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Live updates from the march to Cardiff - day four

Published date: 20 May 2011 |
Published by: Dominic Robertson


Richard and his fellow walkers stop in Llanbadarn Fynydd after the first leg of their marathon march to Cardiff 

3.00pm

Well guess who are marching us into Merthyr Tydfil with banners and flags? Non other that the Rebellion Glyndwr group who are getting right behind the campaign.

We are just outside of Merthyr now with only about five miles to go to the B&B.

What a hard and gruelling walk it was across the Beacons - there was rain, wind and even hail at one point! It took a massive effort to get across but believe me when you are on the otherside it is well worth it.

We have met a lot of support in Brecknockshire with people tooting and giving thumbs up, so clearly word of the campaign has spread through the County.

Everyone is still in good spirits, and my legs have come back after the down hill trek form the Beacons into Merthyr, although Nick is struggling with his calf muscles which keep seizing up, but he is battling on!

There has been a slight change of plan tomorrow - we are now going to walk the full 22 miles into Cardiff - which means that on Tuesday we will only be walking a couple of miles into the centre.

 

Day four - 10.00am

Morning all. Today I am, well lets just say more than just a bit tired. We arrived in Brecon a little late last night after having to call for some first aid!

One member of the crew suffered a painful blister on her shin so we had to call and get that sorted out, which put us back an hour meaning that we only arrived in Brecon at 7.30pm.

Despite this we were still up and out the door first thing this morning to make tracks to Merthyr Tydfil.

Today could well prove to be the most difficult yet! The weather is poor with the wind and the rain really picking up - the sunshine of Welshpool four days ago is starting to feel like a distant memory.

We are just about to hit the Brecon Beacons, probably the hardest part of the walk, and with the weather the way it is, it will be even more difficult - but it's more than worth the effort.

We also have a fifth walker in our midst. 23-year old Llyr has joined us and is fresh legged and fresh faced - and is also setting the pace so I'll have to keep up.

So with the rain and wind stinging my face I will get back to the daunting walk across the beacons.

 

 

12.00pm

Spirits are still high as we approach Erwood, which means that we are just passed the halfway mark to Cardiff.

The roads have been really busy today becuase of the small holder show in Builth Wells which has been a bit lethal, but it does mean that more people have seen the campaign.

As we prepare to hit the beacons we have started guesstimating how many cars we have waved at and currently we are guessing around 54,000, and I reckon that by the time we get to Cardiff my fellow walker Nick Larder will have waved at 74,000 cars!

Some of the crew are starting to suffer but are battlling on to get to Brecon by 6pm. I'm feeling really good considering we are on the third day of walking - that Liverpool half-marathon training has come in handy.

I will be going in and out if signal now as we go through the beacons, so I will update as soon as I can later this afternoon

Day 3 - 9.45am

Morning all, bit of an eventful one last night. We walked all the way to Builth Wells only to find that there was no room in the inn! All the hotels in Builth were completely booked - so we ended up staying at the Commodore in Llandrindod.

It's the first time I've stopped for a few ales in the county town and I have to say it was thoroughly enjoyable. Plenty of people stopped for a chat with us all and we had a good night's rest.

We reached the Bull in Builth yesterday evening so that is where we've set out from today. We've got Brecon firmly in our sights (mentally if not literally!) - 21 miles to go and we're expecting to be there around 6pm.

We've donned coats for the first time as there's a distinct chill in the air today, and I have to say it has rained already. Walking over the Beacons is going to be pretty windy, I expect - mind you we might bump into the army so better keep our wits about us.

Llandod was fantastic yeserday with plenty of support from the locals. We just left Builth and have already had someone asking us what it's all about, and why we're doing the march.

That's kind of what this whole thing is about, explaining to people along the way and drumming up support for the cause. 

The mood of the group is good and we're all in pretty good spirits, no one's suffering too much apart from a few blisters and tired legs. The main problem is we can't walk and text at the same time!

Some of you may have noticed in the paper that I've done a half marathon recently and I have to say that was easier than this, because it's done so quickly, less than two hours and it's finished. This definitely requires more mental stamina, as you can imagine. 

The people along the way have been getting fewer as we've gone further through Radnorshire, perhaps because less people are aware of what could soon be built further north, but if you see us please honk your horns in support, it's greatly appreciated. And we'd love to see plenty of you Radnorshirians down in Cardiff on Tuesday!

 

 

Day 2 - 4.35pm

We've made out way through Llandrindod Wells with a stop off for lunch and now we're on our way into Howey.

Just on arrival in Llandod it started to rain but we had a great reception from the locals with people coming up and shaking our hands and wishing us well with the campaign.

We stopped off at the Herb Garden for lunch which was lovely and featured quite a lively debate on the pros and cons of wind power. It was really interesting with some vocal supporters of renewables putting their points across. That said though they were interested in some of the information they may not know about the drawbacks. Above all that's one of the main reasons for this march - to raise awareness of all the issues surrounding the plans for hundreds of turbines across the county.

Anyway, what was supposed to be a half hour stop ended up being extended to an hour and half chat putting us a bit behind on our schedule to arrive in Builth Wells. now we're expecting to get there by half six or seven.

As for the group and any physical ailments we're doing okay. I'm feeling a lot better than I did yesterday, there's a few blisters but they're not causing me to many problems at the moment.

Nick's like myself, he's also got blisters but having played rugby all his life he's more than used to dealing with a bit of pain!

Ifan's avoided the dreaded blisters but he is complaining of tight hamstrings (lucky we both received a complimentary massage during our lunch stop. If only lunch was always served that way!). 

Oili is busy putting us all to shame as she's absolutely fine!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's been tooting us and coming up to wish us well, it means a lot!

 

12.46pm

We started from the new Inn in Llanbadarn Fynydd at 9.15 this morning and we're now only six miles from Llandrindod Wells. We're hoping to hit Mid Wales most famous Spa Town between 2pm and 2.30pm and hopefully the supporters will be out to cheers us on.

The legs are definitely aching but it's been great and the amount of media coverage last night  has definitely had an effect. It's made people at this end of the county realise what's been happening because there are definitely more people tooting their horns and cheering at us as they drive past.

The one thing with this march is it makes you realise what this campaign is all about. When you drive around Mid Wales you don't always appreciate how beautiful our landscape is, but when you walk through it you see that it's absolutely amazing, it's fantastic and that's why people are fighting for it.

If you do see us on the way make sure to give us a wave. All the support is great and it's keeping us going!

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