Day 58 - Montgomery/Brompton Crossroads to Pool Quay

......The guy behind the bar has delegated the cab finding to the lady behind the desk this morning but, by 7:30, she has been unable to complete the task having received no reply from the numbers she's called. News is that Robin Williams is dead - or perhaps not "news" for John who doesn't know who Robin Williams is. But over a good breakfast we are given the more immediately important news that, in the absence of cabs, our breakfast chef Hayley will drive us back to Brompton Crossroads. The forecast is for showers throughout the day and the first one - both brief and light - arrives during the first half hour as we cross farmland to the east of Montgomery. With no sign of the Australian couple coming the other way, we continue along flat stretches, and a first is "achieved" when Gary manages to fall through a cattle grid (thankfully not deep), thus somewhat belatedly fulfilling the predictions 45 years earlier of less than encouraging school "friends" before cross country runs. A heavy shower arrives but, once again, it's reasonably brief and proves to be the final one we encounter. Once through Lynmore Park and over the River Camlad (another well known waterway after the Unk of yesterday), we encounter a few climbs through the Leighton Estate - where there's a further minor cross-track error - and up to the Beacon Ring hill fort. However, although longer ascents than yesterday's, they're not as steep and are generally along estate roads and broad tracks, so not too problematic. Indeed, the consequent 1,000 feet descent through fields into Buttington is, if anything, more testing. We've decided to continue beyond Buttington to Pool Quay, first because we have the time to get another couple of miles ticked off and secondly because the Powis Arms at Pool Quay seems to be an appropriate stopping point. A cab is booked to take us from there to Welshpool at 2:30 and an ETA of 2:00 will afford the time for a relaxed cider or two plus a bite to eat. At least that's the theory. After crossing Buttington Bridge and some fields, and walking for a mile or so alongside the Montgomery Canal, we arrive at the Powis Arms on schedule - only to find it closed. However, a quick phone call gets the cab to us in 5 minutes and we're in Welshpool by 2:15 after a journey which, whilst of the same distance as the one yesterday evening, costs £10 less. We're dropped at the "Old Station" which, conveniently, is adjacent to the current/new station and, just as conveniently, purveys bottles of cider and sandwiches. Rather inconveniently, Gary realises that he's left the Trail Guide somewhere - probably in the garden of the Powis Arms - but, a couple of bottles of cider and a sandwich later, it's time to walk over the bridge (Ben armed with the remnants of his second bottle) to catch the train(s) home.