Saturday 12 August. Kerne Bridge to Dryslade Farm.

The Inn on the Wye was very busy with lots of canoeists. We had a bitter shandy, and a rest before setting out again. We walked past the canoe launch ramp where lots of people were joining the river. It was a beautiful sunny day by this time. The path was somewhat overgrown, running between the river, of which we got occasional glimpses and a cornfield.

The river was very busy with many canoeists heading downstream

At times the dreaded knot weed was a bit of a problem.

We were following the west bank of the river, on a diversion, as the old rail bridge crossing the river at Lydbrook was closed. We followed one long and two short bits of right of way into Lydbrook interspaced with road walking but it wasn't too busy. It may be worse on a week day.

At the entry to one section of right of way the footpath sign had been knocked down which made the path difficult to find. We found it eventually. There was a high 'Berlin Wall' built right against the right of way.

Looking back to the right of way, the signage suggested it was a private pathway.

On entering Lydbrook there is a pleasant park area with a very informative sign.

A little later we passed the bridge which necessitated our route diversion. At a distance it looked ok but looked less so from beneath.

We passed a football ground where Lydbrook were playing another local team but Frau Barr thought the play a bit scrappy. Top indiviualistic, not enough teamwork.

Last century Lydbrook was a very busy industrial area. We passed what looked like a factory, but may have been the waterworks on the way south out of town.

About 1km south of Lydbrook we took a footpath going steeply uphill. It was tiring at the end of a long day but did provide us with a reasonable view.

At the end of the path, where we joined the steep road up to English Bicknor, we saw a footpath sign the lile of which we've never seen before.

It was up hill all the way to Bicknor but the last mile to Dryslade Farm, our b&b for the next two days, was almost flat. It was an 8 hour day and we were quite tired. The lanlady kindly arranged a lift to the pub for us for our evening meal, The Dog and Muffler. It is a beautiful English pub but as a result it is also very busy.
We walked back on a quiet country road.