anniversary lovely ladies!
Thank you for keeping me entertained and bringing back so many memories of my childhood holidays. If you have a friend who you can share experiences like these you are both truly rich.
Happy Easter xx