Of Offa

Let me tell you of King Offa. He was King of Mercia from 757 to 796. Mercia was one of the kingdoms of Anglo Saxon England, occupying the midlands bordering Wales. During his reign he expanded it to cover much of what is now southern and south east England. He never managed to take Northumbria despite giving the King there his daughter…

He came to power in dubious circumstances and went about ensuring that his son would be heir by murdering any potential other candidates. It was tricky because apparently his assassinated predecessor, Æthelbald had a penchant for nuns and so had illegitimate progeny wide spread across the kingdom. In those days legitimacy wasn’t a prerequisite for rights to the throne, so the carnage was terrible.

It’s thought that the Dyke along the Welsh border was built over a fifteen year period during his reign but that had to be fitted around various skirmishes with the neighbors.

Another interesting historical footnote is Offa’s relationship with the church. He had a bit of an obsession with Charlemagne who was the supreme ruler in Europe at the time. His rule had been consecrated by the Pope, so Offa decided that if his own son was consecrated he’d be a done deal for next king. The local Archbishop of Canterbury, Jænberht, was having none of it. Offa was not to be thwarted so he went to the top and persuaded the Pope Adrian I to create a second archdiocese in Mercia in Lichfield. That more obedient Archbishop consecrated Offa’s son, Ecgfrith as future King.

If you want to know more check out The British History podcast as there are several episodes.

Basically Offa was an egotistical brute and his obsession with his son becoming king was karmically rewarded with Ecgfrith dying within five months of taking the throne.

On to more cheerful stuff. We had a nice walk today. It was hard to leave Moors Farm as it was such a lovely little dip into a type of British life that you don’t often get to access.

As I was leaving I noticed a framed note in the living room from Prince Charles thanking Henia (our host) for the wonderful cheese and fruit cake. I asked her and she said that while the Queen was alive Henia and her husband spent every September in Balmoral working for the Royal Family supporting the shoot. Charles and Camilla had popped into the workers accommodation one day and joined in with the cheese and cake. The note was delivered the next day.

She was also gifted a whole lot of his ducks as he had too many! He’d contact her regularly to check on their progress.

The walk. Big climb to start - seems to be the way of things here- but it then flattened and was a pleasant meander through forests, fields and an Iron Age fort. A bit of rain. About 19km.

We are in a really gorgeous little town called Montgomery. It’s got quite a few tourists wandering through quaint shops, a destroyed castle on a hill and a very fine pub called The Dragon where we are staying. The hotel is hundreds of years old and our bedroom floor is on a rakish angle!

I’m enjoying a nice local ale (room temperature of course) and listening to the conversation around me as I write. So many different accents! Tomorrow is one of the huge days. It’s part of an area called the Switchbacks. Luckily we’ve split them over two days but tomorrow we go up and over three of them. Each about 400m…

Keen is not the first word that comes to me, but I’ll give it a crack.

We are about half way now -161 km. I’ve attached a pic of the whole map showing where we were earlier today to give you an idea.

Glad you’re on the journey with me.Read more