Monday 29th August 2022
While planning to do this section of the Offa’s Dyke Path I came up with an over ambitious route of over twenty miles but wisely abandoned it in favour of a much shorter walk two day’s previously from Knighton as far as Llanfair Hill where I had bturned around and headed back. However, that was only half way across the Shropshire Hills and after a further look at the map I realised that I had been a little presumptuous when I had abandoned it so I thought maybe my plans deserved a tweak. I had been prompted by a tedious section of the Offa’s Dyke Path south of Knighton over flat terrain on grassy fields, but the map revealed that there is a lot of gradient change on the Offa’s Dyke Path while crossing the Shropshire Hills, so it deserves a walk. After my final night in the beautiful market town of Kington, I drove through Knighton and Clun to the picturesque village of Newcastle in the Clun Valley. I didn’t bother climbing back up to the top of Llanfair Hill to rejoin the Offa’s Dyke Path at the point where I had left it and instead I joined the trail from the bottom of the valley and immediately I was climbing steeply beside the actual dyke while behind me I had views across the valley and towards Newcastle.
The dyke kept with me all the way to the Welsh border on a very strenuous, undulating route that often passed through woodland or along tree-lined paths with many changes in gradient that frequently had me thinking how many more hills were there, but there always seemed to be more to come. I started by traversing the western slopes of Graig Hill and down into the Mardu valley before climbing around Hergan to a col where I was joined by the Shropshire Way. The trail now crossed the many small ridges that radiate from the high ground to the west towards the valley of the River Unk until eventually my efforts were rewarded with a steep descent into Cwm Ffrydd at Churchtown. A steep climb followed that completely wore me out as I dragged myself all the way up to the eastern top of Edenhope Hill where extensive views were now revealed to the north east that included Stiperstones and the Long Mynd. But, to my utter dismay, I realised that I had to it all over again and descend into the upper reaches the Unk Valley and then climb through Nut Wood to the ancient drover’s road of the Kerry Ridgeway and the Welsh border.
Despite the strenuous walking this was a very interesting and exhilarating walk, so I was glad that I had taken the path. From the top of the ridge I tried to get a good view down the Vale of Montgomery and towards the Severn Valley, but despite descending some way this proved to be difficult so eventually I retraced my steps back up to the road. The bright sunshine that had been with me from the start of the walk was now starting to be smothered by clouds so any photographs would not be as good as they had been. I continued retracing my steps along the Offa’s Dyke Path down into the Unk Valley and exhaustingly back up to Edenhope Hill. I didn’t want to have to do all those undulations again so I had a look at the map to find an easier route back to Newcastle, but the Unk Valley couldn’t be avoided. Eventually I reached the road at the top of the hill where I turned right to pass along the crest of Edenhope Hill up to the broad, high ground to the west and avoid the many ups and downs of the trail. I was able to follow narrow, country lanes that minimised ascents and led me all the way back to Newcastle which lacked interest, but at least made for a speedy return under the cloudy skies.
From the Ridgeway the Offa’s Dyke Path descends into the Vale of Montgomery, which despite the constant presence of the dyke seems to be frightfully dull as it crosses flat farmland. The next moment of interest on the trail is east of the town of Welshpool where there is some steep, wooded ground rising to the summit of the grandiosely named Long Mountain. After having lunch in my car I drove north past Welshpool and ignored Long Mountain, even though it might have merited a walk. After passing the Beacon Ring at the summit of Long Mountain, the Offa’s Dyke Path descends into the Severn Valley for an extended section of very dull walking and doesn’t start to climb again until after the village of Llanymynech. As I drove towards the village, the rocks of Llanymynech Hill looked impressive and dominated the view, so I parked in the village of Llanymynech and immediately joined the Offa’s Dyke Path again to head up the road towards the striking rocks that are actually the remains of quarrying. From the foot of the cliffs I already had great views south across the Severn Valley and towards the Shropshire Hills across the huge gap in the Offa’s Dyke Path that I had just missed out.
The trail skirted the edge of Llanymynech Hill through woodland but soon I came across a golf course that annoyingly sits at the top of the hill so I kept to the edge until all too soon the Offa’s Dyke Path turned sharp left to head down off the hill and I kept going around the hill, while trying to avoid the golf course as much as possible. Without a good map, I had difficulty finding my way, but eventually I did find my way back to the rocks and up to the top of the cliff edge, above the old quarry, where I had good views across the wide valley. It was quite nerve-wracking standing on the cliff edge so I soon moved away and followed the path beside the golf course, but I was unable to find a safe way down until finally I came across the right path that descends back down to the bottom. I wish I had more time to explore this area and a better map so that I knew where I was going, but I still had a lot of driving to do, so I returned to my car and headed north again. My original plan for this day had been for a series of short walks from the Offa’s Dyke Path, but this was the only one I did and even that wasn’t as long as planned. The unplanned walk from Newcastle and a lot of driving used up too much of my time this day to do anything more than this short wander around the rocks of Llanymynech Hill, but it was still an enjoyable day.
No comments:
Post a Comment