Newport to Cardiff on Wales Coast Path: Day 3

 A mixture of the urban, at times industrial, landscape and walking between the waters of the Severn Estuary and the farmland of the coastal plain.

I travelled by train to Newport. Compared with two weeks ago, the train had a reasonable number of people on, although by no means crowded. Slowly, normality is returning as the coronavirus pandemic eases, although masks are still required on trains (which gives me a problem as my mask causes my glasses to mist up). After arriving in Newport I walked down the side of the River Usk, returning to the historic transporter bridge, rising high over the water. Almost opposite was the historic red brick, Waterloo Hotel, a listed building dating from the 1870's, and Fanny's cafe. Newer housing and retail parks followed as rain showers came and went across the grey skies. My route passed close to Tredegar House, a National Trust property with a cafe and gardens dating from the 17th century, but today I headed on into farmland. The "Private Road, No Access" signs at the entrance to the farm track across flat fields was not exactly welcoming, and I double checked I was on the correct route before crossing a bridge, recently rebuilt as part of the electrification of the main railway line into South Wales (for a farm track the bridge looked over-designed to me, maybe contributing to why the whole project was well over budget). To my left the Ebbw and the Usk flowed to the sea. I could see the cranes of the current Newport docks and the modern power station on the far side of the water,  Cows grazed in the fields by where I reached the West Usk Lighthouse, dating from 1821, it is now a Bed & Breakfast, a unique place to stay.

Waterloo hotel and Fanny's cafe

West Usk Lighthouse

After the lighthouse it was a long, flat stretch along the embankment which keeps the waters of the Severn estuary out of the wide coastal plain. A water filled drainage ditch ran between the embankment and the fields, beside which a group of white swans preened themselves. Cows stubbornly stood on the path as I made my way west. Dogs were being taken for walks. Beside the Lighthouse Inn the Shipwreck cafe was still open and I dropped in for a bacon sandwich and a mug of tea. The trailer park beside the Inn looked very neat and tidy, the red roofs and cream walls catching a brief period of sunshine. In the grey blue distance I could make out the buildings of Cardiff as they slowly came closer, while a prolonged rain shower forced me into my waterproofs.

Walking along embankment with Cardiff in the distance

On a previous occasion I had missed the point where the Wales Coast Path leaves the embankment and the sea and turns inland, I ended up in long grass beside the River Rhymney and had to struggle through bushes to reach the road. With greater attention, this time I followed the correct track through the reclaimed land of the old Lamby Way landfill site to a busy road. A diversion into Parc Tredelerch with its reed lined lake brought some relief from the traffic before continuing on the road over the Rhymney river. After the roundabout there was, a diversion through the south eastern suburbs of Cardiff. I followed the new Wales Coast Path waymarks to Tremorfa Park but then reached a post with a waymark showing where I had come from but not where I should go. Unable to find the next waymark I returned to the old route. I later found a map showing the diversion at this website. Ideally I would have checked for diversions at this site and this site beforehand. The original route was actually far more interesting although not in a pretty-pretty sense. It took me through wasteland beside the Rhymney River and the sea, where there are rotting boats and horses grazing, The horses belong to travellers who have a settlement which I passed, opposite the Splott steelworks (where scrap metal is recycled by an electric arc furnace).

Just before the travellers site I followed the path to the beach, where old bricks and other industrial materials form the pebbles. Then I pushed through wild buddleia bushes as the path rounded a hill to reach another industrial area, where the path was between the fence and a small "cliff" down to the pebbly beach. There was a landslip at one point but not enough the make this rough path unsafe. A tedious road section followed on "Ocean Way" among modern industrial units. It took me near the centre of Cardiff where I left the Wales Coast Path to detour to Queen Street train station, well tired after a longish walk at 32 kilometres, albeit on the flat.

Old path into Cardiff by industrial facilities

Severn Tunnel Junction to Newport on Wales Coast Path: Day 2

A long day (33 kilometres) of walking on flat ground: along the embankment of the Severn estuary for the first half of the day and then across fields, around a wetland and into an industrial part of Newport.

Arriving at Severn Tunnel Junction Railway station, I headed down country lanes back to the edge of the Severn estuary, where the Wales Coast path follows the embankment. An essential defence  preventing flooding of the coastal plain, the path follows it for some 10 kilometres. This grass covered bank fronted by large stones gave a good viewpoint over the grass covered foreshore, dotted with grey tree trunks washed down the river and stranded by some flood tide. Sheep grazed in places, a few people walked their dogs, but much of the view over the sea was devoid of objects, an artist could have painted it with a few, broad horizontal stripes: greens for the foreshore, silver for the water, bluey grey for the hills on the distant far side of the estuary and greyish white for the sky. A crumbling pillbox (or more correctly a less well protected "section post") from the Second World War added to the abandoned feel of the landscape. Two lines of rotting wood staves, extended towards the river at one point, were the remains of an old salmon netting system according to my guidebook. Behind me in the grey distance the New Severn Bridge graced the skyline, part of a more modern world.

Embankment beside the Severn Estuary

View over the Severn Estuary from the embankment

The green foreshore was replaced by mud, cut by channels made by the falling tide which was exposing extensive sand banks, and the embankment was fronted by a concrete wall as well as boulders for a stronger defence against the incursion of water. In the church of St Mary Magdalene in the village of Goldcliff, the guidebook refers to an inscription marking the level of a massive, deadly flood of 1607, unfortunately the church was locked when I visited. Goldcliff did however reward me with the Seawall Tearoom where I enjoyed a mug of tea and a slice of divine Victoria Sponge cake that melted in my mouth.

From Goldcliff the path follows lanes and crosses fields. Hawthorn trees along field boundaries had a red haze from the many berries. A number of wetlands have been developed here, and the Wales Coast Path took me around the main one, the Newport Wetlands. Signs stated it was a wonderful place for birds and wildfowl, but on this trip and my previous visits I have seen very few. My legs felt that the trail took an excessively long route around the edge of the wetlands, but it meant I saw the squat, white lighthouse and a few white poplars at the far end, flashing the white undersides of their leaves at me in the breeze. Most of the wetlands seemed to be reeds, beyond them an old coal fired power station and its newer gas fired replacement rose up on the skyline. The Newport Wetlands were developed as compensation for the loss of habitat when the barrage was build across Cardiff Bay, replacing industrial tidal areas with a tide free lake. There is a visitor centre where I was hoping for a sandwich and the use of their toilets, but it was closed due to the Coronavirus. Loss of toilets, and its consequent effect on bladder, bowels and public urination, has been one of the hardships of the pandemic, and authorities seem to be slow to reopen them. So I continued over fields to the Waterloo Inn which the trail passes behind, where in addition to the use of their facilities I indulged in a cream tea overlooking the village church.

Rising cumulus clouds over Goldcliff

The day had started warm and at times sunny, but cumulonimbus clouds had been forming and the genial host of the Inn warned my of a coming storm. As I walked through fields, its hay been harvested in large, black plastic rolls, there were ominous rolls of thunder grumbling across the sky. Fortunately, only a few drops of rain fell as I reached the edge of Newport, which marked a change from a rural to an industrial landscape. One of the industrial sites had an old dock beside what looked like an empty, covered boat building or repair yard. As I continued up the side of the River Usk, with its occasional fisherman, Newport's Transporter bridge came into view. A relic of the time when the Welsh coal and steel industry was at its height, cars and people are transported across the river in a gondola suspended from a gantry high in the air. Unfortunately closed on the day I was visiting, I trudged around a longer route to cross the river on a modern, but elegant white road bridge. Here I left the Wales Coast path and headed for Newport Train Station, walking beside the river, where old docks and wharves have been replaced by a riverside path, with young trees and stylish housing, part of the Usk Valley Way.

Newport's Transporter Bridge

Chepstow to Severn Tunnel Junction on Wales Coast Path: Day 1

After having spent some time walking across Europe on the E4 Long Distance Path, I thought it time to walk around my own country on the Wales Coast path, a 889 mile 1422 kilometre long trail by the sea. A fellow called Rhys Jenkins has just completed the entire length of this trail in 21 days trying to beat a record set in 2017. I was planning a somewhat more leisurely circling of Wales, fitting in days and weeks of walking when possible. Maybe I was also influenced by the limitations posed by the Covid 19 coronavirus and the changing advice and regulations as the pandemic is (I hope) winding down. Walking within a few hours of my home gave some flexibility should there be a second wave.... 

Chepstow marks the starting (or finishing) point of the route, marked by a ceramic tile display beside the River Wye. I caught the train to Chepstow from my home town of Cardiff. In the battle to stop coronavirus transmission Cardiff station had many people in yellow gilets directing people along a complex one way system, down one set of stairs and up another and along one side of a corridor, crossing a selected points, although the platforms had two way flow. My train was almost empty. As I was travelling during the "rush" hour, it would normally be almost full of people travelling to work, at least as far as Newport. 

In my youth Chepstow lay on the main route into South Wales. As a child I remember long traffic jams in which we waited in our old grey Austin, my father drawing on a cigarette, us children squashed in the back, held up by traffic lights on an ancient stone gateway on the high street. My mother told me it was Roman, but it is actually late 13th century, part of a wall to keep out undesirable Welsh people and collect tolls. Chepstow now has a bypass, making a visit to this historic town and its Norman castle, a lot more relaxing. While the Coast Path avoids the town centre a short diversion to the sloping high street is essential both for its antiquey boutiques and the range of coffee and tea shops. I stopped at one for a coffee and lemon and poppy seed cake (having not noticed the tempting selection of toasted crumpets on the menu). On each table, in addition to the salt, pepper and sugar, there was a bottle of antiseptic hand gel - a sign of the times. It was half price thanks to the chancellor trying to encourage people to eat out - a bargain!

Starting point of the Wales Coast Path

Medieval gateway that once held up traffic entering Wales 

It takes a while for the Wales Coast Path to free itself from the entrails of Chepstow, and while it passes through suburban streets and by industrial parks, much of it is through oak and wytch elm trees with views of the original Severn Bridge. At junior school we were sat down in the assembly hall to watch the Queen drive cross this long suspension bridge as part of the 1966 opening ceremony, we were so proud. Innovative in its time, the bottom of the road deck is shaped like an aerofoil, so that the wind pulls the bridge down, keeping it stable, rather than tossing it about as in the famous film of the Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge.

After passing underneath the M4 the trail crosses fields, visiting the small village of Mathern with its ancient church of St Tewdric (a king who fought off the Anglo-Saxons and died in the process). A notice in the porch suggested an active village life with choirs, yoga classes and the like. On the small green by the church a man was watering the boxes of multicoloured flowers, red and blue and white, commenting how quickly they dried out in the warm weather.

In places the path follows the embankment beside the River Severn, a long bank to keep floodwaters at bay. Above the wet green edges of the water, dotted with weathered tree trunks washed down in floods, the grey of the wide river blended in with the greys of the sky. A high tide lapped the shore today, at low tide there are large areas of sand or mud banks, safe only for fishermen who know the area. Fishermen using traditional "lave" nets catch around seven fish a year but according to a sign they are not currently allowed to land their catches by Natural Resources Wales for some reason. Threats to salmon stocks maybe more related to farming practices than fishermen.

The village of Sudbrook was built to house workers on the Severn River rail tunnel. The tunnel was opened in 1886, 14 years after work started and is the main rail connection between Wales and England. Of the many setbacks during construction a prolific underground spring was among the most difficult, even today large pumps remove water flowing from the spring to keep this mainline open, 14 million gallons a day. There is a small tunnel exhibition, maintained by local volunteers on your left as you leave the village, a little before the ruins of the 12th century Holy Trinity Church.

A little further on the path goes below the New Severn bridge completed in 1996, recently renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge for no very good reason. An elegant cable stayed bridge as you pass it you can see a how it gently curves.

I continued close by the M4, through fields and along a small tarmac road to Severn Tunnel Junction railway station, a forecast thunderstorm fortunately not materialising. An isolated, exposed station, too large to serve the nearby village of Rogiet, located here only because the line from South Wales splits into two, the main line going to Bristol and London, the other going north to Birmingham and the borders. Quiet today, with few commuters using the car park, I quietly waited for my train to arrive as high speed trains whooshed past. At 18 kilometres on flat ground, today was a gentle introduction to the Wales Coast Path.

Severn Bridge

One of the towers of the New Severn Bridge (aka the Prince of Wales Bridge)