Hay-on-Wye - Drewin Farm
| Offa's Dyke
Path - 3
Hay-on-Wye - Drewin Farm |
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| Day 6 | Hay-on-Wye | Kington | 14,8 miles | 23,6 km |
| Day 7 | Kington | Knighton | 14,4 miles | 23 km |
| Day 8 | Knighton | Drewin Farm | 12,7 miles | 20,3 km |
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You can't walk in Wales for two weeks and have sunshine all the time. Apart from a shower at Llangattock Lingoed and a bit of rain in the canoe, the weather was fine. That changed on leaving Hay: first enough rain to put a raincoat on, and later even enough for our rain trousers. |
| At a village called Newchurch we find shelter in the church (probably the new one). A sign even invites us to come in and offers us coffee, tea and orange juice. As we arrive at the same time as some lovely Welshmen, the porch isn't big enough and we decide to accept the offer. Later that day, when the rain stopped, we find lots of pearls in the grass, just next to a rabbit dropping. |
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Of course, the next day we meet Keith, Helen and Sam, the Welshmen, again. Our Path also follows the actual Offa's Dyke again, which feels good. During our fortnight we get used to 'our' Dyke and start to look forward walking along or over it. |
| Although a lot of people walk Offa's Dyke each year, we usually meet only a few of them every day. The elderly couple taking a rest on a tree told us they had walked the Dyke years ago, and did now some of the best parts again. |
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We don't spend much time in Knighton. The evening we arrived, we made this picture of the gates at the cattle market. But the next morning we had an early start, as this is a tough day. |
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Our landlord already told us: up and down and up and down: seven hills. And they are not that high, but they are pretty steep. Our training at the Dutch Mountains (right, there are none) hadn't quite prepared us for this. During the day we have to ascend 1,085 meters and descend 1,020 meters, not counting small bumps like those stiles. |
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| On the Offa's Dyke Path, there are more than 700 stiles. Most of them have 2 or 3 steps, and occasionally there's one with a lot more steps, like the one on the right. Our favourite type of stile is the one above: one that you can walk around. Too bad, there aren't many of those. | ||
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We are glad when we arrive in sunny weather with sweaty shoes, just beyond the seventh hill. Out of our window we can see the terrain for tomorrow's walk: all flat. |
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