W8 - Knighton to Cwn

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 Knighton (having crossed the single track railway line) you have the ;privilege of a seat (yes a seat !) and some great views. This part of the route isn't too bad - yes a bit up and down but you see a lot of the Dyke and its ambles up and down a few hills.


Interestingly (well to me) most of the Dyke seems to be planted with trees.  I do wonder if they do want to preserve it but who am I to ask. This section is the highest part of the Dyke. The Dyke is big and very visible

It is also the day that you reach the mid point (after a rather step climb). So we are now in count down mode. This is around a place called Newcastle. It is also where the contour lines get tighter and you start to puff.
The valleys become frequent and therefore it gets its name: switchback. One part was almost a scramble and the walks down were becoming painful. Richard from Wendover still hasn't recovered from it). We arrived at Drewin Farm to a fantastic welcome from Ceinwen and Robert, who have owned their farm since 1976. Never was repeated cups of tea (plus chocolate cake and welsh tea cakes) more welcome.


I thought I should put in a photo of the visitors centre. Sorry about the person blocking the view.







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