Beacons Way, Day 8

Time for a wander about the priory before heading out.

If yesterday's weather was appalling, today's should be nice apparently.  Looks pretty similar to me, high clouds with a few tiny patches of blue sky.  At least it was a dry night, and with my tent no longer carrying a mass of water my pack feels much lighter as I climb away from the priory.  I'm into the last few miles of the Way now, though not of my route of course.  There is time for a couple of hills, the climb up Skirrid Fawr being the last.  It makes a good lunch stop, the sun has come out, my boots are dry for the first time in days, and in the distance I can see the sea.

Skirrid Fawr summit.

The Beacons Way itself seems to end - or start, given I've done it back to front - on the edge of a golf course on the outskirts of Abergavenny.  Odd.  But anyway, I proceed into the town, and then out the other side, then as has become customary on the last few miles of the day, I have a bit of fun clambering over barbed wire.  This time the problem is with my route which turns out to include the drive of a very secure looking mansion, requiring me to divert around it through the fields.


Still, I make it to the Lion Hotel before 7, time for a few beers and a meal before heading off to the campsite.  It's a mile away, but along the route so that  is OK.  On arrival I meet some friendly Welsh ladies who insist I help them to finish a jug of cocktail they've made with, I believe, peach schnapps and vodka among other things.  Well, it would be churlish to refuse...

End of the Beacons Way, more or less.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.