Day: 049
Date: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Start: Kington
Finish: Hay-on-Wye
Daily Kilometres: 28
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 1372
Weather: Very warm and mostly sunny.
Accommodation: AirBnB
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pastries
Lunch: Tuna & sweetcorn sandwich/Chicken & stuffing sandwich
Dinner: Shrimp pasta salad & cold omelette/Salami & salad sandwich, cheesecake.
Aches: Dave - the usual niggles (left ankle, right shoulder) and some unwelcome chafing. Julie - nothing.
Highlight: The early morning walk across Hergest Common, near Kington, was very enjoyable. Broad swathes of bracken, criss-crossed by wide mown grass trails, and fantastic views in all directions.
Lowlight: The heat and humidity detracted a little from today’s enjoyment. There was little shade for most of the day and the climbs were very sweaty affairs. We felt fully-cooked after several ascents and though there was a cooling breeze at the higher elevations, it was absent in the valleys.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
The AirBnB we had booked for tonight gave us access to a washing machine and drier, so we decided to make sure we arrived around 3:00pm, the earliest we could check in. It was to be a relatively short day, 26+ kilometres, so we left our accommodation at 7:00am and stopped by the supermarket in Kington on our way to rejoin the Offa’s Dyke Path, to get our supplies for the day.
There was a long and steady climb out of Kington, one of those climbs that keeps on giving, up onto the fantastic Hergest Common (see above). We both thought it would be a great place to be a runner, and thoroughly enjoyed our walk across the broad moor. A long descent took us down to the hamlet of Gladestry and then, before long, and in increasingly warm conditions, an enervating climb up onto the next hill. Along the top of the broad hill we found a place in the shade opposite a farmyard to have breakfast around 10:00am, and really enjoyed the break.
From there, we mostly followed field paths across the broad ridge, noticing all of the sheep utilising every bit of shade available, before gradually descending, with a couple of short sharp and very hot climbs, towards the River Wye valley. Around 12:30pm we stopped for lunch in a little wood, one of the few for the day, happy that, with only 5 kilometres to go, we were going to easily make Hay-on-Wye before 3:00pm.
Most of the last leg involved crossing fields adjacent to the River Wye, where it was very warm and the river looked very enticing. We crossed the river into Hay-on-Wye around 2:20pm and found somewhere shady to sit and had a cold drink and an icecream. Soon after 3:00pm we checked into our AirBnB and, after much-needed showers, did some much-needed laundry. Hay-on-Wye, a very attractive little town, is famous for its bookshops, of which there are many. Later, while doing some shopping, Julie had a look around the castle where there were even more booksellers.
We planned to have take-out for dinner, but could not find one open in Hay-on-Wye. Everything seems to only open Thursday to Sunday. In the end we decided to go to a nearby recommended pub but found they weren’t offering meals because it was going to be too hot in the kitchen for their cooks. Plan C was to wander down to the small supermarket and buy what cold food we could find that was appealing, and that is what we did.
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