Day 36: Llanymynech to Montgomery

Distance: 20.0 miles
Time: 7 hrs 25 mins
Weather: Very hot and sunny
Cumulative distance: 611.0 miles

A tough day in baking sun, followed by a swim, a visit from my ex-boss and meeting my namesake.

Predictably, I was greeted by the Germans at breakfast. They were due to walk to Welshpool to catch the train to Cardiff, so we said farewell for the fourth and final time.

I checked out of the hotel and immediately joined the Montgomery canal. The towpath was carpeted with hundreds of tiny frogs and I had to tiptoe to avoid crushing them with my size 10.5 boots. The path then followed the river for several miles.

I was confronted by herds of cows at half a dozen places en route. Most ignored me, but some seemed to be too interested. Very occasionally you read about people being crushed by cows, so I planned my escape routes just in case. This could involve climbing over a barbed wire fence, hurdling over an electric fence (not easy with a backpack) or just running very quickly. Luckily, I did not have to put any of these into practice!

I met a mother and her young son who were walking the entire Offa's Dyke path for charity. They were heading north and had been blessed with superb weather. After we'd been chatting for a while, the son suddenly pointed out that they'd still be walking at 8 o'clock tonight if we didn't stop talking!

The baking sun was increasing my water consumption, so I called into the Green Dragon pub at opening time for an iced coke and a water bottle refill. I'd driven past this pub many times on the way to North Wales, so it seemed strange to visit it for the first time.

I spent the next hour climbing steeply up to Beacon Ring, a hill offering splendid views, including Welshpool (see photo). The heat became intense, especially with no breeze and minimal shelter. This was probably the toughest walking to date, apart from the early days when my right boot was troubling me.

Eventually I arrived in Montgomery (it was signposted in its Welsh form as Trefaldwyn, which caused me some confusion) and checked into the Dragon Hotel. After a hot bath, I took advantage of the hotel swimming pool (I'd transported my swimming trunks 600 miles for this!).

During dinner I was joined by Jeff, my last boss before I finished work. He'd had a tricky journey by road and taxi, but would be joining me for tomorrow's walk.

After dinner I was joined by my namesake, Russell George. A couple of years ago, we were driving through mid Wales at night and my son Daniel said he'd spotted a banner at the roadside with my name on it. He was right - it was Welsh Assembly elections and Russell George was standing for the Montgomery constituency. He went on to win the seat. When I was planning my walk and realised that I would be staying in Montgomery, I thought it would be good make contact. He agreed to meet and kindly drove over to my hotel. We chatted for a few hours and Jeff joined us to take some photos. Another coincidence was that his cousins who now run his family's original agricultural business share the same names as my children, Daniel and Hannah.