Written by Rebe Brick of Offa's Dyke Association

"Offa's Dyke path opened in 1971 after a campaign led by the late Frank Noble. He was a teacher in Knighton in the 1960s and was a very keen walker. He felt strongly that the path should be opened up so that it was easily accessible to ramblers.

As part of his campaign, he set up the Offa's Dyke Association. It started off very much as a lobbying organisation - with the aim of getting the path designated as a National Trail and to get it up and running.

In the late 1960s, diversification wasn't the buzz word it is today but Frank went out and about, approaching farmers' wives who lived all along Offa's Dyke and asked them if they'd like to earn a little pin money providing accommodation for walkers. Lots of them agreed to open up a spare bedroom or two and today, we have hundreds of places to stay along the route - from four star hotels to farm B&Bs and private guest houses.

When the Offa's Dyke Association was first established, meetings were held in somebody's front room. It then moved to the local Youth Hostel building but when that closed in the 1990s, we had to find new offices. We raised money from several different sources - including the Wales Tourist Board, the Countryside Council for Wales and the European Union. One of our supporters, Kathy Kay, bequeathed the sum of £51,000 towards the fund.

The building itself was built by Powys County Council and we now lease it back from them. We're a charitable organisation and we've got about 900 members from across the UK - keen walkers, historians, conservationists as well as businesses.

Walking is becoming an increasingly popular activity and we estimate that around 9,000 people use Offa's Dyke path annually. People come here from all over the world although the majority of our overseas visitors are Dutch.

From start to finish (Chepstow to Prestatyn), the path measures 177miles and takes around 10-14 days to complete. Knighton is roughly half way along the trail and a lot of people stop off here. Others will walk the route from Chepstow to Knighton one year then return the following year to do the Knighton - Prestatyn leg. We're lucky that we still have a railway station here - as long as we've got the train, we should be fine.

The path generates a very good income for the local economy. Ironically, it was the Foot & Mouth crisis in 2001 which made Knighton realise just how much the town depends on walkers - not just in terms of accommodations but down to the filled rolls bought for the packed lunch.

We are trying to include more local people in the work of the association and will shortly be setting up a Friends of the Association group. We've got around 24 volunteers who walk their section of the path a couple of times a year, to check that the stiles are in order, to cut back vegetation etc. But we're always on the look-out for more volunteers or fund-raisers to help with the work." By Rebe Brick from the Offa's Dyke Association