Tag Archives: Offa’s Dyke

16.3 miles, and the end of Leg 1. I find it hard to believe we walked that far yesterday, but that’s what the GPS says. For most of the day we slogged over hill and dale, through acres and miles of sheep shit, in a warm, breezy rain. In terms of elevation gain and time spent on pavement it was one of our easier days. Very pastoral around these parts, with great emphasis on pasture, full of sheep and cows. I’m not sure I’ve ever hiked through so many piles of dung, all of it wet and clingy because of the weather.

Arrived Knighton early enough to post no longer needed stuff like maps, guidebooks, too thin socks, etc. Our bags should now each be almost a pound lighter! Also had time to visit the Offa’s Dyke visitor center, as well as the public library for some catching up on email and scouting for lodging on our next leg.

15.2 miles. The route today was a relatively easy day’s walk compared to our first three days. The ascents and descents were gentle, meandering primarily through large sheep pastures and a couple of very small and picturesque hamlets. The last part of the day was spent walking over the top of Hergest Ridge, a substantial bracken-covered hill cross-crossed with wide drover’s lanes and dotted with rolls of recently baled bracken and many sheep. Near the top of the ridge was a small stand of some of the strangest trees I’ve ever seen. From a distance they appear vaguely coniferous, tall trunks with long, thick branches that curve down and them swoop up, like a collection of monkey’s tails on a stem. Up close, the branches look more like some elongate form of agave, with short, stout, sharp triangular leaves.

We’re in a youth hostel ( a hostile, as my sister would say) for the night in Kington – I wish there were more along our route, for this one anyway is clean, spacious, very quiet and populated by couples at least our age if not older! Most of us ended up at the Oxford Arms, the nearest pub, for evening drinks and a meal. Seems that most walkers and cyclists ate of the opinion that a hard days walking or riding deserves a good pint, and the Welsh -ales have not disappointed: they’ve been consistently good, as has the pub grub, though I can’t say any have been outstanding.

I’ve heard many birds as we’ve walked, but have seen only a few. We’ve had such distances to cover I’ve been reluctant to take the time to look for them, and Shari sneers at any suggestion that free time together might be spent bird-watching. Hopefully I’ll have some mornings, now that I’m becoming better adjusted to the daily demands of our walk, to spend looking at and for more than just pigeons and sparrows!

0 miles. Laundry and a relaxing day strolling Hay-on-Wye. We had separate rooms, which means Shari didn’t have to listen to my snoring and I didn’t get jabbed and told to roll over.

We had a leisurely breakfast with a Canadian couple who were biking, in reverse, a route very similar to ours. They too were traveling independently, something which is apparently a bit unusual here. A discussion about Marmite came up, and of course Shari just had to try the stuff no matter how we tried to convince her otherwise. By the time she got round to opening the little tub all eyes in the dining room were, unbeknownst to her, upon here and laughter rocked the room when she tasted the stuff and immediately grimaced. She shoulda’ listened when we told her the stuff is nasty!

Hay is a pretty town, filled with bookshops – it’s the used book center of the country, and people come from allover just to shop. It’s also a hub for outdoor activities; Anna from the cycle shop, who graciously helped us find our lodging, even suggested we go canoeing if we wanted to use some different muscles!

The rest of the day was spent casually exploring the town, catching up on email and blogs, walking just enough to keep our legs stretched. The night we arrived my feet had red, bumpy blotches all over them, rather like a non-itchy heat rash, as well as some darker colored blotches on the top of them that I blithely assumed were part of my Keen’s tan I’d gotten in Nova Scotia. They also seemed swollen but i thought this likely was just my imagination; the entire foot hurt so i didn’t concern myself with the particularities. By last night I realized the dark splotches were actually swollen bruises going across my foot, presumably from having too little cushion on the top of my socks. So, I need to make some fit adjustments to my footwear else I’m likely to have an uncomfortable 200 miles of walking! Shari’s foot soreness seems more likely related to hard surfaces than a fit problem, and will hopefully pass in a day or two. Lucky wench…

19.0 miles. Our innkeep told us that this day would be much easier than our first, full of undulating yet easy hills and dales. After walking 19 miles of said undulations, I can’t say that I noticed much difference between this day and the previous: it’s still a long bloody way. We once again strayed off course, adding perhaps 1.5 miles to the day’s walk, almost all on pavement, but mostly it was a pleasant walk through farmland, fields and orchards. Apples are in season and early in the day we found several “freebie” bins outside homes, so we helped ourselves to some very fresh fruit for our journey.

We knew already that we’d not likely find lodging, as our Queen’s Head innkeep had called ahead for us, and so we camped in a “caravan park,” as I think they’re called. This was a cheap nights lodging, at only 10 pounds, showers included! So far we’ve managed to use almost all the gear we brought with us, so the weight we’ve been carrying has been well worth it. The tarp and bivies worked well in spite of it raining all night!

We’re both doing well in terms of overall stamina and conditioning but are suffering greatly from aching feet.

1.9 miles. Arrived Chepstow as planned, mid-afternoon and fairly fatigued from three days of trans-oceanic and trans-continental travel. We found St Anne’s House, a tidy, white, three-story home close to the river, without too much difficulty, especially considering we had no street map and most of the street names weren’t signed!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring Chepstow Castle and walking out to Sedbury Cliff, the official start of the Offs’s Dyke trail. Doing so knocked off 2-3 miles from our first day’s mileage and gave us the opportunity to learn how local trail signage compares to both the maps and the guidebook write-ups. We now know that the trail markers may be small adhesive medallions not much bigger than a coaster! In any event, it was a good training run and a great way to work travel kinks out of our bodies and minds.

We finished with drinks at a couple of pubs, sampling local ales at both and pub grub at one. The locals say this is a fine time of yeapr to walk, especially as we just missed the tropical storm that swept through two days ago. As Shari said, I have so far fulfilled my part of the bargain. The only negative has been the development if a blister on my left foot, from all the city walking in my barefoot shoes. It’s quite painful at the moment but I think will not be a problem in my hiking boots. We’ll see!