On a day between two very rainy days, the Walkers and Amblers made a joint trip to the Welsh border region to enjoy a pair of walks in amongst the spectacular scenery of the Wye river valley. Ten of us did the longer walk from Redbrook to Tintern Abbey, and seven did the shorter walk from the tiny village of The Narth in the Welsh hills to the same destination. Both walks followed the national trail known as the Wye Valley Walk.
The rain from the previous week had left its mark in the form of mist on the hills and a fair amount of mud. The mist created an eerie atmosphere in the trees, although this later cleared a bit to reveal views across the valley. Some thought the term “valley” as the name of the walk was a bit of a misnomer, since both walks encompassed woodland at the highest point in the surrounding hills. However, this added to the variety of scenery, and the Amblers walk started from near this high point (called Pen-y-fan in Welsh — not the Pen-y-fan in the Brecon Beacons, though), so that walk was mostly downhill.
The long walk started by crossing an old railway bridge over the river and then followed the path of an old railway line beside the river until the route turned to begin a steep climb up to the point where the Amblers joined the Wye Valley Walk. On the way down, we encountered a conveniently-located picnic area with benches, tables and stone circles where we were able to enjoy a civilised lunch. This was at Whitestone.
With both walks starting around the same time, the Amblers were ahead of the Walkers by an hour or so. We stopped for lunch at the Old Tintern Railway Station and rested our legs for somewhat longer than originally anticipated. The Walkers came and joined us while we were there. Both groups then set off together on the final just-over-a-mile to the final destination of Tintern Abbey. We finished up with tea/coffee and cakes at the Anchor Inn. Finally, since both walks were linear, there was a small logistical exercise in which people parked at Tintern shuttled the drivers of cars left at the starts back to those cars.
It was agreed that a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all, and we look forward to doing something equally adventurous this time next year.
