Hertfordshire & North Middlesex Area of the Ramblers' Association
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A Walk on the Wye Valley Path
Ruth Edwards and Eric Snape
A group of 14 from the Finchley and Hornsey Group met up at a guest house in Chepstow at the end of July to start the six-day walk to Hereford and we were joined by a 15th member for the first two days. Some of us would like to have been able to do the whole route of 136 miles, finishing in the Plynlimon area of Powys, but accommodation for 15 would have been difficult to find in the remoter sections. So between Chepstow and Hereford, we covered 50 to 60 miles with the route crossing the border between England and Wales at times and also criss-crossing the lower end of the Offa's Dyke Path. As usual, we were very ably led by Tony Mallindine, whose map and compass reading coped well with many points where the walk's symbol of a leaping salmon was not always easy to find. Tony used two of the larger scale 25.000 OS maps.
The Wye Valley footpath is one of the first footpaths to be developed in Britain for recreational walking; it passes through a magnificent landscape painted by Turner and walked and sung by Wordsworth and is nowadays used more than ever. Perhaps, here and there, the path could have been better maintained and signed. We are very grateful to John who, with his ever ready garden pruning forks was able to snip away at the nettles and brambles growing along the path and around the stiles. Those wearing shorts are particularly thankful. On a couple of occasions we had to break up with our own hands the branches of small trees which had fallen over the path. If only John had brought along his garden axe too!
Some of us who had not closely examined the route beforehand had a picture of an extensive riverside walk of six days and were surprised (and pleased) to find that a considerable amount of hill walking over rough and stony ground was involved, with heights of up to 700 feet on Wordsworth's "steep and lofty cliffs" atop his "Sylvan Wye" wandering through the woods.
Chepstow (Cas-gwent in Welsh) where we met up is a lovely historical town linked to England by the two Severn bridges. Some of us who arrived early had time to visit the castle, the first stone castle to be built in Britain. The Normans built it on a strategic high promontory as early as 1067, overlooking the rivers Wye and Severn, to impose their power on the rebellious "Marches" which were until recently an ill-defined border region between England and Wales. Chepstow was for many centuries an important river port and boat building town as its Welsh name explains and the archaeological evidence is still there, as we discovered on a late evening stroll down by the river.
We all dined together at a gastro pub belonging to a well known pub chain. On this Saturday night it was heavily patronized by overweight local youth. We all thought that they would benefit from some regular rambling but judged it wiser not to proselytize for the RA on that occasion. Some of the more fashion-conscious young ladies wore black tights and yellow tutus with flopping white antennae on their heads. This scenario caused some mirthful discussion and comment on the tastes and mores of modern provincial youth. However we are not judgemental, remembering that we ramble to broaden our minds as well as to exercise our bodies.
The first shortish leg of the route took us from Chepstow Castle to Tintern, where the literary amongst us tried to recall Wordswoth's lines "composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the banks of the Wye during a tour, July 13th, 1798 ". Parts of the ruins are undergoing restoration, so scaffolding was in evidence.
At Tintern Parva, where we were to spend the second night, we put up at a lovely country hotel and, after hot showers and a lie down or a visit to a nearby vineyard, we waited and waited in the snug hotel lounge for the gourmet dinners we had ordered on arrival. Our appetites, quickened by the day's walking and one and then two aperitifs, were becoming voracious with expectation prolonged by a power cut. No hot food could be prepared and about 9 o'clock we had to make do with cold salad and chilled desserts in the encircling gloom. But we were warmed up and much cheered at the sight of the landlord's pretty daughter bringing lighted candles for the tables into the oak panelled dining room. Then we felt like something out of a Dickensian Christmas card - travellers making merry in a coaching inn having been delayed by a heavy snowfall.
From Tintern Parva the path led shortly on to the embankment of the Old Station of the Wye Valley Railway Line, where we enjoyed an exhibition of enigmatic giant statues, perhaps figures from Welsh or Arthurian legend. Then came a steep climb through woodland until we met up with Chris and Maggie who had stayed the night in the village of Llandogo down below. Back at the river we continued to walk along paths bounded by many late summer flowering plants including the ubiquitous pink and white Himalayan Balsam, nearly ready to burst its seed pods and spread even more widely. Another incomer is the dreaded Japanese Knot Weed, and one stretch showed a determined attempt to eradicate this through poison and ploughing the ground. We saw and heard many birds, including raptors - buzzard and kite.
Our next night was in a pub-cum-hotel in the middle of Monmouth overlooking Agincourt Square. A bust of Henry V, formerly Henry of Monmouth, fronts the Georgian Shire Hall as does a statue of C.S. Rolls, of Rolls Royce fame, to commemorate his earlier achievements in aviation - in 1910 he was the first man to pilot a double flight over the English Channel. Monmouth was celebrating its annual festival which that evening was drawing the town's youth to carouse in a space down by the beautiful 13th century gate house bridge which spans the river Monnow. Some of us went on to a lively jazz session, which included some Parisian left bank lyrics, above a nearby river pub. Those who had bedrooms giving on to Agincourt Square had their sleep delayed by youthful revellers who had come back up to town from the river. It sounded as if they were re-enacting the eponymous battle of 1415.
Day 3 found us walking along the river towards Simmonds Yat. At the large Biblins Campsite the path crosses the river by means of a flexible and wobbly wire suspension bridge, which carries only six walkers at a time. By now we were passing several canoeing parties on the river and running into tourists at this popular part of the river. Some of us bought ice cream and discovered a new flavour - rhubarb and apple - which was generally declared to be the best ever! Chris and Maggie were the only ones who did the climb up to the Rock, from which point they were able to take advantage of the RSPB's provision of a telescope to see the peregrine falcons. The rest of us reached the youth hostel at Welsh Bicknor just before the heavens opened, for the first and only time during our walk, though it rained heavily some nights.
The fine youth hostel is in a former Victorian rectory overlooking a lovely wide stretch of the Wye valley. It is a huge building for such a remote rural area, yet it was once at the centre of a sizeable industrial community, as is evident from the large and now abandoned and derelict wire factory and the rather grand church at which the last service was held in the late 80s. There is still much for historians and archaeologists to explore here and at other places in the Wye valley.
The next day covered the route through to Ross-on-Wye, where at one point we had good views of Goodrich Castle, a Norman fortification against the skyline. We had good climbing today too, up Chase Hill and through the site of an Iron Age fort. Ross is an extremely attractive little town high up over the river. As well as sightseeing, we had a very good dinner at the King's Head Inn. The following day we left Ross on the water meadows, and on the way to the village of Fownhope, climbed up Capler Hill with its excellent viewpoint and seating carved with celtic symbols. We had to leave the path to walk down to Fownhope for the night.
The following day saw our final walk to Mordiford and a coffee stop at a very friendly inn and on into Hereford. Our last afternoon was spent visiting the Mappa Mundi and the Chained Library at the Cathedral, where a visiting choir was filling the vast space with their rehearsal for evensong. The Mappa Mundi is not really a map but more a circular collage forming a compendium of notions of the world, many of them phantasmagoric and derived from the Bible and late classical and early medieval writers. There were some Humpty Dumpty-like creatures with their faces on their bellies which some fanciful (or drunken ) travellers claimed to have seen! Jerusalem is at the centre of the world and Britain is on the periphery so even our expert map reader Tony would not be able to adapt it for world rambling. There is a permanent exhibition in the Cathedral of the Chained Library as well as the Mappa Mundi. The Chained Library is a large collection of books and illuminated manuscripts dating from the eighth to the 19th centuries. A visit to these priceless treasures is a must for any visitor to Hereford and its cathedral.
The final approach to Hereford was awesome and a fitting end to our wonderful hike. The Cathedral, once a distant spire, loomed over us as we grouped together for a photo on the river bank and I'm sure some of us felt as elated as any medieval pilgrim at the end of the long road to Santiago ! And what memories we have to cherish "of the beauty of the way and the kindness of strangers" - and of our very jolly fellow ramblers of course!
Altogether it was an excellent long distance walk with beautiful scenery and generally very good weather, for which many thanks must go to Tony and Vivien for their planning and leadership. Some of us are left with a strong desire to walk the remainder of the Wye Valley Path at some future date.
Wye Valley
BBC Weatherman Walking
