Kington is a lovely little town situated in Herefordshire close to the Welsh Border. Our trip will leave Hollinsheads at 8-00am and pick up in Porthill at 8-15.
We will travel via Newcastle and follow the A53 to Shrewsbury then on the A49. We will make a brief call into Church Stretton for a comfort stop. After leaving the A49, we follow the A4113 to the outskirts of Knighton where we turn off onto the B4357 to the outskirts of Presteigne. There is a large lay-by on the bypass where everyone will be able to “boot up”. The long walk also starts from here. The medium walkers will then re-join the coach and travel another couple of miles to the village of Titley for the start of the medium walk.
The coach will be parked at the Livestock Market in Kington. There are several pleasant cafes and cake shops in the town and at least one pub for those who prefer something a little stronger. The local auctioneer has kindly agreed to allow us to use the livestock market for coach parking, we will therefore need to leave at 5pm.
The Long Walk is about 9 miles, mainly moderate but with a couple of steady climbs which we can take at an leisurely pace. From the drop-off, we follow field paths up the Lugg Valley to Dolley Green where we can access Offa's Dyke Path. From here, we simply follow the path all the way to Kington crossing Rushock Hill and over the golf course at the edge of Bradnor Hill. This is one of the best preserved sections of Offa's Dyke and the ancient earthworks are still clearly visible. If it is a clear day, there are some lovely views of the Welsh Marches and The Brecon Beacons.
The medium walk is about 6 miles, mainly moderate starting from Titley. It is a steady ascent up to Burnt House where we pick up The Mortimer Trail which passes just below Little Brampton Scar then takes us over and around Rushock Hill before descending into Kington.
An Alternative To Walking would be to travel with the rest of the group on the coach to Kington and visit The Hergest Croft Gardens which are a few hundred yards to the west of the town. There is an admission fee of £9-50. The gardens cover 70 acres and are nestled under The Hergest Ridge, they include national collections of Maples, Birches and Zelkovas. There is also a tea room so no need to bother taking your own lunch.
The cost of the trip will be £21-00pp. As always we endeavour to keep the cost of the trip as low as we can but this means that the coach needs to be close to full to make the trip viable. The cost of the trip also includes a gratuity for the driver.
Booking and Payments. To book this trip you need to do two things.
Firstly, email your booking request including name(s), number of places required, and where you want to board the coach (Hollinsheads Coaches in Biddulph, or the Porthill Roundabout on the A500, Stoke-on-Trent) to David Martin by clicking on the email "envelope" icon near the top of this page, and filling in your OWN email address and your message.
Secondly, send your payment to our treasurer, preferably by BACS transfer (you can use online banking, or a smartphone banking app, or go to your branch). David Martin will give you the necessary details when you email him.