As soon as we left Kington we were waking up a right bastard of a relentless hill. You know those ones that aren’t too steep but they just don’t give up? Yeah. That. The eyehole fodder was very much worth the slog though and was, as always, the perfect excuse to stop and turn around whilst trying to convince your heart not to break a rib.

We saw a lot of dyke today too. I mean, we always see a lot of dyke, let’s face it. Every morning we wake up to a dyke each. But today we walked alongside what is reportedly some of the best preserved sections of this ancient earthwork. I thought it was built to keep the Welsh out of Mercia, I’m sure I read that somewhere, but it turns out they haven’t got a fucking clue how or why it was built as there are no records from that time.

Lots of these slopey hills today, there are three big main hills to drag yourself up then down again, with a few overgrown sections thrown in. Sort it out, Powys, I know you’re better than Somerset! But apart from casually strolling atop a 1200 year old border between two countries whilst cramming lots of scenery into our eyeholes, today was uneventful. It was just a plod from A to B.

Tell you what though, I’ve never seen so much sheep shit in my life! The whole trail is covered in it, it’s unavoidable. It’s all over your shoes and speared on the end of your hiking poles. I feel like sheep shit is my life now. I’m going to dream of it. The smell is permanently etched into my nostrils.

I’m not impressed with our accommodation tonight either. When I booked the options were to pitch a tent for £24 or take the bunkhouse for £30 so we opted for latter thinking it was so cheap because you had to provide your own bedding. No. It’s literally a fucking barn with a couple of beds in it. There’s a room full of dirty straw to one side, it doesn’t get cleaned, there are spider webs everywhere. It’s proper grim. Definitely not worth the extra £6 but damnit we paid for it so we’re sleeping in it. Or lying awake in it whilst being convinced things are crawling on us anyway.

STATS
Day: 83
Day on LEJOG: 42
Day on Offa’s Dyke Path: 6
Distance walked today: 14.3 miles
Total walked so far: 1016.65 miles
Weather: Overcast and a bit chilly
Coldest temp last night: 11.44°C inside
Trigs bagged: 0
Trigs to date: 54
“Have you read ‘The Salt Path?'” (Running Total): 9
Tick tally: Tarrant 3 ; Claire 4

Jump to “Useful shit to know…”

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Kington, Herefordshire, England to Tref-y-clawdd (Knighton), Powys, Wales

Stayed at: Panpwnton Farm, Knighton, Shropshire, England

Useful shit to know…

• There are public toilets in Kington and Knighton but nothing in between. Not even a pub.
• Water can be filled up by businesses in Kington or Knighton, or you cross a couple of streams but you’ll want a very good filter with all the livestock knocking about.

BUDGET for one person (based on two sharing)
Accommodation, Panpwnton Farm: £15
Groceries: £17.46
Red Bull: £1.35
Grand Total: £33.81