Elan valley walk

Friday morning is clear blue skies and sunshine and we start the day with a walk along and over the river. Milo is strictly on his lead and Jo refuses to walk on the bridge at the same time as me and waits till I exit on the other side. After breakfast we drive to the Elan Valley visitor centre to get some advice about a walk in that area. You never know the policy on dogs in these places so I pick Milo up and carry him under my arm. We approach the information counter and before we can utter our first words, “I’m sorry, we don’t allow dogs in here, not even flying ones like yours” she says. I say oh ok, we just wanted details of a walk and continue to stand there whilst she explains. We leave with directions for a walk, a map and a flying dog.
The walk is 10km of stunning, breath-taking scenery. There’s even a tea room at the half way point where I choose from the menu ‘Fruit cake and Welsh Cheese’. Huh? Both were extremely delicious. We head back to the lodge for a rest before we set off to meet my brother Pete, for dinner. We pick Pete up at his idyllic cottage by the river. His cottage is accessed by a stepped path leading down from his single car parking space on the road. Imagine a passing place on a narrow, single track road and Pete has squashed his car into the hedge to make room for me to park the shogun next to him. My bonnet is in the hedge at the front, my side of the car is also in the hedge and I’ve left the window down. I close it and trap a branch of blackberries inside the car. A couple squash as the hastily closed window traps them. One drops onto my shoulder and my nice clean shirt and explodes leaving a purple juice stain on my shoulder. I have to exit the Shogun via the passenger door.We’re joined at dinner by our nephew, his wife and our great niece, Lucy. We enjoy a great meal together and Jo and I return to our lodge.