Wednesday, December 24, 2014

A Christmas walk "In the Valley of the Elwy"

"Lovely the woods, waters, meadows, combes, vales,
All the air things wear that build this world of Wales..." 
Gerard Manley Hopkins

Off message but today I went for a truly beautiful walk in the "Switzerland of North Wales" the Elwy Valley.

Walk 15 of Pathfinder guide "North Wales, Snowdon and Offa's Dyke" was only 5.5 miles but was pretty challenging in parts.

It was cold and windy with plenty of winter sunshine. Apart from some fell runners and their dogs we did not see a soul. I was born and bred in North Wales and cannot believe that I have not been walking here before. It was stunning.

There is even a West Ham connection since the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins whose poem "In the Valley of the Elwy" was born in Stratford.

Check out more pictures of walk on FaceBook

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