Offa’s Dyke Path
Offa’s Dyke Path, day 6: Longtown to Hay-on-Wye
Another sunny morning. We pick up some sandwiches from Hopes, Longtown’s village shop. This must surely be the best village shop in the UK. It’s like a mini department store, and stocks almost everything you’d ever want; it even has micro-bookshop, and it acts as a post office, with a sorting office in a metal […]
Offa’s Dyke Path, day 5: Llangattock Lingoed to Longtown
Another morning of complete stillness and no clouds (just a criss-cross of high vapour-trails). Today Ca and Ch leave us, and C and I leave the rolling lowlands behind and head for the bare heights of the Black Mountains. First, there’s a bit more of the green country we’ve come to love in Monmouthshire. On […]
Offa’s Dyke Path, day 4: Hendre to Llangattock Lingoed
A perfect May day: not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of wind. And no traffic noise, just birdsong in stereo. Swifts, the first we’ve seen on this trip, flash around the house, and a pair of Canada geese carefully guard their young near a pond. Today our host is going to Malvern […]
Offa’s Dyke Path, day 3: Bigsweir to Hendre
The morning’s chilly and overcast, and at first a low mist flows downstream, blocking the view of Llandogo. We march briskly along the riverside drive to Bigsweir Bridge, where G and A are waiting for us. The iron bridge makes an elegant low curve across the water, with metal latticework beneath and a tollhouse on […]
Offa’s Dyke Path, day 2: Chepstow to Bigsweir
After breakfast we wait for three more guestwalkers, J, G and A. It’s unusual to have as many as six in the group, and there can be drawbacks – losing members by accident on the way, for example – but it makes for a rich mix of character and conversation. We cross the old iron […]
Offa’s Dyke Path, day 1: Sedbury Cliffs to Chepstow
A couple of ancient carriages, probably scheduled to be replaced by Transport for Wales in the year 2030, rattle their way into Chepstow Station. One of the few adverts inside is for a useful sounding firm called Simple Cremations. As we get out it’s raining hard, and C and I dive into the station café […]
