Offas Dyke Day 7 Knighton to Newcastle on Clun

Day7 Knighton To Newcastle On Clun

We woke to the sound of running water.
Well of course we did we were staying by a stream.
The day was misty, so initially it was hard to see what was in store.
The forecast was for sun!!! And they were right.

Nippy to start, then simply beautiful.
Breakfast, however was not a great start as there was no plunger coffee and the instant Fare Trade coffee on offer was, to put it bluntly, CRAP.
So no coffee.

Offas Dyke Information Centre

That overcome however, the car packed, we were off at 8.40 AM our earliest start yet, for one of our shortest days, a mere 14 kms.
We dropped back into the Offas Dyke Information Centre for a quick photo shoot, then off in earnest.
The early part was gently along the River Teme, then a quick crossing of the river. along with the railway line and our first climb of the day.
Hard and quite drawn out.
This set the tone of the day.
The climb did afford us fine view back to Knighton and back over some of yesterday's walk, south, making it hard to take any pictures as that's where the sun is in these climes.
Having climbed the climb, we then descended the descent, to then climbed the climb again-useless hills-up to the intriguingly named Cwm-sanaham Hill, which at 407 metres gave us stunning views to the west.
It bought to mind "How Green was my Valley".
This then lead to a foot numbing descent, through gorse, then down slick wet grass past Selley Hall (nothing to do with glues etc.), then past Carbett Hall, another large farm.
Another 150 metre climb ensued to Llanfair Hill guranteeing more fine views.
All the while we are either walking on, over or beside the Dyke itself. It is the first time I can recall ever mounting a Dyke!!

Dyke on right ditch beside track

It is quite an impressive structure, hard to capture with the camera. It has a ditch on the western (Welsh) side then the Dyke itself, a high earthen  bank up to 14 feet high, reinforced with stone slabs.

Dyke overgrown with trees

Dyke mid distance running diagonally

Dyke running into distance

It runs over hill and dale, being cut in places where farmers have driven tracks through, exposing the structure.

Our final climb took us to our originally planned accommodation, cancelled due to illness.

We got there at 11.51AM, rather early. Thankfully we were walking on.

Our lunch view

We found a great spot for lunch with a million dollar view of Newcastle on Clun and were joined by a very friendly dog that just loved to clean up Eve's sardine tin.

It was then a short stroll to our accommodation, Quarry House, where we arrived just on 1.00PM. The house was open so we made ourselves at home until Sue arrived with our gear.

As we had plenty of time we decided to take a drive to Welshpool, a small town about 25 km away. Another cute old English town, albeit this time with a canal running through it.

Our dinner was organised at the local pub and to be kind it was pretty dismal. Unfriendly, poor food and lacking the charm it should have had.

We find the locals don't eat there and our B and B hosts wouldn't have booked us there if they'd known we had a car. Rats.