Meadow Arts invites you to join Sarah Price Hiking for a series of guided walks through Hay-on-Wye and Kington, presented as part of the BorderLands programme.
Each walk has been carefully mapped by Sarah Price and will be led by a different artist, offering unique perspectives in response to the theme of Borders. Together, these walks explore the landscapes, histories and lived experiences that shape this border region.
About Sarah Price Hiking: Sarah Price is passionate about connecting people with the landscapes of the England–Wales border. For her, walking is more than a physical activity — it can be a healing and transformative experience.
A qualified Walk Leader, fully insured, and certified in Outdoor and Mental Health First Aid, she ensures every walk is safe, welcoming and enjoyable. Sarah leads routes through valleys, woodlands, moorland and hills, from gentle, accessible paths to more challenging terrain.
Drawing on the area’s rich history and natural beauty, she invites both experienced hikers and first-time walkers to explore and connect with the outdoors together.
The BorderLands Walking Series is funded by Arts Council Wales as part of the BorderLands programme (15 May – 31 August 2026). BorderLands is presented in partnership with Hay Castle. Made possible thanks to funding from The de Laszlo Foundation, The Colwinston Charitable Trust 30th Anniversary Fund and Arts Council England.
Dates:
Sunday 20 September (Hay-on-Wye)
Sunday 11 October (Hay-on-Wye)
Time: Depart 10am and return 12pm
Meeting point:
Hay Castle main entrance, Oxford Road, Hay-on-Wye HR3 5DG
Ridgebourne Road, Kington,
HR5 3EG
Ticket price: £7.50
Free for under 18’s
All welcome, booking essential
Suitable footwear advised
Sally Payen
Time: Depart 10am and return 12pm
Meeting points: Hay Castle main entrance, Oxford Road,
Hay-on-Wye HR3 5DG
Join Sarah Price Hiking and artist Sally Payen for a gentle 3-mile circular walk from the heart of Hay-on-Wye. The route follows Offa’s Dyke Path with sweeping views across the Wye Valley, crosses the Dulas Brook at the England–Wales border, and continues to Cusop Village Church where there is time to pause, reflect and respond creatively in a peaceful churchyard. The walk then returns to Hay-on-Wye via a different crossing of the brook, finishing in time to explore the town’s market, books and local stalls.
Sally invites you to explore how landscapes can hold memory, meaning and traces of past and present activism. Building on ideas in her Cross-Stitch painting in BorderLands, the walk will consider mystery, otherworldliness, environmental change and our evolving relationship with the natural world. There will also be an invitation to try embodied painting activities inspired by Sally’s practice, using ink on rice paper and watercolour. Materials are supplied, but please bring your own sketchbook if you fancy.
Please note: This is an accessible 3-mile walk with steady uphill sections and some uneven ground. It will be taken at a relaxed, sociable pace, with time to stop, notice and connect with both place and creativity.
About the artist: Sally Payen is a UK-based painter working between landscape, memory, symbol and material surface… her practice engages with questions of environmental change, fragility and endurance.
Verity Howard
Time: Depart 10am and return 12pm
Meeting points: Hay Castle main entrance, Oxford Road,
Hay-on-Wye HR3 5DG
Join Sarah Price Hiking and artist Verity Howard for a relaxed 3-mile circular walk from the centre of Hay-on-Wye as part of the BorderLands exhibition programme, exploring hillside paths, riverside routes and quieter corners of the town. The walk climbs out of Hay through open fields with wide views over the town, Wye Valley and surrounding hills before continuing onto Hay Common and descending towards the River Wye. Continuing through woodland to The Swan Well, a historic spring, the walk will return to the centre of Hay-on-Wye.
On this walk, Verity invites you to look closer at your surroundings and to notice plants, objects and details that might normally be overlooked. Verity will offer insight into her creative process and the inspirations behind her body of work ‘Vagor’, three sculptures from which are exhibited in BorderLands. Verity will also share some of her research into the fascinating, local, social history of drovers who historically walked livestock from pastures in Wales to markets in England. The walk will include time for discussion around these themes and what this landscape means to us today. You’ll also have a chance to visit one of Hay-on-Wye’s more mysterious and hidden places, The Swan Well, and to learn about the myths and tales associated with such historic sites.
Please bring a phone or camera to capture inspiration as we walk, as well as a notebook and pencil to record thoughts and observations. As the walk includes several stops for discussion, you may wish to bring a sit mat or a walking-stick seat to rest on during these breaks.
Please note: This is an accessible 3-mile walk with gradual ascent, field paths and uneven terrain in places. It will be taken at a relaxed pace, with space to pause and respond creatively to the landscape along the way.
About the artist: Verity Howard is a ceramic artist creating works that explore mystery, trigger memories, generate atmosphere and evoke a sense of place. Verity makes distinct bodies of work, taking inspiration from the landscape, history and culture surrounding her in rural Herefordshire. Using clay as a medium for drawing and monoprinting, Verity creates sculptural, slab built, ceramic forms. It is important to Verity that the form and surface of her work create a harmonious composition and are integral to her subject matter.
Sarah Boulton
Time: Depart 10am and return 12pm
Meeting points: Hay Castle main entrance, Oxford Road, Hay-on-Wye HR3 5DG
To celebrate Meadow Arts turning 25, join Sarah Price Hiking and artist Sarah Boulton for a relaxed 4-mile circular walk from Hay-on-Wye exploring the border landscape of town, farmland and woodland. Sarah’s walk will honour the sense of familiarity and nearness we can feel when viewing the distant outlines, peaks and landmarks in the landscape of the Borderlands. At points along the walk, participants will be invited to pause and hear about a series of poetic live gestures that Boulton has organised to happen in the distance or in the view during the morning.
Please note: This is a moderate 4-mile walk with some gradual ascent and uneven terrain underfoot. It’s designed to be taken at a comfortable, sociable pace, with time to pause, notice and enjoy the landscape.
About the artist: Sarah Boulton is an artist and forest school leader living in Hay on Wye. Recent artworks and poetry readings have been presented with Studio CYBI in North Wales; Bristol Beacon, Bristol; Burning House Books, Glasgow; Studio KIND, North Devon, and La Biennale de Momon, an immaterial art biennale in France. Boulton also makes participatory events and experimental workshops and runs the forest school project, Land Under Waves for her local community.
Caroline Allen
Meeting point: Ridgebourne Road, Kington, HR5 3EG
Join Sarah Price Hiking and artist Caroline Allen for a 4-mile circular walk near Kington, starting and ending close to Hergest Croft Gardens as part of the BorderLands programme. The route follows a wooded valley-side path with glimpses through trees towards the Shropshire Hills before emerging into open moorland and a steady climb to Hergest Ridge. At the top, there are wide views in all directions across the borderlands, including the Black Mountains and Shropshire Hills, with time to pause and reflect. The return follows the Offa’s Dyke Path before descending gently back to the starting point.
For this walk in the BorderLands Walking Series, Meadow Arts has invited artist-curator Caroline Allen to lead a group on Hergest Ridge. Caroline is the founder of RidgeBank, a contemporary arts space in the heart of Kington, in the former Kington and Radnorshire Bank building, which provides a platform for local artists whose work reflects the local landscape, people and history of the area. The walk will explore the surrounding landscape, history, geology and ecology through the lens of contemporary artists Caroline has worked with at RidgeBank. Currently on view at RidgeBank, is a a group show celebrating of The Radnor Lily, a rare flower which grows on Stanner Rock, the only place in Britain it can be found in the wild.
About the artist: Caroline is an artist-curator and founder of RidgeBank, a contemporary arts space in the heart of Kington. RidgeBank’s aim is to provide a platform for local artists whose work reflects the local landscape, people and history of the area.
Please note: This is a moderate 4-mile walk with steady ascent, open moorland terrain and uneven ground underfoot. It will be taken at a relaxed pace, with time to pause and respond creatively to the landscape.
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