One fine morning I set off to chase the last Welsh ruler round his realm.

Owain Glyndwr hasn’t been seen in these parts for 600 years, but his mark is still on the landscape – in old castles he roughed up during his 14-year defiance of Henry IV.

As a marching man, Glyndwr would have been proud to know he now has a whole footpath – more precisely a national trail – named after him. This royal route, subtitled ‘fit for a prince’, opened in 2002, linking places significant to his story.

Just 25 miles from England the instruction ‘on yer bike’ – or local equivalent – is a form of welcome rather than a variation on ‘get lost’. Cycling in France is an invitation to adventure, and it starts at the portals of the Channel Tunnel. The Nord Pas-de-Calais tourist people have stared wistfully – and… Continue reading →