Keith & I, of Hadrian fame, are starting Offa’s Dyke along the Welsh/English border today. Like the Wall, it was built as a border feature, and although not as solid as the Roman artefact to the North – it was an earthwork rather than a stone structure. It is twice as long as the Wall being 177 miles between Chepstow and Prestatyn,
We are also being joined for the journey by Keith’s wife Marion and her friend Caroline. They are walking one stage ahead of us, so transport to and from the walk is easier – we are dropped off, and pick the others up when we finish at what was their start point.
The Dyke itself is thought to have been commissioned by Offa, the King of Mercia between 757 and 796. Unlike the Wall, there is much less evidence of its existence, parts having been lost as late as 1928. More recent investigations have dated some parts of the wall to between 430 and 652 and some to as late as 1019.
We are setting off today from Sedbury Cliffs on the Severn near Chepstow. The ladies completed their first stage in April. This gives a spoiler alert, as they did their walk in the early spring. They had better views – the trees were bare and the views better. However, the girls are coy about the route which means I did not rely on Komoot for stage one even though I had planned a path from an Offa GPS. That gave us a couple of small problems but the route was in the main well signposted.
There’s also been a lot of rain, but the weather is good today, and surprisingly there is little mud around. I stayed over last night at Keith’s and we set off at a sensible time to start from the River Severn near the Prince of Wales Bridge which was originally built in 1966.
And of course a selfie to start the route.
Sedbury cliffs are known for fossils. There isn’t much cliff to see at our start, it is covered by trees. Still the first half mile or so is through nice easy country, although it is UP. I do realise being a coastal walker the default is flat but we are walking a border up a river into the Welsh mountains. The corn is as high as an elephants eye en route and we soon come into the outskirts of Chepstow which we relatively quickly circle to get back into the countryside after navigating through some estates.
Over the Wye on the other side of the valley Chepstow Castle (built 1067) is just visible through the foilage, and we pass Folly Mill in Tidenham, a cornmill built in 1754.
A little further on we walk near Pen Moel which was built in 1842. This was built for the Philips family of Manchester, I have written about these on my Halls blog. Robert Philips daughters, Isabella (1807-1889) and Anna Priscilla (1804-1879) came to live here. After they died it was inherited by their niece, Margaret Philips Price, who demolished it and rebuilt it in the current Arts and Crafts style. She lived their with her husband, but had visitors including Arthur Hyde, whose family owned Quarry Bank Mill.
It’s a lovely house, but if you are thinking of buying it, it went for £1.5m in 2016.
After this it was a case of walking up through the forest alongside the river. As I said we were deprived of great views, and had to spend a lot of our time looking down to avoid tripping on the tree roots below. We then fell foul of a misdirection. Someone had switched the direction of the sign as we walked onto the B4228. To be honest it did not feel right to be walking in the direction we did, and after half a mile a look at the compass confirmed we were heading south, so we turned back and rejoined the route.
We did get a good view of the Wye at Wintours Leap, where Sir John Wintour escaped the Roundheads by descending the cliffs. It was not as treacherous then. We did meet someone who intended to climb down the rocks, but we thought better of it.
At this point we are walking on a hill between two rivers, and could see the Severn in the distance at times. The Wye flows into the Severn, but they start only two miles apart.
Soon after that we actually walked along the Dyke, The workings are still visible, if obscured, but you can make out that there is a structure here.
The path was easy here as we walked under the canopy of trees, but as I said earlier views are at a premium.
However, after a long climb we came to the Devil’s pulpit and were treated to magnificent views of Tintern Abbey in the valley below. It’s a shame as this was a perfect spot to eat lunch, but we had given up and dined in a small hey earlier on, sitting on some logs.
I visited Tintern in 1976 when I took a motorbike holiday around South Wales and was enraptured by it even then, having seen Turner’s painting around the same time. It was founded in 1131 and work on the current structure began in 1269. However in 1536 it fell victim to Henry VIII and entered a slow decline.
It is a popular spot to sit and take pictures, and this was evidenced over the next mile or so when we passed a lot of people climbing the hill. Most of them asking how much further. I do wonder how many managed it to the top.
After the long descent we reached Brockweir on the Wye. This was the highest point that seagoing vessels were able to reach on the river, after that cargo had to be carried on shallow barges, which were manually hauled upriver. We had hoped for a coffee or ice cream here, but were disappointed. So instead we took in the peaceful view whilst sat on a bench.
Only three miles were infront of us now, and it was very easy going along the riverbank, passing the pretty village of Llandogo nestled in the valley on the other side and Bigsweir House, a mid 18th Century Grade II listed building.
An easy walk from Bigsweir House got us to the bridge. Reaching Bigweir we found the car at Cadora Woods carpark.
We then drove to Monmouth, where we had what is possibly the best cup of coffee I have ever had at Estero Lounge. Plus some excellent Jam and Cream Cake. What’s not to like. We stayed the night at the King’s Head, a Weatherspoons in Monmouth (excellent value, my second stay in a WS. The evening we dined at the Lion Inn a few miles out. Marion, Keith’s wife, has developed a love of open mike nights after an enjoyable evening in Tynemouth at the end of the Hadrian Walk.
So, 14 miles covered. First stage of Offa. There is a slight cheat here. This may count towards my coastal walk, if I dont make it this far. It can be a circuit of Albion. I think there is mileage in that. Talking of mileage (segue) 1,796 in total now. Map below. Video here.
© Allan Russell 2023.
Turn Right At Liverpool And Keep Walking 