I was looking at the map over the winter and realised that we had missed a bit. We had walked Offa’s Dyke on the east of the River Wye past Chepstow and down to Beachley Head. We had also started the Wales Coast path from the west bank of the Wye in Chepstow. As a result there was a gap – see below.

I had to walk this but couldn’t possibly organise a walk of 300 metres. To get round this I utilised one of the blank Sundays in the Lower Wye Ramblers’ programme and proposed a walk of 7.5 miles which would include the missing section at the end.

It was a nice walk and I had not only the Coastwalking regulars but another ten or so of our members. It was a walk full of memories of other long distance walks we had completed.

After we had crossed the river by the new bridge and found our way through Tutshill we picked up the Gloucestershire Way heading north. At Boughspring we turned left and picked up the Offa’s Dyke path heading south. Near Broadrock we left Offa’s Dyke. At this point I had intended to walk the Lancaut Loop but unfortunately when we recced the route we found that a short length of the path had fallen away into the river. As a result we walked down to St James’s Church and then back up another way to rejoin Offa’s Dyke.

There is a footpath going down to the old bridge in Chepstow and it is about half way down this that Offa’s Dyke turns left. This is where we started the most important part of the day.

We walked down the slope and over the bridge…

and  finally to the stones which mark the start of the Wales Coast Path.

This was a good start to the year which be explained more in the next blog.

Total walked on the day: 300 metres

Total waled around Wales: 585.8 miles