The 3rd of January would be a bank holiday, and with reasonable weather forecast, a walk seemed in order to round off the long Christmas break before returning to work. I devised a route which wouldn't be too taxing - about 6 miles - and, more to the point, would leave us plenty of time for a pub lunch. "Where are we going?" asked my two friends.

"We'll start at Whitcott Keysett, walk along towards Newcastle-on-Clun, up Offa's Dyke to Hergan, then back down the Cefns ridge, along the Shropshire Way"

"Where's all that then?" "Near Clun". Ah.

Like our previous excursion near Knighton, a light drizzle fell as we drove up the Clun valley, and patches of misty rain could be seen blowing around in the hills to the west as we started walking. But we were in luck - not a drop would fall on us. Just as well - the ground was wet enough (lots of mud!) and treacherously slippery in places.

Following the very quiet back lane from Whitcott Keysett towards Newcastle, we turned sharply north on reaching Offa's Dyke, which is clearly defined in these parts. A short steep climb and some gentle ups and downs took us eventually to Hergan, the highest point of the walk at around 1300'. Hergan marks the turning point as we join the Shropshire Way to head slightly east of south, back towards Whitcott Keysett. The clear air made for some good views in all directions, to the South Shropshire hills as well as the Welsh border hills.

The ridge would descend eventually to Clun. We turned right where a track cuts across the ridge - and picked our way carefully down the deeply rutted lane that (in the best tradition of these things) eventually became a stream. At least it washed some of the mud off our boots.

Lunch? Yes, back to Clun and the Sun - a fine end to an excellent leg-stretch.

Books and Maps:- The walk illustrated is shown in its entirety on both maps -

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