Tydryngton cnyll(e)’hillock’)??. Today started throwing place names at us as we snaked through the border settlements (from 1 House to a hamlet to a village). So where do places get their names from I mused? Titterton, perhaps after the once common surname Tydryngton. I used to visit Bracknell: we passed through Bucknell: what does nell mean? An [exhaustive] search implies it is from cnyll, meaning hillock / knoll in Anglo Saxon.
The first Earl of Powis must have had similar musings when he erected his impressive sign post in 1800. Yet that begs more questions of I and y. Powis swapped its i for a y: Llanelly its y for an i. Y not?
Hopton Castle is a surprise find. Once a border manor, it was the site of a nasty Cromwell civil war skirmish. How did they navigate then?
The route is pretty. Gently undulating across worked meadows along quiet lanes. You cross a rickety toll bridge to enter Wales. No bell tolls for cyclists. We save our pennies for an enforced cake stop for delicious sticky ginger cake at the delightful Electric Cafe in Hay on Wye. Ah that’s it, we’ve been in the Wye Valley today. Lush!
Travelling reflections 