Offa's Dyke

Summary Offa's Dyke has a habit of avoiding big towns (well small towns really) such as Montgomery, Oswestry and Chirk. So the day that was meant to be 13 miles, ended up at 16 because we had to walk off track to Chirk. The day consisted of most things, ups, downs, views, woods, roads, tracks and bridleways. It was a lovely day in the 20's ie hot for walking with no stopping points. It is fair to say we found it tough. It took us 9 hours. Longer version The day (as usual) started with a climb out of Llanymynech and up by a disused limestone quarry (that closed after WWI). Interestingly the owner in 1840 decided to blow the rock face with 4 times the normal dynamite - he did get a lot of rock down, but he lost money overall because the explosion also destroyed many local roofs. Either way, there was a great view at the top of the Severn Valley ie where we had walked yesterday. We left the cow country of the Severn valley and went back to sheep farmers with woodlands. ...

Summary This was a blatant rest day: a mere 10 miles on the flat flood plain of the Severn, oh and next to a canal. I think the total climbing was less than 100ft and we finished at 2.15. Bliss. The one thing you can see on this stretch is cows, lots of cows. There is the Dyke but its probably only 3 ft tall rather than the drama in the uplands. Most of the walk is on the Severn flood defence bank, the aim of which is to push the flood water further down the valley rather than flooding the flood plain - a decision of genius here but maybe not for Tewksbury etc further down the Severn 😒 Longer version We set off on a lovely overcast day full of the great breakfast (and previous evening meal ) at Tynilwyn Farm - Jane is certainly a good cook. I say overcast is lovely because frankly its been at times too hot to walk miles The day starts with crossing yet another single track railway line - what is around here. Maybe the line from Knighton ends up in Welshpool This was the most...

Summary After the 3,400 feet of climbing yesterday, this was a breeze. Only 1,400 feet and 14 miles or so. The route is weird because it avoids Montgomery (which is supposedly very pretty), and also Welshpool. Who ever devised this National Trail had no idea about commercialism or Tourism. No wonder we meet more Europeans doing it than British people. Officially the route also avoided Forden but we deviated to it because it was lunchtime and had a pub. Tonight we are staying at another farm - Tynilwyn Farm - which is excellent. Longer version The route starts off straight as die across the Vale of Montgomery. It is full of farms growing a mixture of crops (wheat / sweetcorn) or animals (cattle and sheep) but little else. The route is flat and the going good. We met a few Germans walking the other way but generally we saw no one. We covered the miles really quickly to the point that when 12.30 came we were ahead of our mental schedule, plus Forden had a pub !  We should have ...

Summary Some people may have heard of Knighton - it has a train line for instance - but no one will have heard of Cwn. To say it is a hamlet would be to say Harpenden or Consett are cities. But it was a thankful end point to the hardest day so far. This stage is generally known as a switchback but actually rollercoaster would be a better description especially the second part. The owner of the George and Dragon said the walk out of Knighton was harder than the walk out of Kington, and he was right. I cannot say there was anything notable on the walk apart from my feeble body is starting to feel the fatigue. BUT WE HAVE PASSED HALF WAY 😎 Longer version Clock towers are all the rage in this part of Britain. I am not sure if it was a way to get the workers to work on time or just a status symbol but Knighton had a pretty impressive one. It is also the only town that seems to have truly embraced the Offa's Dyke ie it has a visitors centre ! After the lung busting walk out of K...

Summary Kington has a walking festival on the 3rd week of Sept. I just hope they improve the number of food outlets because there wasn't a lot to chose from - Thank goodness for the Oxford Arms and its home cooking (£10 for a steak and a pint). The morning to Knighton starts almost immediately with a 200 metre climb. The views at the top are spectacular and guess what, we found the Dyke again. In fact we found a lot of the Dyke - it must have been massive is 800AD. Longer version Amazingly after a rather huge climb out of Kington, we came across this herd of cows at the top of the hill. We didn't think the grazing was particularly good but they were very inquisitive and wanted to see us so I thought they deserved a photo 😃 Close up, cows are surprisingly large - probably why they create 16% of all carbon dioxide emissions. Soon after the cows we got lost 😕 Generally the Offa's Dyke Path is very well sign-posted. But when we neared Herrock Hill we got into a fern...

Summary The best day so far. Great (no, stunning) views, relatively easy walking, quite a few fellow walkers and most importantly, our feet are getting use to 14 miles a day. We walked on Hergest Ridge - remember Mike Oldfield (yes Hergest Ridge was the title of his second album): he lived in Kington ! We have now walked 68 miles and are over a third of the way: level with Worcester. Longer Version This part of the country is very under-rated, well in my opinion: we saw a large 4 bed detached house for sale at £500k. The people have time for a chat and there are lots of independent shops. Hay-on-Wye is definitely worth a day trip.  Any way we walked away from the Wye, heading north into sheep country. Clock Tower in Hay on Wye It is very much rolling countryside with tall hedges, irregular fields and lots of tree. The walking is easy, only 4 stiles and the weather was cloudy but good. The villages are small and frankly had no shops or pubs. The only refreshments on route ...