King Offa's Dyke
A 182 mile hike in Wales and England
Offa's Dyke Path
Once upon a time, between 757 and 796
AD, there lived one of the most powerful
Anglo-Saxon kings. His name: King Offa
of Mercia. His kingdom was part of the
seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of south,
east, and central Great Britain; known
collectively as Heptarchy.
Offa was a religious king, but he
struggled with the evil Archbishop of
Canterbury: Jaenberht. The Archbishop
was greedy for power and he and the King
could not see eye to eye. Jaenberht
would not consecrate the King's son:
Ecgfrith of Mercia as the successor to
King Offa. And this made the King very
angry. So Offa managed to persuade
Jaenberht's boss Pope Adrian I to divide
the Archbishop's archdiocese of
Canterbury in two, creating a new
archdiocese of Lichfield. King Offa had
his son consecrated in 787 AD and in so
doing made an enemy of the evil
Jaenberht forever. The Archbishop
daren"t challenge the King's power for
fear of the King's wrath.
Chepstow castle
This story reads like a fairy tale,
but is in essence true. There really was
a King Offa. One of the many things he
did was build an earthen mound in Wales.
It stretches from the River Wye in
southern Wales to the estuary of the
River Dee in northern Wales. The King
used the earthen mound, also known as a
dyke, to keep Welsh invaders out of his
kingdom of Mercia. It is known today as
the Offa's Dyke Path and is a 182 mile
hiking path that leads one through some
of the most spectacular and beautiful
scenery in the British Isles.
This is the first of a series of
articles on walking the Offa's Dyke. We
will venture together on this gorgeous
walk and experience its wonders and
dangers. We will meet the local people,
taste the local food, and share the
quaint (yet sometimes Dickensian)
accommodations.
Join me walking the Offa's Dyke Path.
Pricing:
If you use
Contours Walking Holidays it will
cost £765 ($1,196.81) per person for the
13 nights, 12 days walking package. This
includes accommodation and luggage
transportation at each nights stopover.
It will cost between $564 to $4,015 to
fly from San Francisco to London
Heathrow airport.
It will cost £22.00 ($34.42) by bus from
London to Chepstow and £30.10 ($47.09)
Prestatyn to London.