Day 5 – Hay-on-Wye to Kington
Leaving from the front door of our B&B, we took a left hand turn, walked across the River Wye via the Hay Bridge and turned immediately right and once again we were on our way along the Offa’s Dyke Path. The first part of the path followed the river and was a nice way to start the day and loosen the muscles before doing any climbing.
Very soon along the trail we were privy to a wonderful display of sheep herding as a farmer and his dog came through a field at the same time that we were crossing in the opposite direction. It didn’t take long for the sheep to lose interest in us when the border collie entered the mix.
Most of the time, the Offa’s Dyke Path would skirt the edge of planted fields but every so often we found ourselves crossing straight through the middle of a field. Such was the case this day as we walked along a packed trail crossing a field of potatoes.
After a bit of a flatland warm-up, we headed upwards into and through a thickly planted ‘forest’. I was often surprised at how quickly the nature of the vegetation would change with what seemed like only the slightest change in elevation or direction.
There were many churches right on the path or close to the path and it seemed that most had an open-door policy so once in a while we would stop to take a look at the architecture or take a look inside. Tough to photograph inside because of the limited light, but although each shared similarities, each was unique in some aspect or other.
Did I say SHEEP. Anyone walking along the Offa’s Dyke Path is guaranteed to see sheep. Seeing the sheep isn’t bad but occasionally having to step gingerly through the still fresh reminders of the sheep convention that took place directly on the path wasn’t as wonderful!
Seeing some vegetation that I didn’t recognize added a mystery factor in some areas of our walk. However, this grove of trees atop a knoll, where gorse and ferns were the dominant vegetation, provided me with quite the surprise.
As with many of the signs along the way, I found them great to lean on but sometimes farther form our apparent destination than one might hope a the end of a long day of walking.
Our B&B was across form the churchyard so as soon as I had dropped my pack, and freshened up a bit, I headed off into the business area to see what options were available for our supper meal. The economy was suffering quite badly in some of the spots we passed through on our walk and some pubs and restaurants were closed or only open for limited hours. Such was the case in Kington where walkers like ourselves accounted for 50% of the clientele for the evening meal and the owner had considered closing early until we made our enquiries.
For a bit of Canadian political humour, I loved the name of this barbershop in Kington :-).
Another day of good weather and being retired I was able to finish the day off with a smile when I saw this sign.
