Dog Blog

Offa’s Dyke – Day 1

Following the English/Welsh border for 177 miles alongside the 8th Century Offa’s Dyke this National Trail takes you through changing landscapes offering amazing opportunities to catch a view of our native wildlife.

My daddy and sister decided that we should walk the trail whenever we got the chance and so back in May 2015 we started. We began by driving to Sedbury Cliffs near Chepstow. The path proper starts a mile or so back from the road and so you need to double-back on yourself once you see the view of the Severn Bridge and the stone milestone. I suggest you ask a local to direct you to the beginning.

Traveling south to north, starting by the Severn Estuary at Sedbury, near Chepstow and finishing at Prestatyn on the north coast, the walk will take an average walker roughly 12 days to complete. Following a man-made border and ancient monument, rather than natural features, the dyke path crosses a variety of landscapes. The route crosses the Black Mountains, the Shropshire Hills, including the many ups and downs of the ‘Switchback’, the Eglwyseg moors north of Llangollen and the Clwydian Range.

It passes through, or close to, the towns of Chepstow, Monmouth, Abergavenny, Hay-on-Wye, Kington, Knighton, Montgomery and then in and around the North Wales towns and villages of Llangollen, Llandegla, Clwyd Gate, Bodfari and Dyserth.

Once on the trail it’s quite easy to follow and a fantastic day’s walking, running and sniffing is to be had as you pass numerous landmarks and sights. My daddy bought a great book, which tells you all about the history of the places we walked through.

Eventually, after a few miles my mammy picked us up again at the Brocksweir pub where I had some water and my daddy sampled the local cider.

A good website for more information is here.

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