Another day, another hike! We had already done some gentle hiking in and around Richards Castle and Ludlow, and today we were to venture a little further afield and to greater heights!

We drove 20 miles to Knighton, and caught the 10 am local train to Knucklas. Having purchased our tickets using the TfW (Transport for Wales) App, we waited on the platform and stuck our hands out as the 2 carriage train approached hoping that it would make a stop and pick us up. It was rather like flagging down a local bus! Once aboard, we saw that the train was amenable to people bringing their bikes, and bore that in mind for another day.

We alighted 10 minutes later and ventured out of the station and down the lane, in search of the trailhead where our hike would begin. It took a couple of conversations with some local folk before we were pointed in possibly the right direction, towards the summit of a surrounding ridge of hills. We felt reassured by consulting with Google Maps as we walked up a long lane and through a farm yard, crossed a cattle grid and continued up towards the top of the ridge. Whether a steep hill or a gentle mountain, I’m not sure, but stopping to chat to these couple of welsh mountain ponies provided a welcome few minutes of respite.

We spotted a now-familiar pathway signpost and passed through the 5-barred gate into a field of sheep. They were friendly enough to leave us alone, and we proceeded alongside a portion of Offa’s Dyke, now more like a meandering wrinkle in the earth. Offa’s Dyke was built in the late 8th century — around 757–796 AD by Offa, King of Mercia To mark the boundary between Mercia (Anglo-Saxon England) and the Welsh kingdom. It now provides the border that separates England from Wales.

The trail we followed this day was just a few miles but Offa's Dyke is over 170 miles long and is very well-marked> It was a gentle hike once we’d eventually reached the ridge’s summit, The view from the top was truly stunning, and even more so when we spotted our little train chuffing across the valley floor on its way back to Knighton. From the summit it was a gradual descent that eventually returned us back to Knighton.

As a reward for our strenuous exercise and adventurous spirit, we made a beeline for a very attractive pub that we’d noticed earlier in the day, The Horse and Jockey. A pint of beer and and a bag of crisps made a perfect end to a perfect day…except not quite the end as we had plans to meet Avril Ian and crew in The Boot later. Onward!