THE nineteenth Radnor Ramble took place on April 2.

The event has been organised by the same three men from Knighton from the start. They are Matt Clarke, Trevor Lloyd and Mike Gammon.

This year the format was the same as before with two circular walks of 15 and 25 miles to choose from. About 40 people aged from 16 to 76 years old took part in the 15 mile walk and the rest opted for the 25 miles. After a quick safety talk by Matt Clarke 102 walkers started from the church hall Knighton at 8.30am. Walking conditions were very difficult in the morning with continuous rain and winds on exposed hills. After refreshments at Llangunllo Village Hall the afternoon turned out much better with many walkers returning to the church hall amid bright sunshine. Walking along footpaths the 25 mile route went from Knighton to Dutlas, then Beacon Hill, to Llanbister Road and Cantal before Llangunllo and back to Knighton via Glyndwr’s Way.

The shorter walk followed the Offa’s Dyke out of town to Llanfair Waterdine then to the Lloyney Ridge and down into Llangunllo and back to Knighton via Glyndwr’s Way. Although the event is not a race the first person to arrive back at the start was Nigel Glaze a runner who did the 25 mile route and arrived at 13.36. Mick Cooper from Bradford who was taking part in his first Radnor Ramble arrived back at 13.34. He said “I love this area so much I will be back and am very keen to visit the Greyhound pub in Llangunllo on my next visit” . The first 15 mile walkers back were Geoff Ashton from near Knighton at 14.47 followed shortly after by Marion Brick and Gareth Leek from Knighton at 14.41. All the 102 people who started finished the event although one or two didn’t get back till after 6pm. Matt Clarke said “It was a very successful day with no problems and we were very pleased to see so many more younger walkers this year.”