Offa’s Dyke Day 3.
Distance today: 28.9 miles.
Total distance: 862.7 miles.
Accommodation: backpacker barn.
Continuing the theme, the day started off with a long steep hill. At the top of it was the Beacon Ring hillfort. As it is yet to be excavated, there wasn’t much to see apart from a big oval mound covered in lots of trees and vegetation. But you had to be impressed with the fact it was built more than 2000 years ago. Perhaps slightly less impressive was the hijacking of the site in 1953 to plant a combination of trees such that from above (and Google Maps) you could see the letters E R. The idea was to commemorate the Queen’s coronation. It felt a bit naff and, ironically, disrespectful to the local history. Still, there was a good view. I bumped into a young couple walking their dog and I think they were inspired by what I was doing even if they were already coming up with excuses as to why they couldn’t do something similar. One day maybe.
Not far past the hill fort, I was surprised to meet Alan on the path. I’m fairly certain I’d left before him and yet somehow he was ahead of me. My money was on me drifting off course while he meticulously stuck to it. For the next 10 miles or so we walked together. I think this was the first time on the trip I had walked with somebody for any distance and I have to say it felt slightly odd. It was obviously nice to have the company but after 800+ miles of going at my own pace, it was strange trying to match someone else’s. You definitely get into your own rhythm and I found it a bit jarring when my choice of speed was no longer completely under my control. I think Alan walked more quickly than I did in spite of the fact he was meant to be taking it easy after injuring his ankle. Scary to think how fast he’d be if he was fully fit.
After the first big hill, the trail had generally been kind with undulations rather than mountains to contend with. Offa’s Dyke itself varied in terms of prominence, sometimes completely disappearing into the landscape, sometimes forming a substantial mound you could happily walk along. As ever, there were plenty of fields to cross, with poppies at least providing an interesting change in colour.
Alan was stopping for the day at Mellington Hall which in spite of the main house looking fairly grand was also a campsite. It was only around 1.30pm and I felt the need to push on and get some more miles in. The next big stop was Knighton which was about 15 miles away. I wasn’t convinced I was going to make it that far but I could always drop off on route. Before I left, I joined Alan in the bar for a cup of tea and a sandwich. He seemed to have his life sussed and in a way, I was quite jealous. I wondered how my retirement was going to compare? Incidentally, if you want to see any of Alan’s 152(!) outdoors photo/video blogs and gear reviews, go to MinackerMovies on YouTube. I have a very minor cameo.
The next section was unquestionably the toughest of the Offa’s Dyke so far. Not technically difficult, just an evil number of steep ups and downs. It rained intermittently without getting too torrential and that made the muddy downhill paths a little more interesting. As did yet more cows which didn’t want to move out of the way. Searching online, I found Panpwnton campsite which was on the trail just short of Knighton. I rang them up and they offered me a standard pitch or, if I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to deal with a wet tent, a backpacker barn. The barn sounded both intriguing and tempting even though I was warned it was very basic. I’ll take it. Meanwhile, I still had a couple more hours of walking and this was me going to be using every minute of daylight. My reward for my sunset walk was sunset views over the top of the hills. It was all just really lovely. Offa’s Dyke might not have the same wow factor as either the Highlands or the Lake District but there was still something precious about its rolling landscape.
They weren’t kidding when they said the barn was basic. Rustic is probably the word an estate agent would use. I was the sole occupant of the middle section which had 2 beds, a rug, and a big fuse board (but no socket). The sections on either side were just dumping grounds for farming equipment. What’s my favourite expression: it would do. As the mattress was a bit lumpy and the cleanliness of the sheet a bit questionable, I opted to put my sleeping mattress on top of the bed and that did the trick. Sleep came very easily.
