Offa’s Dyke Day 4.
Distance today: 17.5 miles.
Total distance: 880.2 miles.
Accommodation: campsite.
Ah, the joys of a Sunday lie-in. After a stupid amount of Offa’s Dyke miles yesterday and the fact that most of the shops in Knighton didn’t open until 10 am, I was in no hurry to get back on the road. In fact, I think I arrived in Knighton almost precisely at 10 am. It seemed appropriate to pay a visit to the Offa’s Dyke Centre while I was there. It was mainly an information centre but they did stock the Harvey maps. It was perhaps a bit late in the day for me but I bought one regardless.
After a quick reconnaissance of the local cafés , I settled on the Little Black Sheep Café which turned out to be an inspired choice. It was the best breakfast I’ve had for a long time. I’m tempted to name all the items in my fry-up but let’s just say there were a lot and they were all tasty.
After stocking up at the weirdly laid out Co-op (a succession of rooms that led into other rooms), it was time to start back on the trail. More hills vicar? Today’s hill sections seemed to be fewer but longer, the dyke still visibly present for a lot of them. The sense of lovely, open unspoilt countryside still there.
As I approached Kington, I got a bit lost as the trail diverged from the dyke and took you across a big field. It added an extra dog leg to my journey but as it was one of the few times the waymarkers had let me down, I wasn’t overly fussed. With the “Welcome to Kington” sign having just proclaimed the town to be a Centre for Walking, I saw it as a bitter irony that the YHA Kington was far from hospitable towards independent walkers. If you wanted to stay there, you had to book the whole thing. How can that be in the spirit of why it was set up in the first place? Not happy. I eventually found the Fleece Meadow Caravan and Campsite tucked away beyond a bus depot. I’d tried to book ahead but had no luck getting through so I was relieved when the duty warden explained that this was because the owner was on holiday and yes, it was fine for me to pitch a tent. I had almost a whole field to choose from and ended up picking a spot by the stream which formed the boundary at the far end of the site.
I headed into town for some food and bumped into a father and son team who were wild camping their way along Offa’s Dyke. There’s no easy way of saying this but the son was massively overweight. I couldn’t see how we would be able to handle all the hills. But he had so far and, on another occasion, they had also walked the South West Coast Path. Full respect to them. My next stop was the Thai Kitchen Thai restaurant. I’d spotted it earlier and I really fancied a chicken green curry. And it was delicious. My second great meal of the day. It felt a bit indulgent but I do have to get my calories from somewhere. I thought I’d finish my day with a pint at the Swan Hotel. Is it too harsh to say the bar was an exercise in blandness and completely lacking in atmosphere? I don’t think so.
