The forecast for the day was good but when I opened the curtains there was a thick layer of fog lingering over the frosted rooftops. It might make the journey a little more cautious but the promise of warm sunshine would make it worth the effort. However, the legs didn’t seem to want to work properly after a day of wielding a tree felling axe in combat with an unwanted Whitebeam. How stone age man cleared forests for farm land is beyond me.

The drive to Khighton was pleasant enough, despite the fog, although once you get stuck behind a lorry on the A44, stuck behind it you remain. Hence the journey took a little longer than anticipated.

Leaving the road for the forest track, I parked the car on a bend in Kinsley Wood, slightly fearful that it might be susceptible to abuse as it was the only car there. A young deer, disturbed by my presence scampered off through the trees. By now the sun had burned its way through the fog and the temperature began to rise. Immediately dropping out of the wood the route took me along the edges of pasture fields with ewes tending closely to their new born lambs who skipped and gambolled in the sunshine. Rabbits scurried back to their warrens in the hedgerows as I approached, only to reappear after I had passed. The hedgerows were being undermined by a vast number of holes.

The path took me past the sleepy hamlet of Stowe with its church, farm and two or three dwellings. A dog barked at my presence. As I climbed above Stowe there was a perfect project for somebody wanting to create a magical cottage home for themselves. A gaping hole in the front wall revealed a roughly hewn staircase climbing up to small first floor rooms. Bathed in sunshine with mature woodland behind, it was in the perfect spot. Leaving the cottage and the woodland behind the route followed a wide track up a narrow valley overhung by Holloway Rocks, some of which had been quarried for local building. Either side of the path gorse bushes grew and I briefly saw a stoat scamper between them in an effort to escape from me.

Trees standing out against a sunlit field

Reaching the top of Stowe Hill the path again took me along the edge of pasture land, only this time I was high and it afforded me views across to neighbouring hills. Sadly, the clarity was not there as the atmosphere was still hazy from the morning fog. The going was now easy and I was able to cover the distance quite quickly, although, by the time I reached the farm track between fields, the going became slower again as I negotiated deep ruts full of murky water.

My lunchtime companion

At Five Turnings I crossed the A488 and started the short climb up to Offa’s Dyke Path where I began to see one or two more people. On reaching the path, I headed north but soon stopped for lunch under the critical eye of a sheep. From here I had stunning views across the Teme Valley, patches of the river glistening in the hazy sunshine. Offa’s defensive dyke is easy to approach from the east but from my lofty lunch position, the Welsh would have expended a great deal more energy approaching it from the west.

Continuing north, I soon left Offa’s Dyke and headed across fields to the east, but still heading in a northerly direction. It was stunningly beautiful and I couldn’t think of anywhere I would rather be. My only companions were farmers out in fields, hedge laying, muck spreading or tending their flocks. Birdsong filled the air only to be drowned out by ewes in the maternity wing of a farm being extremely vocal as the farmer laid out hay for them to eat in their muddy field.

Offa’s Dyke

Eventually, the path brought me back into contact with Offa’s Dyke, now a clearly defined ditch between two mounds. Three sheepdogs approached, always slightly unnerving, but while two ignored me the third wanted me fuss with it, much to the annoyance of the farmer (with the dog, not with me). Soon after, as I passed by Garbett Hall, two geese chased me away, far more scary, in retrospect, than three sheep dogs.

Now I began to climb steeply up to Cwm-sanaham Hill with its commanding view over the Teme Valley. A train rattled its way up the valley, although it was difficult to pick out in the haze. The climbing completed it was a wonderful ridge top walk along Offa’s Dyke towards Knighton. For much of the way the remains of the mound, now with a newly erected fence along it, could be clearly seen. I did wonder as to why a fence could be allowed to be erected on the mound, which clearly should have ancient monument status. It would not have caused any harm for it to have been placed slightly to the east, leaving the dyke unsullied by fence posts.

The River Teme meandering along its valley

Reaching Kinsley Woods, Offa’s Dyke drops steeply into the Teme Valley and Knighton. I headed into the wood, eventually reaching my car, untouched and unharmed.  It had been a fantastic day out in glorious weather (my face was glowing) and through some truly beautiful countryside.

There are two long distance trails I would like to add to the menu for next year, Offa’s Dyke and the Teme Valley Way. If today has been a taste of what these two routes have to offer, then I think they are well worth giving serious consideration.