LEJOG
Distance walked – 23.5km (14.7miles)
Total Distance – 636.9km (398.1)
Ah, sometimes I grow so tired
But I know I’ve got one thing I got to do
Ramble on
Led Zeppelin – Ramble on
As we left Knighton this morning, past the train station, we left Wales behind and entered back into England via the county of Shropshire. Over the next five days, we will be travelling across the Midlands of England, avoiding the major cities, to eventually arrive in Derbyshire and the Peak District National Park, where we will be having a few rest days before starting on the Pennine Way.
Today was an easy day, our last short day for a while, so we took a leisurely approach and really enjoyed what turned out to be a lovely walk on a fine spring day. We were also joined for some of the walk by Matt (and dogs). Matt is an old university friend of Louisa’s, and we really enjoyed his company on today’s walk.
Knighton left behind
The path initially took us through a beautiful Beech wood, as we climbed above and parallel to the road and railway line from Knighton. We passed a very neat, hidden, traveller encampment, smoke slowly rising from the traditional horsebox caravans. The horses stood nearby in their makeshift paddock. It was a timeless scene and one that we felt almost part of, as we travel across the country with all our possessions on our back.
The track through the wood was very muddy – we have a rule now, that all woods = lots of mud, so we carefully picked our way around the gently contouring hillside.
As we were leaving the wood, Chris, our fellow LEJOGger caught up with us. We walked with him for a while, chatting and discussing the day, before parting ways. Chris was going to stick to the roads for the morning to avoid the steep traverse over the hills (he has a very heavy pack). We decided to stick to the hills as it was going to be quicker, and we were in a rush to meet our guest walker for the day.
Shropshire Hills
We ascended steeply into the Shropshire Hills, past isolated farms, the many sheep our only companions. At one stage, the climb took us up a gully which was the steepest incline we have tackled on the trip so far! We eventually came out onto an amazing hidden level plain, before climbing steeply again to reach the top of Stowe Hill.
Heart of Wales path
We followed the Heart of Wales path for most of the morning (despite not being in Wales). Over the next few days we will be following and linking up a number of minor long-distance paths, like this one, to make our way in a North-Easterly fashion across England. We have found that the councils seem to maintain these ‘named’ paths to a higher standard. Our experience so far, is that as soon as we leave them, the paths are poorly maintained and difficult to follow.
The other rule we have learnt, is that all steep ascents are balanced by an equally steep descent, usually very shortly afterwards. And so it was, with the Shropshire Hills. Our descent took us down a deeply rutted and washed-out farm track, that had clearly been the victim of some recent torrential deluge (thankfully not today). We reached the road at the bottom, our knees shaken and jarred, and were very happy to see Matt, our guest walker for today, drive up a short time later.
Matt, Simba and Rufus
We spent a very enjoyable few hours, chatting while we walked up and over another hill, passing through an established forestry wood. Matt was a great companion, and it was fantastic that he had travelled so far to see us and be a part of our LEJOG. Having guest walkers has been one of the best things about this journey, and it has been great to meet and see people we have not seen for a long time.
Where’s Baldrick?
We arrived at the village of Hopton Castle in time for lunch, which we took in the grounds of the atmospheric ruined castle. The castle had been the setting for an episode of Time Team, during its restoration several years ago. Time Team is one of my all-time favourite TV shows and I have missed it greatly since moving back to Australia.
We laughed about how the show would probably not transfer very well down-under, as it is a very peculiar slice of British eccentricity. The standing around in wet, muddy fields in dowdy fleeces, the ecstasy of the discovery of a small shard of pottery, the celebratory pint of cider at the end, and all hosted by Baldrick!
New Gnomes
We bade farewell to Matt, Simba, and Rufus at Hopton Castle, as they returned the way we had come. Our journey took us onwards to the village of Clungunford, where we were thankfully able to replenish our supply of gnomes, having recently run out.
Field of Nightmares
The path crossed several large fields with crops, and was very difficult to follow, so after gaining the old roman road of Welsh Watling Street, we stayed on it all the way into the town of Craven Arms, our destination for tonight. It was amazing walking along this ancient road through the rolling Shropshire countryside, wondering how many other people have journeyed this way before us.
We arrived in the strangely deserted town of Craven Arms where we easily found our little Airbnb apartment. We are looking forward to cooking our own meal tonight as we have been eating out at pubs for the last few nights.
Tomorrow will be the first of a number of really long days, but we face them feeling pretty good and fit after the last few easy days (and most importantly with fresh gnomes).
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4 days to go
3 days now!
Time Team used to be on the ABC regularly many years ago. It’s all so green!
Were you a fan? Nigel loved it!