Robin’s Walk and AXA PPP Step Up Challenge
Forden, Montgomery Plain, Kerry Ridgeway, Brompton, Lower Cwm, Churchtown, Craig Hill and Newcastle on Clun.
Exhausted, exhilarated, tested to the limit, wanted to give up many times, masochistic, amazed at perseverance are all expressions appropriate today. Mouflon Rob with his Teflon thighs is robust to all this and showing incredible staying power. I am also but will admit to being stretched beyond what I think I can do on this walk. Today was tough.
We start easily enough at Forden. Forden for Karen and Rob has the notoriety of ‘I’m the other side of the bridge’ from our early London Loop days. Karen collected us from Forden yesterday. Rob and I were in Forden and Karen was in Forden and Rob’s helpful (typical male) suggestion was ‘you can’t be in Forden because we are and we can’t see you’. Eventually all was resolved when we found that Karen really was in Forden (you all knew that anyway) and we were in a small outskirt that on Rob’s map was called Forden.
Anyway by this morning they are friends again and Rob now worms his way out by suggesting we were in Ffurden and Karen was in Forden and we admit we were definitely in the wrong!
The walking along the Dyke through Montgomery Plain is flat and straight. Stunning views with Corndon Hills to the left and Montgomery to the right with its impressive Hill Fort and Castle. We blast off the first 8 miles in a breeze knowing there are challenges to come. 
On this section we meet Ian Griffiths from Weymouth, George Scott from Blenfield and Anthony Griffiths from Bath. 
They started in Knighton and are going to finish in Prestatyn and told us our next destination The Crown is a lovely place to stay. We also meet Alison Jones and Geoff Edwards from Montgomery. 
A little further along as the rain begins we meet Sue Leather who is walking for Alzheimer. If this is a cause important to you please give her your support via Just Giving. All of us exchange information on what is to come and we have our worst fears confirmed.
We leave Montgomery Plain behind with its canal and town and take a break in a delightful little cluster of houses called Lower Cwm settled around a sweet little dingle. We start to head up to Kerry Ridge and bump in to Geoff Montegue from Rhyll (Kimmel Bay) who tells us we are just entering in to one of the hardest stretches of the Offa’s Dyke. 
His partner had to miss this section with a knee problem that would not take the strains of this section. We soon start to learn what this means. We ascend and descend around 1200 feet four times in the space of a couple of miles.
All are referred to as steep in the book and steep means steeper than anything you normally come across in your daily life apart from your stairs upstairs. The hill in the middle was referred to as very steep and the accumulation of steepness was just exhausting and worked hard to defeat us. 
Imagine the steepness of a ladder to clean your upstairs windows and it being quarter of a mile long. This is one of the toughest challenges either of us have faced (not just on this walk but ever!). Our respect for King Offa building his Dyke up and down these hills grows each section we walk. We walk almost vertically up but see the Dyke up to our left and wonder how they got the food and water to the workers and marvel at the organisation to get 5000 men to build it 1300 years ago. When we get to flat bits after these hills they seem so much flatter and it is as if we have been wound up with elastic bands which are released as we charge across the land.
We lunch at the top of EdenHOPE hill with wonderful views all around us. I turn to Rob and say this is the best bit...why can’t we just do this bit. He rightly points out these are the best bits because of what we did before and what we have to do. So true.
Stretched, challenged and scenery straight out of Tolkein or New Zealand. Exhausted but this was wonderful.
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