Photo article: rogue Bloggers 18 mile training walk to wonderful waterfall but disaster back at the Welsh Hovel so article problems

As I left the Welsh Hovel this morning I thought that I smelled gas at the top of the street. I thought little of it for an 18 mile training walk was planned and I had left early without any procrastination. I pressed on.
My route took me the usual way up to the petrol station on the Wrexham by-pass but at that point I took the road to he centre of town and kept on walking until I got to the other side. Gosh, central Wrexham is grim. Eastern European food stores, Turkish barbers (i.e. Albanian money laundering depots), tattoo and sunning salons there are aplenty as well as stacks of vaping stores and boarded up shops. Grim poverty looks like Wrexham.
But I made it across without harm and a few miles later was at the Plas Power waterfall. There I was joined by Joshua - as you can see below - Jaya and the Mrs with a replacement two bottles of fluids and a spot of lunch. we walked around the area with Joshua explaining to the whole word that he was hunting for vegetarian Gruffalos, which are the size of an ant. Then the family headed off in the motor while I started the walk back, now and again checking the West Ham score on my phone.

I arrived back in the village to meet up with the family in the local Greek South African bistro where they were charging up a raft of electrical devices. There was a gas leak and for some reason that meant no electricity either to the whole lane.

For that reason articles are limited today with all my colleagues apart from Darren on a work to rule and there is no bearcast. I have had to kill time until we have power ( and thus also the internet) again by pulling up nettles in the fruit bush patch where I am now 90% done. I bring you just this article but will make up for it tomorrow after i have handed out a couple of P45s.

Meanwhile as to the walk: 18 miles in all in about just over six and a half hours and I could easily have done 25 miles so I am feeling reasonably okay about Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks on the 17th June. I am planning on starting at 4 AM on the day with the old geezers ( Lucian, Jonathan Price, reader Sam and - if he turns up - Andrew Bell. The youngsters/health Nazis start at 7 AM, Brian Basham ( aged 79) at midnight. So in my head, I hope to be at 21 miles just before noon, meaning that to arrive at eight PM we could then amble on at just over a mile and a half per hour. I am sure that even those at the back (Euro loon J price Esq and myself) can manage that.

Next week i shall be sitting by a bonfire on a Chapel retreat being bitten by midges as my wife, children and fellow God botherers strum guitars and sing Kumbya. There is no alcohol allowed on this retreat. These days the Methodists seem very keen on gay sex and other matters but are still anti-drink. I can't help but think that the big J who turned water into wine would say that they have go this one the wrong way round. I may suffer on training walks but that is nothing compared to next weekend.

Anyhow, I have been given permission to escape the compound for some of Saturday to do a walk of at least ten miles which - I hope - goes past a pub. I will use the opportunity to try out the two sock walking technique. Today it was just my normal walking socks and that was fine.

Woodlarks is an amazing charity. Do think of me suffering at the 16 mile mark today, Lucian Miers calling repeatedly about the football and a big US fraud we are looking at, profuse sweating and my feet a tad sore. Think of that suffering and the great cause that is Woodlarks and please donate HERE. .