Goytre to Pontypool
After our lunch at the Waterside Inn tea room we continued our walk southwards along the towpath of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.
Saron's Bridge 74
Penroel Bridge 73
Park-y-Brain Upper Bridge 72
Park-y-Brain Lower Bridge 71
Birdspool Bridge 70 with heron taking off
Croes-y-Pant Bridge 68
Pentre Bridge 67
Mortimers Bridge 65
Mamhilad Bridge 63
there doesn't seem to be much left of this distance post
... compared with this one
High Bridge 62
At High Bridge 62 we walked into Mamhilad and had a look round the churchyard (the church itself was locked). According to Nicholson’s the large yew tree could be between two and three thousand years old. It didn’t look like it would last much longer as ivy had started to creep up some of the sections of the split trunk. Does ivy attack a dying tree, or is it that when ivy creeps up a tree that tree then dies?
according to Nicholson's this yew tree at Mamhilad Church is between 2000 and 3000 years old
Mamhilad Church
Keepers Bridge 59
Lower Wern Bridge 57
River Llwyd aqueduct
Toll Cottage and Pontymoile Bridge 52
Jockey Bridge 55
Back on the towpath. When we reached Jockey Bridge 56 we decided that after 9.5 miles it was time to retrieve the car. So Jan walked on to Pontymoile Basin and had hot chocolate and a Welsh Cake in the marina tea room, while John cycled back to Llanfoist. I left at 1630 and got to the car at 1715 (why had I parked up such a steep hill? It was hard work pushing the bike up!) Drove back to Bridge 56 and tried to find the basin by car and failed, so returned to Bridge 56 and cycled to the basin. Jan gave me a Welsh cake from the tea room (shut by now) which was excellent. I also ate my emergency marmalade sandwich (cycling that sort of distance makes me hungry!)
what happens if you go too fast round the roundabout
Then it was a case of back to Waitrose by car, then to the cottage, and eat. We both had spicy parsnip soup then I had the microwaved remains of Saturday’s curry - still very good - and Jan had half a chunky chicken-filled jacket potato with salad.
It is now almost 2200 and time for bed. We didn’t quite finish the navigable Mon and Brec canal, but just two miles to go. As we will have lots of spare time I’d like to carry on down the derelict line to Newport. We’ll see what Jan says!
No comments:
Post a Comment