Lord Hereford's Knob and Hay Bluff: A Day with Friends

Right, first things first: yes, it really is called Lord Hereford's Knob. We were not making it up. Our friends Felix and Arthur came hiking with us for the first time and the entire walk basically descended into knob jokes within about four minutes. Mum gave up trying to stop us by lunchtime. Even Dad was laughing. Sometimes the best walks are the ones with the worst names.

We met Felix and Arthur's family at the Gospel Pass car park, which is the highest road pass in Wales and feels properly wild. You drive up this tiny single-track road from Hay-on-Wye and pop out at the top with the whole Black Mountains spread out around you. There are wild ponies just wandering around the car park, completely unbothered by people. Arthur tried to feed one a Wotsit. The pony was not interested.

From the car park you can do both summits – Hay Bluff one way, Lord Hereford's Knob (proper name Twmpa) the other – in a really nice horseshoe. We started with Hay Bluff because it's closest. It's a short, sharp, lung-busting climb straight up the nose of the hill. Felix had never been up a proper hill before and was bright red and panting by the top, but he made it without stopping which we were all impressed with. From the trig point on Hay Bluff you can see for absolute miles – Hay-on-Wye spread out below, the Wye Valley snaking off into England, the Malverns in the far distance, and behind you the long whaleback ridge of the Black Mountains stretching south.

Then we walked along the high moorland edge for a couple of miles to get over to Twmpa. This bit was brilliant. Big open grassy plateau, skylarks, the wind in your hair, mates running ahead and pretending to be planes. Arthur did a forward roll. Hugo did three. The sky was massive and full of those big puffy clouds that move really fast and make patterns of light and shadow on the ground below.

Lord Hereford's Knob (we said the name approximately 400 times) has a proper rounded summit with another stunning view, this time looking back towards Hay Bluff and down into the Vale of Ewyas with Llanthony Priory hidden somewhere in the trees below. We had a massive shared picnic up there – sausage rolls, pork pies, six different flavours of crisps, and a giant tub of grapes that Felix's mum had brought.

Coming back down was steep and a bit slidey on the grass, with several tactical bum slides for the muddy bits. The wild ponies were still in the car park when we got back, totally judging us. Walking with friends is completely different to walking just as a family – louder, sillier, you stop more, you laugh more, and the miles disappear. We're definitely doing more walks with mates. Felix has already been promised a Hay Bluff t-shirt for his birthday.