Date: Friday 6 June 2014
Walked from: Tintern
Walked to: Sedbury Cliffs
Walked with: Tracey
Distance: 9 miles
Stayed: Home! Hurrah!
Weather: Sunny again!
I’m done! I’ve walked the length of Wales in 14 days. My soles of my feet ache a bit but oddly, after 180 or so of walking, my legs feel fine. Think I’ll concentrate on the cycling for the next month or so though – I’ve a couple of long distance rides coming up and my walking boots and I could do with a little time apart, for the good of our relationship 🙂
Our nine miles today were over and done with by 12.30pm and were pretty easy, although the climb back out of pretty Tintern and into the hill covered trees that surround it was a bit of a slog. The view looking down on to the ruins of Tintern Abbey (from a spot know as Devil’s Pulpit) was quite lovely though, and made the climb ‘almost’ worthwhile.
Once out of the woods, the final approach to Sedbury Cliffs and the River Severn was quite odd, as the trail skirted the town of Chepstow: a mixture of fields, roads, some very expensive houses (some with spectacular views over the River Wye and Chepstow Castle) and other houses that appeared rather more affordable…
The final quarter mile from Buttington Tump to the top of Sedbury Cliffs took us to a stone plaque and fine views over the river and the older of the Severn bridges, gleaming in the midday sun. We were finished: time to call a taxi to whisk us to Bristol Parkway station and on to London.
I think I’ll leave the final summing up on what has been a brilliant trip to a question a women we met a mile or two before the end asked. ‘Have you gone all the way?’, she enquired. ‘I most certainly have’, said I.
The Silka Roads 