Total miles: 16.4
Elevation gain: 2,683 ft
Time walking: 10am – 5:30pm
Miles to date: 399.1
Thankfully after the rain of last night it was dry this morning, which meant we could hang out our damp stuff from yesterday to get it a little bit drier, and the tent was almost dry. Putting up a tent in the rain is one thing, packing it away in the rain is the worst!
We had spotted a promising looking cafe in town and headed there for some breakfast. It was a real gem. Bacon and egg sandwich on proper doorstop bread and a coffee for £3.50! It tasted heavenly too! After wolfing that down I headed to the post office to get my first official stamp of the trip so far (not very good at finding post offices when they are open!), which added a little extra to my journey but was definitely worth it.
The route started pretty much uphill through the town save for a brief descent to the main road, then steeply climbed up to the edge of Bradnor Hill with its golf course, the highest in England and, I found interesting, grazed by sheep! Thankfully the path didn’t go right to the top but veered away to summit Rushock Hill instead. After a momentary heart sinking moment where I thought there was a big bull in the field ahead (I was very glad to find there was actually a fence between us!) the path finally met back up with Offa’s Dyke, and the path followed it for much of the rest of the day. It’s pretty impressive that something built so long ago (well over 1000 years) still remains so intact today, albeit not at the same height or magnificence of its time.
Dropping all the way down to Lower Harpton there was a rare half mile of flat walking, along a road but a treat nonetheless, before gradually starting to climb again along a really well preserved section of the dyke with stunning views back to Hergest Ridge from yesterday (somewhat better weather today!). It looked surprisingly close, but Kington is on a bit of a loop in the path so there’s not as much progress North in that section. Not long along this section I finally caught up with Alison and Pascaline, who tend to be a bit better at getting going in the morning than me! We walked the rest of the day together, which made a really nice change from walking alone, as much as I love it. Pascaline walks very fast as she is (sensibly!) b&b-ing and has a much lighter pack, so she has to keep waiting for us slow coaches bringing up the rear!
The hill we are climbing is the second of the three big hills today (each just shy of 400m), and it does seem to go on and on. Lovely views from the top though! At the bottom of this one we cross the (prettier than the name suggests) River Lugg and I learn about hollow ways from Alison, ancient walkways used as ‘highways’ by our nomadic ancestors, lined with trees and hollowed out through use over time. Alongside the fascinating history lesson we all started singing Dolly Parton songs as we headed into a little village called Dolley Green. I appear to have made some friends who are as bonkers as me! Which really helps, when you see the final hill you have to walk up…! Offa certainly didn’t do things by half. The dyke runs straight up hills, at the steepest gradient, and the path follows…!
Again the views are fantastic but my feet are starting to ache a little which surprises me as it hasn’t been the longest day. Still, the last couple of miles into Knighton felt long, but we arrived at not too shabby a time and thankfully found a pub/hotel where we celebrated our arrival with tea and tea cakes. Alison and I then headed off to find out campsite which was a little way out of town but along the path. We were slightly concerned it didn’t exist any more as we saw no signs of other campers, however when arrived at Lower Panpunton there was indeed a campsite, just a walkers and cyclists only campsite, basic but peaceful and beautiful. We were the only two there tonight! We got out tents up before the rain came and poor Alison had to walk back into town as she’d arranged to meet friends. It was just me, myself and my stove tonight! Unfortunately my phone charger cable wasn’t working and my battery died so it really was just me! It was somewhat frustrating as I wanted to write my blog and later as it started raining and I was confined to my tent it would have been really nice to chat to friends. I also realised I had no way of knowing the time, having dropped my (thankfully cheap) watch in the canal a couple of weeks ago, but I decided it was the universe’s way of reminding me to appreciate where I was, in this beautiful spot, and to get comfortable with being alone.
As I was cooking dinner (aka boiling water for my dehydrated chilli con carne) it started to drizzle so I moved everything into the tent and prepared to eat under my little porch (fashioned out of my walking pole, an elastic band and the tent door (I feel like a proper hardcore camper now, using my hiking poles to do things other than walk with!)). Suddenly I hear the sound any person halfway through cooking dreads to hear…the sound of the gas running out. Noooo! I check the stove. Sure enough, I’m out of fuel, before my water has boiled. Thankfully it is steaming so I figure it’ll just about rehydrate my dinner and warm it up…which it did, just, and it still tasted fine. And I had some goodies bought from the Spar in town to supplement my meal too, so it wasn’t all bad, sitting in my tent eating my not-quite-hot meal out of a packet listening to the rain patter on the tent!
I’m aching though, and conscious that I haven’t done enough stretching today. It’s a bit hard, when you’re confined to the tent! I use my little roller as best I can on my feet, legs and butt, and figure that’ll have to do til morning! Now the owls are calling and it’s very peaceful listening to them. Just a shame about the rain…!
