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| Yes-we're in Wales! |
Sun 17 May & Mon 18 May 2015
A very long car journey on a pleasantly sunny Sunday morning saw Colin and I setting out from near Beggar's Bush on the Welsh border on another section of the Offa's Dyke Path. The scenery was beautiful, with views on occasions in all directions, especially westward.
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| View from Newcastle Hill |
There were one or two quite steep
slopes along the way, especially on the eastern side of Herrock Hill,
where we stopped for our lunch. The Dyke itself is not evident on the
ground for all of its length, particularly in the area north and east of
Kington and often the official path deviates from the line of it, but
its course in many places is easily seen and followed.
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| Oak amid a field of rape |
The first stage of the walk ended at Kington, the placing of cars at the beginning and end of the walk to avoid the necessity of covering the same ground twice.
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| On Rushock Hill north of Kington, looking south west |
We drove to Hereford and spent Sunday night at Premier Inn. On Monday morning it was raining heavily, so we delayed the start of the day's walk until later and altered the original destination of Newchurch to Gladestry, a village through which the official path runs. The steady climb from Kingston up to the summit of the Hergest Ridge was marred by cold wind and a sudden shower, but on reaching the top the weather cleared and we had excellent views of the surrounding countryside.
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| Summit of Hergest Ridge |
There is a curious copse of monkey puzzle trees on the summit, by which
some fell ponies were resting with their foals.
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| Foals on Hergest Ridge summit |
From the ridge we gradually
descended south-westwards, with superb views, particularly to the west, stopping for lunch out of the wind before
finally reaching the village of Gladestry and Colin's car.
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| Unspoilt rural Wales |
Some statistics
The
first day's walk was approximately 6 miles, and the second 4 miles.
This wasn't as far as Colin had hoped, but the achievement of any
set distance is subject to the vagaries of the weather. Colin has now walked
about 105 miles and has still 62 to go. Attempting to cover the Offa's
Dyke Path from home base in stages involves much car driving before
setting foot on the ground and on this occasion I myself drove some
357 miles. Calculations make the cost for this trip including fuel,
hotel bill and meals about £50 minimum, being approximately £5 per mile
walked.
