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!
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.
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