Day 46 More of Offa’s Dyke

Today, the guidebook said, was the toughest day of the whole trail. It was sixteen miles long and very hilly.

The day was sunny, and we headed out of Knighton having bought lunch for two days at the local bakery. Out we went, past the Offa’s Dyke Centre (closed), uphill (Knighton is in a valley) until we realised we had gone too far. Retraced our steps-Helen has a particularly strong aversion to retracing her steps- this time through the Offa’s Dyke Centre and back into England.

We wended our way steeply uphill, past a pretty campsite, to be greeted by stunning views

A sign had informed us that we were entering the South Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and, it was true, the views were spectacular. it was also true that it was rather hot and sunny. We were passed by two women walkers and leapfrogged them for the rest of the day. We met two southbound walkers-Duncan, “You must be Rose” -and Simon “Which one of you is Rose?” And “How far ahead is Duncan?” It turned out that they had both met Karen at the campsite at Mellington and she had told them about me. The other two women walkers were a little bemused by my fame.

We had now reached a gravelled track so we’re able to make up some time (sixteen hilly miles, you’ve got to keep going). Rather disappointingly, we couldn’t see the women ahead of us, although the track was visible for quite some way. We could however see two other walkers walking away from us. No, they now seemed to be walking towards us. They had missed a sign-the Path turned off the metalled track.

On we went, downhill then steeply uphill. Over and over again. We met a couple, she looked rather fed up -“you mean we’re not yet at Lower Spoad” and overtook the other women who had stopped for a break.

We all met up again at the Offa’s Dyke halfway sign (at 88.5 miles in) but Helen and I pressed on as we had the furthest to go. Really there isn’t much to say about the rest of the walk. We saw some giant sheep but without a non-giant sheep for scale, we decided a photo would be pointless.

It was a long day. We were tired. I had booked a taxi from the Blue Bell Inn to take us to our hotel in Welshpool as all the accommodation at the end of today’s stage had been booked. Still, we were on track to get to the pub half an hour before the taxi was due. This kept up our spirits. We talked about what refreshments we would have. And there the pub was. At the crossroads, complete with blue-painted bell. But it was shut. And not just in an “open soon” kind of way but more of a “closed several years ago” way. I have to admit, we were disappointed. Another walker arrived. I think it was fair to say that he was gutted as he was wild camping and had been looking forward to a meal and a drink. We commiserated and chatted whilst we waited for the taxi to arrive. I rang just to check that they were en route. Nope. No record of the booking. However, just give them a moment to make a few calls… we did and they rang back to apologise profusely (even though I thought I might have booked it for the wrong day) and to say they were on their way. Relief all round. We arrived at the Royal Oak in Welshpool in time for a quick change before our meal which we had booked for eight o’clock.