Wales Coast Path: Chepstow to Gwndy

Tuesday 10 March

Distance: 11 miles

Weather: Absolutely glorious!

If I’d put a bit more thought into today’s walk, I probably wouldn’t have chosen to start it in Chepstow itself. The reason I did so was purely because that’s where the Wales Coast Path starts/ends, and I failed to think about the fact that I’d already walked the bit between the M48 and Chepstow.

If those first three miles had any merit, I wouldn’t have minded the repetition, but so unremarkable are the residential streets and back alleys which comprise the WCP at that point, that I had no recollection whatsoever of having walked that exact route just short of 7 years ago. However, I’ve just revisited the map file entitled ‘LEJOG Actual Route’ and it’s undisputable that I have walked those miles before.

Here’s a taster of the first bit of the route:

Residential roads and alleyways did eventually give way to fields (via a tunnel under the M48 with some excellent street art adorning its walls), but not all of those fields were a joy to walk. This one in particular was horribly churned up by cows. The bits by the gates were particularly ‘interesting’:

Just beyond that field things picked up remarkably, when I finally hit the coast. Walking along the embankment, with views of both Severn Bridges, and with the sun beating down, I no longer had any complaints to make:

Even better, Mick was walking towards me from our night-stop and in so doing was able to explore whether it was possible to walk through the firing range today, rather than following the coast path as it goes around the houses behind it. He reached it just as the red flags were being taken down … and half an hour later he walked it again in my company, which saved me a good mile of inland walking.

There was a definite feel of spring in the air again today, and I wouldn’t have felt under-dressed in a pair of shorts. Alas, the forecast tells me it’s going to be a full-waterproofs day tomorrow.

 

(Aaarrrrggghhhhh! I took the time yesterday afternoon to make another batch of flapjacks to power me through his week’s walking activities. There are now 20 pieces of flapjack sitting in a tub on the kitchen work surface at home, which isn’t an overly handy location for the fuelling of a walk in South Wales.)