Offa-long the Dyke #5: Kington to Knighton

The last day of the hike. I wake up feeling a bit tired (nothing to do with the red wine, of course) and trip down the precipitous stairs to Adam’s excellent breakfast, eaten amid the trays and drawers and crates of coloured threads and yarns and dyes, next to the sewing machine. The electronic spinning wheel is somewhere in the corner.

We walk away from the ODP down into cloudy Kington because the Friday market is on. The market ladies organise to fill our water bottles from the corner bakery where for the first time we meet a lot of other hikers, probably because the sandwiches are home made and the coffee is actually good! 

Offa-long the Dyke #4: Hay-on-Wye to Kington

We almost have to be dragged kicking and screaming back on to the ODP; we love Hay so much we don’t want to leave. From the fresh berries and yogurt at La Fosse, to turmeric-flavoured sheep’s milk ice cream at Shepherds, to trawling the Thursday market for second-hand scarves and fresh welsh cakes - how can we leave this behind?

Eventually, we peel off our reluctance and get back on our path because this sunny day is leading us across green hills and rolling valleys and fields once we have come out on to the open after following the high path above the Wye under the trees.