The Gloucestershire Way - Day 2

After our first day of borderline starvation and boar attack we awoke surprisingly refreshed. The tent was easy to pack away and we were only half an hour from Parkend. We all breakfasted including Chuck for whom we had brought a cooked, tinned version of the raw venison he usually eats at home. When we got to Parkend there was a sign opposite the station saying that the café in the bike shop was open. After a five minute walk down the road we discovered that the sign was a packet of lies. So back the other way. The Post Office café was also closed but the shop was open at least. I got some apple cider lollies and some fudge. Amazingly the bloke serving said he’d make us a coffee anyway. Top marks that man. So we now highly recommend the Post Office café and condemn in the extreme the lying one in the bike shop.

Morning routine in the Forest of Dean.

We were still a good mile from getting back on the Gloucestershire Way. We headed directly north out of Parkend. Our destination was The Speech House hotel. We had no idea whether it was open or even any good if it was but it was on the map so off we went. The path there was surprisingly easy and open until about a mile from the end. There had been a lot of forest works here and it resembled The Somme. We trudged through ankle deep sticky mud and the path just disappeared. Thankfully I could hear the main road and headed for that. We cleaned off our boots the best we could before going in.

The inevitable coming from the sky.

The hotel was great. It had a lovely orangery, had good coffee and was dog friendly despite being rather posh looking. Everyone, staff and guests alike were chatty and interested in our adventure and obviously Chuck. I’d highly recommend this as a pit stop along the route. 

The rather lovely Speech House Hotel.

We decided our next stop would be Cinderford for lunch as it was too early to lunch in the hotel. Again it’s not on the route but there really was nothing else. The track through the woods was pleasant and there is a clearing on the top of the hill which is full of interesting moor plants. The track continues onto a bike path which is quite busy. The rain was looming and there was a distant sound of thunder so we scooted along as quickly as we could. Unfortunately in our haste I took a wrong turn. Thankfully we still got to Cinderford to stay dry.

The nicest photo of Cinderford I could get.

Cinderford is not the prettiest of towns if I’m honest. It’s also fairly devoid of good eating establishments if you have a dog. I wish I could remember the name of the café on the high street that was quite rude when I asked if I could bring in Chuck as I could then tell you to avoid it. All I need to tell you though is to go in The Fern Ticket which was great for food. It has a bar and a food servery. We had a bacon and mozzarella jacket potato each which included a trip to the salad bar. It was quite busy but then there was really nowhere else to go in Cinderford.

Plump Hill was the hardest part to navigate of day 2. The path just disappeared.

We restocked our water in Lidl next. Little did we know that this was our last chance to stock up before leaving civilization. More on this later. We got a Costa from a garage for a pick me up and then disappeared into the unknown. We were now leaving the Forest of Dean out of the north. We dropped into Plump Hill where the path was very hard to follow. Top tip, stay low. Then we crossed a valley and hit main road again. It was a steep climb from here on in and then a steep descent the other side. After giving some more cows, this time disinterested, a wide berth we came into Longhope and stopped at the Yew Tree Inn. There was a christening going on so it was quite lairy. Despite being a fairly grotty place they wouldn’t let Chuck in. So we had a quick drink and left, preferring to give our food custom to the next pub. This proved to be a very good idea.

The Farmer's Boy Inn was a sight for sore eyes.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, Longhope village shop was our last chance to stock up before Gloucester. We bought ice lollies. Blissfully unaware of our stores issue we went two miles up the road to The Farmers Boy Inn. They were very busy but were remarkably accommodating. They got us in with Chuck and found space for our bags. We were probably pretty smelly too at this point. And the food….oh the food. It was out of this world. This was full on gourmet cooking. Not just good pub food but posh restaurant food but at pub prices. No wonder it was so popular. I would highly recommend this place. We both really want to go back there.

A magical place to watch the sunset.

Our campsite for the evening was to be MayHill. It was a very long steep climb to the top and we were racing the sunset but it was worth it in every way. The view was spectacular. Across the whole of South Wales and Gloucestershire, bathed in an orange glow. It was definitely worth the climb. The top was populated by some small cows and we thought about camping elsewhere. But the cows turned out to be very friendly and the ground was lovely and soft. We were far more selective about setting up and this made for a much better night’s sleep. As we watched the light die down from inside the tent we all agreed that this had been a most wonderful day and would be remembered for a long time. But would tomorrow be as good? 

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The Gloucestershire Way - Day 1

Something slightly different for you. This weekend we left our doorstep on a Friday and returned on a Sunday. Yes, we braved sleeping outside. Our plan was to walk from Chepstow to Gloucester along the Gloucestershire Way. This long distance path goes through most of Gloucestershire but the first leg to Gloucester is definitely enough for one weekend. Equipped with a tent, some food and a dog we set out just after lunch on the Friday. The weather forecast was average at best but with three days outside we reasoned whatever the forecast there would be a risk of getting wet and cold.

The freshest we would look for the next three days.

The walk officially starts from Chepstow Castle. We joined the path half a mile up the road in Tutshill but we’d walked from home so we’d already done three miles by this time. Our goal for the first evening was to get to Bream on the south edge of the Forest of Dean. I was hoping to get there for around 6ish. The walk out of Tutshill was across fields and farmlands. We made one detour when the bullocks in a field started to show a little too much interest in us. This may have been because Bea was pilfering their fruit of a tree. Cow attacks would become a recurring theme of this walk.

The beginning of the relentless climb.

The walk continued through a mix of woods and small roads. It seemed we were climbing relentlessly. The constant crossing of styles, deadlifting the dog over them and the uneven ground was taking its toll quite early on. Our first major sticking point came near Woolaston. Two horses in a field were very interested in Chuck. Whilst they seemed friendly enough they were skittish and nervous. In our efforts to get around them we took the wrong path out of the field and ended up heading up a very steep hill and making quite a long detour. These things don’t matter too much if you’re on a loop back to your car but when you know you are trying to get somewhere these things can take a toll on morale.

Always check the view behind you.

The path wound on through more woods and farms. We met a couple of friendly goats but not much else. We walked through a lovely little woods with some water features between Hewelsfield and Alvington but for the next few miles it was just more hills woods and fields. Eventually after what seemed like perpetual climbing we broke out onto the road into Bream. Our first stop in Bream was to the Family Shopper on Coleford Road. The Gloucestershire Way actually bypasses Bream and in fact pretty much every town on the way but we could only carry limited supplies so we broke track quite a lot. Be warned if you stick religiously to the Gloucestershire Way you will not pass a pub or a shop the entire way. You won’t see many even if you don’t. More of which later.

Neighbourhood watch near Woolaston.

We set off up the road to The Rising Sun pub. It had gone seven o’clock already and we were getting worried about the available daylight for tent pitching. I had checked on Google to see if they did food. They didn’t have a website but a Google map check revealed a sign outside that said ‘Stable Restaurant’. That’ll do I thought. As we got to the pub the same sign was there announcing the restaurant. When I asked the lady inside if they were serving food this evening she looked at me as if I were mad. ‘Oh no, we don’t do food here’. So we stormed out in a hungry huff.

Lovely lake garden just before hitting Bream.

I made the decision that the Gloucester Way was going to have to be diverted through Whitecroft. I had planned to get back on it after our stop in Bream but we were going to be a good two miles away from it now. We would pick it back up north of Parkend. Thankfully the RoyalOak in Parkend was open and serving food. We had a good meal and a couple of drinks for £30. We were told that the landlord would probably let us set up tent in the pub grounds but we thought we’d have a little more freedom in the woods.

Unless you are planning on carrying all your food you will need to go here.

We set off in the direction of Parkend and just out of Whitecroft broke track right across the railway tracks. We found a half decent spot and in the fading light erected the tent as speedily as we could. The ground we had chosen was quite hard and lumpy but it was the best we had available. I did some research before we left about the law and where you can camp. It was shall we say, a little hazy. I shall say no more on the subject. We quickly realised that camping in a hastily chosen spot is not comfortable. Despite being very tired we could not get to sleep. The rain started just as we were putting up the tent and the constant drizzle was rather noisy. Chuck however loved being in the tent and was fast asleep in minutes. Cuddling up with Mummy and Daddy in bed is a very rare treat which he doesn’t get at home.

Our eats for the evening in The Royal Oak.

 About two hours later after lying wide awake occasionally chatting we realised we were definitely not alone in the woods. A loud grunting sound and the noise of much foliage being moved could be heard outside. Then another grunt. And then the sound of something large and angry moving past our tent at very high speed. Two male wild boar were having a territorial fight outside our tent. This was going to be a long night. Thankfully they took their discontent elsewhere but later that night another hog returned and did several laps of the tent sniffing at the door. We eventually fell asleep through sheer exhaustion. Despite this we still woke up around 5am the next day surprisingly refreshed.

Our boar-safe abode for the night.

Our camping experience had been fraught and we were several miles off the path I wanted to follow. But on the plus side we had survived the boar attack and we hoped there would be coffee available half an hour away in Parkend. We breakfasted with the tent door open and surveyed our campsite. It was obvious in the light that this was boar territory from the dug up ground all around the tent. For Chuck we had brought tins of Country Hunter Venison. It’s quite expensive but is a tinned version of what he eats at home. We were feeding him extra due to the extra miles he was covering. We set off towards Parkend in relatively high spirits. But would there be coffee this early in the morning? What else would our first full day away from home hold in store? Find out in next week’s thrilling instalment of the Gloucestershire Way. 

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27th July 2017 The Sugar Loaf Abergavenny

Sometimes the most spontaneous of ideas can be the best. This walk was no exception. As it was our 8^th anniversary this week we thought we would go to a town and have some food and do some shopping. As we hate shopping we decided to add a short walk to reduce shopping time. We decided on Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. Upon unfolding the map we saw it is a treasure trove of hilltop walks. We abandoned the shopping idea and set out for Sugar Loaf Mountain.

The initial climb up to the Sugar Loaf

 The walk begins half way up the hill already which wasn’t really cheating as we planned to go all the way down to Abergavenny and climb back to the car. The car park is free and has a rather spectacular view already. The weather was slightly oppressive but thankfully there was only the threat of rain. The initial climb was fairly steep but offered some varied and interesting terrain. Annoyingly there were lots of sheep around so Chuck had to spend a lot of time on the lead. He had a good stick chase first though so he was glad of the rest.

Triumphal pose. Admittedly not quite at the top.

The top of the Sugar Loaf was a rather rocky feature and was peeping at us from various points leading up to it. It was surprisingly busy up there which is good to see. Plenty of families and groups up there. The views are spectacular and it appears to be the highest peak for quite some distance. Pen-y-Fan can just be made out in the distance. This is the highest point in South Wales, I think.

The camera doesn't do justice to the views from the top.

The route down started through an enormous field of ferns before dropping into a gully with a large variety of trees. Every couple of hundred yards revealed a completely different tree-scape. We came out on a small road down to the town. There were the carcasses of thousands of Hazelnuts on the road. Unfortunately any edible ones had been literally squirreled away. Shame. A little further down the road was a vineyard and wine tasting centre. We didn’t go in but it’s certainly somewhere we might revisit.

The Sugar Loaf in all it's glory. It's a popular walk as you can see.

Abergavenny is a rather nice old fashioned market town. It was very busy and had lots of independent shops which is nice to see. We stopped in a pub called the Hen and Chickens which was great. A review will follow. As the sky was blackening we didn’t hang around too long. About 45 minutes later we were back at the car. All in all it had been a rather wonderful day. Not what we’d planned but much better.

The vineyard. Maybe next time.

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