Day 37 I reach Wales

Today started off well. We had had a good night’s sleep in our very comfy beds, followed by a good breakfast (muesli, coffee, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, toast and marmalade).

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the paths were clear. We took the Forest Path again before diverting through an industrial estate -a landscaped industrial estate with cycle paths and footpaths clearly marked and separated from the roads. We were meeting my friend Katrina in Severn Beach for a coffee, as she was visiting Bristol. It was good catching up on her news, we bought lunch – ham and salad roll and bread pudding (there being no flapjacks) -and took the path along the beach. The broad, promenade-like path with decorative features

We walked under the M4 Severn Bridge and were headed for the old Severn Bridge when disaster struck. The path was closed.

For drainage and environmental works. We couldn’t see a diversion sign. We stopped a passing runner. “Just turn left at the mini-roundabout, then left again and it’ll take you there.” I struggled with this because looking at my map this involved several miles on an A-road. We reached the road, very narrow verge, traffic thundering by. Definitely not going there. We looked at the map and found a compromise. Some quiet road and some footpath. That is, if the footpath was passable. If not it would be a long road diversion. Maybe the main road would have a verge or a cycle path further along. We waved down some passing cyclists and asked them.”We feared for our lives” one of them said. Definitely not doing that then. Eventually we came to a path that looked as if it would work. We came across some drainage engineers -carry straight on and turn right they said, in thick West Country accents. We did. Found the diverted route and avoided the A-road. By now it was 2pm and we had done ten miles. We stopped for lunch before heading into the village of Aust and the path to the Bridge. The Bridge had been eluding us all day. It had seemed so close but we found our route kept turning away from it but eventually we were there!

It was with some excitement that we followed the path. It runs along the carriageway -we were on the south side, there is one on the north side too – but well separated. It was great. The day was sunny and there was very little wind on the ground but a stiff breeze on the bridge. The views were hazy. It was a two and a half mile walk across the bridge. There wasn’t too much traffic and it was exciting. And at the other side we were in Wales.

We followed the Wales Coast Path for another three miles into Chepstow.

Chepstow is a quaint old town with a city gate, a castle (ruined in the Civil War), plenty of old buildings (we are staying in one, we have a large stone fireplace in our room), an elegant bridge over the River Wye and plenty of places to eat.

Tomorrow we hope to have a look round Chepstow before setting off on a short day along the Wye Valley to Tintern Abbey. It will be a relative rest day after today’s 15.5 mile hike -yes, more blisters I’m afraid!