LEJOG
Distance walked – 28.4km (17.8miles)
Total Distance – 510.9km (319.3miles)
Here we are
Stuck by this river
You and I
Underneath a sky that’s ever falling down, down, down
Ever falling down
Brian Eno – By this river
We continued our LEJOG journey today, walking and following Offa’s Dyke path for the first time. We will follow this long- distance path for the next six days (including one rest day).
More importantly, we were very excited to be joined by four old friends as guest-walkers.
Andy and Keryn joined us last night in Chepstow while Jamie and Sammy arrived this morning. Together all six of us tackled the first stage of Offa’s Dyke path.
Offa’s Dyke path is a 285km (177mile) long path that partially follows an ancient Anglo-Saxon earthwork along the English -Welsh border from the Severn estuary near Chepstow to the North Wales coast. The earthwork was probably a defensive border, and is named after King Offa, the King of Mercia (AD 757-789) who is believed to have ordered its construction. There are only a few partial remnants of the earthwork, and we were to walk on some today.
Today’s walk is also considered, according to our guidebook, to be one of the finest walks of lowland Britain. It follows the Wye river upstream, through the lower Wye gorge and then onwards to Monmouth.
We departed from Chepstow, admiring the remains of its Norman castle high on the cliff-edge overlooking the river. It was raining heavily as we set off and unfortunately the weather forecast was for persistent rain for most of the day, so we were all kitted out head to toe in waterproof gear. (Some with umbrellas as well).
We followed the path, high above the river, with occasional mist obscured views. We passed the last few houses of Chepstow before crossing some fields and climbing steeply into a muddy wood. We traversed higher until we came out at the lookout of the Devil’s pulpit which apparently offers fine views of the romantic ruins of Tintern Abbey. I can offer no opinion on its romanticism as we could see nothing due to the thick cloud and rain.
This woodland contains one of the best preserved sections of Offa’s dyke. It is clearly visible, and is even walked on for a short period. It remains an impressive structure, even more so when you consider the manpower that would have been required to construct it in the sixth century.
When the woodland ended, we gradually and then steeply descended to the village and old port of Brockweir. From here we chose the optional walk along the river bank, rather than the ascending back up to the high route. We were so glad we did as, despite the weather, the views were superlative.
We were all having good fun, talking, catching up and enjoying our journey upstream. Spirits remained high despite our soggy waterproofs.
We had lunch under some trees, perched on some fence rails as we couldn’t find anywhere else to sit down (one of the problems of wet day walking). After lunch, we ascended for the final time into another area of woodland, high above the river valley. It was here that we were treated to the highlight of the day. Louisa and I have walked through many woods awash with bluebells over the past two weeks, but none of them have been anything like Bigsweir Wood.
The wood here was a sea of bluebells, the purple counterpointed against the vivid green of the wood in full leaf. As far as the eye could see was bluebells. It was like walking in an impressionist painting as the grey light of the day created a blurring effect. A similar area of wild garlic was just as impressive.
We left the stunning woods, descending back down to the river via a long and muddy lane. Here we decided to abandon Offa’s Dyke path, which made a final ascent and descent, instead opting for the flat riverside Wye walk into Monmouth. We were tired and muddy and all trudged wearily over the final few kilometres. It was with relief that we arrived at the hotel and retired to the bar for our own coronation celebration.
8 Responses
The photos of the bluebells and garlic are awesome, must have been incredible IRL
Looked beautiful and smelled amazing too!
Really enjoyed joining you for part of LEJOG and catching up with Jamie and Sammy
So loved having you with us! Thank you so much for joining us xxx
I don’t normally stand like that!
Such a great day and so lovely to see you all xx
You only stand like that when you’re trying to impress me!
So happy you came to see us, we had such a lovely day xxx
Umbrellas ☔️ (umbrellae?)??!
Let’s call the whole thing off!