Alec and I, after our cycle trip from Margam Park to Mumbles, determined that we needed to fill in the missing link of the Wales Coastal Path that we hadn’t done yet between Chepstow and The Gower – the stretch from Severn Tunnel Junction to Newport. We’d sort of decided that we didn’t need to do all of the walk in to Newport and so the Newport Wetlands Reserve was our intended destination. We didn’t make it!
Whether it was the rest of a couple of weeks we’d had, or perhaps it was The Farmer’s Arms at Goldcliff, or maybe it was Alec’s bad foot, or my bad ankle, but we didn’t manage more than 9.7 miles walking on this occasion. It was however, a much better walk than we’d anticipated with wonderful views across the estuary, and distant and confusing views of Steep Holm and Flat Holm. The Google Map of the walk can be found here.
As usual we made full use of public transport, catching the train out of Cardiff to Severn Tunnel Junction, and catching the NAT Service 63 bus back to Newport from Goldcliff. Working out bus and train timetables has been an unexpected pleasure and I’ve taken the responsibility for these logistics whilst Alec has sourced the pubs – it’s the only chance he has of getting “hoppy beers”.
The weather was fine, just a couple of spots of rain, the light was strange – whilst we seemed to be in shadow most of the time, everywhere else was in bright sunshine and visibility was great so we seemed to be able to see forever. We saw a Red Kite – never seen one in this part of Wales – Alec saw a Sparrowhawk near Goldcliff Pill (the bird reserve) but otherwise there was not much to comment on the wildlife.
So … a good walk, the gap to be completed next week with a visit to The Transporter Bridge planned as well! Some great views of the Severn Bridge in the distance as we walked away from it; some interesting views of a submerged river cliff (Liassic) – that I didn’t know was there; and no one else on the path!
A pleasant lunchtime at The Farmers Arms – pints of Fubar (Alec) and Cwtch (me) were enjoyed with our chips. To end the day, a lovely sky as I walked towards Queen Street Station.
A couple of other photographs can be seen below. First, a distant view of the bridge with the mud covering the river cliff.
Then, a better view of the strange Liassic river cliff that before today, I hadn’t known existed.
The route we took …
