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Offa's Dyke
Offa was King of Mercia, a mainly lowland realm roughly corresponding
to the present-day English Midlands, during the latter part of the 8th
century A.D. To the west of Mercia lay the hill country of Wales, which
must have seemed from Offa's viewpoint a wild and uncontrollable land,
populated by ruffians. Offa decided to define the western limit of his
kingdom by organising the construction of a continuous north-south barrier
extending 160 miles along the eastern margin of Wales from the tidal River
Severn in the south to the Irish Sea in the north. This 'Offa's Dyke'
may have been in part a timber construction which has not survived; but
for much of its length the Dyke was, and survives as, an earthwork consisting
of a continuous linear earth bank, of varying height, flanked to its west
by a ditch. The modern English/Welsh border still approximates to the
line of the Dyke, but the boundary is now much less straight than it was
in Offa's time.
Offa's Dyke Path
Offa's Dyke Path is a long-distance National Trail established in 1970
and officially opened by former local resident John Hunt, leader of the
first expedition to record a successful ascent of Everest. The path extends
from one end of the Dyke to the other, but keeps for the most part to
high ground, deviating from the line of the Dyke itself where the latter
crosses the cultivated lowlands of Herefordshire. The Path traverses a
seemingly magical and mysterious countryside of hills, valleys, moorlands,
fields, farms, forests, castles, churches, old houses, inns and little
market towns where the locals are pleased to pass the time of day with
a stranger. Its total length is 175 miles. In 2010 we are extending our
coverage to include about two thirds of the length of the Path, from its
southern end on the Severn estuary near the ancient fortress town of Chepstow
as far as Welshpool, a long-established livestock market town on the Shropshire-Wales
border.
Dates. Start any date April to mid-October. The best season for
walking the Dyke is from May to September, although good weather conditions
can be encountered both earlier and later in the year. During some periods
accommodation can be heavily booked. Please give alternative dates if
possible. It is very difficult to obtain accommodation in Hay-on-Wye
during the annual Guardian Hay Festival. This famous annual literary
festival takes place for 10 days in late May/early June. In 2010 the dates
of the Hay Festival are Thursday 27 May to Sunday 6 June.
For more details see the section 'Dates' in the Factsheet FSO
(available by e-mail).
Outline itineraries. We have worked out a number of possible variations
of different durations starting and ending at places with reasonably good
public transport links. OA, OB etc. are tour codes. /5, /7 etc. indicates
the number of nights.
Starting at Chepstow
OA/5 Nights 1 Chepstow, 2 St Briavels, 3 Llantilio Crosseny, 4 Llanthony/Longtown,
5 Hay-on-Wye.
OB/7 Nights 1 to 5 as OA, then 6 Kington, 7 Knighton.
OC/10 Nights 1 to 7 as OB, then 8 Newcastle-on-Clun, 9 Montgomery, 10
Welshpool.
OD/6 Nights 1 Chepstow, 2 Monmouth, 3 Pandy, 4 Hay-on-Wye, 5 Kington,
6 Knighton.
OE/9 Nights 1 to 6 as OD, then 7 Newcastle-on-Clun, 8 Montgomery, 9 Welshpool.
Starting at Hay-on-Wye
OF/4 Nights 1 Hay-on-Wye, 2 Gladestry, 3 Kington, 4 Knighton.
OG/7 Nights 1 to 4 as OF, then 5 Newcastle-on-Clun, 6 Montgomery, 7 Welshpool.
Starting at Knighton
OH/4 Nights 1 Knighton, 2 Newcastle-on-Clun, 3 Montgomery, 4 Welshpool.
Further variations are possible. Please ask us for a quotation.
Grade and difficulty. We grade the various itineraries according
to the maximum distance to be walked in any one day as follows: Easy (least
strenuous): OF (Hay-on-Wye to Knighton); Demanding (most strenuous): OD
(Chepstow to Knighton) and OE (Chepstow to Welshpool); Moderate: all others.
For more about grade and difficulty see the Factsheet FSO (available by
e-mail). For daily distances see next paragraph.
Daily distances. Note: we have not included times in this list.
We suggest allowing 3km/2 miles per hour excluding breaks, although strong
walkers over easy ground should manage 4km/hour including short breaks.
Chepstow to Sedbury Cliffs and back (arrival day or Day 1): 5.5 km3.5
miles
Chepstow to St Briavels: 16km/10 miles
St Briavels to Llantilio Crosseny: 21km/13 miles
Llantilio Crosseny to Llanthony/Longtown: 22.5km/14 miles
Llanthony/Longtown to Hay.on-Wye: 24km/15 miles
Chepstow to Monmouth: 27km/17 miles
Monmouth to Pandy: 27km/17 miles
Pandy to Hay-on-Wye: 28km/17.5 miles
Short circular walk from Hay-on-Wye (arrival day): 3km/2 miles
Hay on Wye to Gladestry: 16.5km/10.3 miles
Gladestry to Kington: 8 km/5 miles; (add 2km/1.2 miles for detour to Hanter
Hill viewpoint; add 3km/2 miles for detour Hergest Croft Garden and Park
Wood Garden - open daily)
Hay-on-Wye to Kington 24km/15 miles
Kington to Knighton 1.5km/13. miles
Knighton to Newcastle-on-Clun 14km/8.5 miles
Newcastle-on-Clun to Montgomery 20km/12 miles
Montgomery to Welshpool 21km/13 miles
Rail stations and train service. The nearest rail stations to
the various possible starting and end points are Chepstow, Hereford (bus
link with Hay-on-Wye), Knighton, Ludlow (more frequent trains than Knighton),
Welshpool and Shrewsbury (more frequent trains than Welshpool). For more
details please see our factsheet FSO (available by e-mail). Train services
are less frequent on Sundays and may sometimes be slower at weekends owing
to engineering works.
Airports. The airports with international flights best placed
for Offa's Dyke Path are Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, London
Heathrow and London Gatwick. For more details of rail links between airports
and the starting and end points of the various tours see our factsheet
FSO (available by e-mail).
Accommodation. Specially selected guest houses or 'B&Bs'. En suite
(ES) or private bathroom facilities (PB) are available most nights and
can be guaranteed throughout the tour on payment of a supplement.
Meals included. Breakfast each morning; other meals can be obtained
locally without pre-booking.
Extra nights. These can be included at any point on the tour at
the time of booking the holiday. For prices see below.
Factsheets. These are more detailed information sheets, which
should be obtained from The Discerning Traveller before booking. The Factsheet
code for this tour is FSO. See Enquiry form.
Offa's Dyke Path - tour prices 2010
- OF, OH (4 nights tour, ES or PB most nights): £405.
SRS*: £65. STS**: £85.
- OA (5 nights tour, ES or PB most nights): £445. SRS*:
£75. STS**: £100.
- OD (6 nights tour, ES or PB most nights): £485. SRS*:
£85. STS**: £115.
- OB, OG (7 nights tour, ES or PB most nights): £525.
SRS*: £95. STS**: £130.
- OE (9 nights tour, ES or PB most nights): £605. SRS*:
£115. STS**: £160.
- OC (10 nights tour, ES or PB most nights): £645. SRS*:
£125. STS**: £175.
- Extra nights £45 per person per night. Single rooms may cost
more.
- SRS* = single room supplement (applicable when 3 or 5 persons book
together).
- STS** = single traveller supplement (applicable when booking is for
one person only)
- Note 1. Normally a maximum of 1 single room per booking.
- Note 2. Extra night prices may be higher for single rooms.
- Basic prices quoted are per person on basis of two people in double
or twin-bedded rooms. Included in the price are bed and breakfast each
night, with baggage transfers, maps and route directions. 'ES' (en suite)
facilities means that there is a private bathroom with shower or tub
and toilet within the main door of your room. 'PB' means that the private
bathroom may be outside the main door of your room. When the booking
is made for a party of 3 or 5 customers, a single room supplement is
payable for one person.
N.B. ES/private facilities cannot be guaranteed throughout on this tour
(although available some or most nights).
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About self-led hiking and walking tours
Also in Wales is the Discerning Traveller walk along the Pembrokeshire coast path
Also in the Welsh Borderland region we offer walks combining Shropshire
Hills and Offa's Dyke.
Our postal address is The Discerning Traveller,
38 Canal Street, OXFORD OX2 6BQ, United Kingdom.
Telephone and fax 0(044) 1865 515618. E-mail:info@discerningtraveller.co.uk
www.discerningtraveller.co.uk
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