Offa’s Dyke Path Days 1 and 2

by

Offa’s Dyke Path is a walking trail that roughly follows the full length of the border between Wales and England for 285 km from the Severn Estuary in the South to the Irish Sea in the North. The dyke is an earthen wall along parts of the border, built about 1000 years ago by the Saxons perhaps to help keep out the Welsh and Nordic invaders, or perhaps as a show of power. Offa was a Saxon king of that period, construction of the dyke is attributed to him, but there are no records and no one really knows why or by whom. It is a popular National Trail.

The route is hilly and traverses farmland as well as some low mountains. I’m doing the walk in 12 days staying at small hotels and B&Bs.

Arriving from Scotland was going from winter to summer. The weather in Wales is wonderful. Spring in Wales was cold and unusually wet; everyone is rejoicing that warm sunny days have arrived. Unfortunately the trail is wet and muddy in places, but it will dry in the next few days.

The first two days have been a mix of forest and farmland. Both days have been long, about 30 km each, with climbing. But the rewards are good views, the intense green of new leaves, fresh grass, wildflowers and the smells of spring.

A few photos:

The Severn Estuary, South end of Wales

Start of the walk

I stayed In Chepstow before starting the walk. It has a big ancient castle.

Tintern Abbey ruins seen from above the River Wye

Sheep

Wildflowers carpeting the forest

Fortified gate over the river at Monmouth

Walker on a country road with hedges on both sides

Horses grazing on a hill

15 thoughts on “Offa’s Dyke Path Days 1 and 2”

  1. Roy – sounds like your Scotland trip went well and now Offas dyke too. Its a great walk with some superb days walks in mid wales section. We are away to do an 8 day stretch of the GR10 this September, but first off to Nova scotia and new Brunswick. As you are well travelled I wondered if you could point to any great 1 or 2 day walks in that part of the world?
    Cheers Simon and Gillian.

  2. Really beautiful scenery here! Must be a pleasure to be somewhat warmer – hopefully not too warm….

  4. Hi Roy
    Beautiful pictures, so the bluebells are out.
    You are in the Old World and I am in the
    New World in Washington DC. Very nice.
    Loes is in Ibiza with her mother and sister.
    Happy walking and hopefully the nice weather
    continues.
    Robert

    • Hi Sandra. From what I have read, the wall was about 6 m tall, faced with wood or stone on the side toward the invaders. It was not meant to be impenetrable, but to give the defenders an advantage.

    • You need to unsubscribe and resubscribe to update that. I can’t change your subscription info. This isn’t Facebook. 🙂

  7. Are they Bluebells Roy? They grow like this in Cornwall where I lived as a young lad, Great photos , they show the countryside well, looks like a very nice walk.I hope the weather stays summery for you!
    Cheers
    Mike

  9. Am completely in love with the wildflowers photo!!! Can I buy a “copy” of it from you??? Seriously, I would love to have it put on canvas.

    My Granny lived in Lydney which you much have walked by after Chepstow on way to Tintern Abbey. Funny enough, was just looking at that area on Google Maps (after looking at Airbnb for Wales) and had been thinking about my Mum our trip out there years ago. We even drove up the way you are walking!

    So glad to have the stories along with the walk and pics. Thank you!!

    • Hi Gwen. Glad you liked the photo. If you can find someone local to make a print, I can provide the file. They will probably want the raw file, not the jpeg.

Comments are closed.