Offa’s Dyke Path: The Black Mountains to Hay-on-Wye

Thursday 25th August 2022

The first mountain that I climbed on my first mountain walk was Hay Bluff on the edge of the Black Mountains, however you could argue that I didn’t actually climb it then as I had started from the car park that is only two hundred metres below the summit. To correct that oversight on this walk I would now be starting from the bottom of the valley in the village of Hay-on-Wye from where the top of Hay Bluff cannot be seen due to the intervening low-lying hills. So, without my goal in sight, I set off from the car park, deliberately avoiding the route of the Offa’s Dyke Path that will be my descent route and followed footpaths that ran alongside quiet country lanes until eventually I completely lost the path. After great difficulty passing through a band of trees I reached a road that I decided to stay on and having already climbed quite a way the gradient now eased to give me a gentle stroll that let me catch my breath and cool down. With the Black Mountains now in view ahead of me, I crossed a cattle grid and with the gradient steepening I climbed up to the car park that I had used in 1999 on my first walk in the area. Beyond the car par, the path steepened cruelly for a tortuous climb before eventually I reached the summit plateau not far from the trig point at the top of Hay Bluff.

The day before I had walked along the Offa’s Dyke Path on the eastern edge of the Black Mountains as far as the crossroads between Capel-y-Ffin and the Olcon Valley and I could have taken a roundabout route to either of those places and then climbed up to the crossroads, but it was much easier to just walk along the Offa’s Dyke Path. Hay Bluff is really just the northern tip of an escarpment with vast moorland behind that soon rises again to a point that is more than seven hundred metres above sea level and was the highest point on that seminal walk in 1999, even though it doesn’t have a name. The path leading away from Hay Bluff soon comes alongside the English border and, not long after, the Offa’s Dyke Path, to climb this mountain whose top is so broad the actual summit is impossible to accurately place, though a small pile of stones have been placed at one point that could arbitrarily be considered the summit. It was overcast and not particularly warm during my ascent, but by this time the sun had come out which was affording me with fabulous views east across the many trees of Herefordshire and west across the glorious Black Mountains.

When I eventually reached the crossing there were gorgeous blue skies overhead, so I was happy to stop and have my lunch while admiring the views all around me. Heading back along the ridge I climbed back through the stony ground that I remember with fondness from my previous visits and make me feel as though as I really am walking through mountainous terrain, even though the gradient is gentle. I had not been over this unnamed hill since 2014 so I was more than happy to now go over it twice passing over the 703 metre top that is the highest point on the whole of the Offa’s Dyke Path. With a cold, northerly wind blowing I made my way across the fabulous terrain with spellbinding views to my left across the Black Mountains that is the location of some of my earliest mountain walks which is why I have a lot of affection for the area. The whole area was looking gorgeous in the sunshine and I couldn’t get enough of the experience as it is good weather days like this that keep you going through many days of bad weather. After passing the thief’s stone, Llech y Lladron, I branched off the direct route to Hay Bluff to bypass the top and contour around the eastern slopes of the hill on a route that I had never taken before and I was impressed.

In contrast to the steep climb directly up Hay Bluff, this is a gradual descent that allowed me to enjoy the views ahead across the broad Wye Valley and towards hills in the distance that I hoped would be on the Offa’s Dyke Path, but sadly they are not. When I reached the Gospel Pass Road I followed that for a time before branching off through a meadow full of sheep and covered in their dung where I should have paid more attention to my map as I veered too far to the left and had to correct myself so I could continue following the route of the Offa’s Dyke Path slowly descending into Hay-on-Wye. This was a much better route than the one I had taken up in the morning as it took me along grassy lanes, down steep embankments and beside narrow streams in glorious warm, sunshine to eventually return to Hay-on-Wye mid-afternoon. I had originally planned this walk a year ago to be done at Christmas to also spend some time in the second-hand bookshops in Hay-on-Wye, but it wasn’t possible then and later I realised that I would be doing that walk as part of the Offa’s Dyke Path. I was happy to do it now and loved extending it along the edge of the wonderful Black Mountains all the way to the Capel-y-Ffin crossroads so I could make the most of the fabulous sunshine.