Hergest Ridge
To many this is the title of an album by Mike Oldfield; to Offa’s Dyke walkers it’s a long and lovely hill that sprawls gently and grassily above Kington. Views from its modest 1401-foot high top can hit on Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, the Malvern and Shropshire Hills, but the closer contours are eye-catching too, over a quiet plaid of fields and the pyramidal Hanter Hill. Through-hikers hit it on a 15-mile section to or from Hay, but a 6½-miler from Gladestry will loop you along the ridge and back round its southern foot. Pronounced like hardest, but with a hard g, the hill also featured in Oldfield’s Ommadawn: So if you feel a little glum, to Hergest Ridge you should come.