Wye Valley Walk
The Wye Valley Walk is a long-distance footpath following the course of the River Wye through five counties.
History
In 1975 the Wye Valley Walk opened with a 14-mile stretch between St Arvans and Monmouth.[1] Further stretches were added, leading to it becoming a 34-mile footpath by 1981.[1] During the 1980s, gaps between Ross-on-Wye, Hay-on-Wye and Rhayader were integrated into the pathway, forming a 112-mile walk reaching from near the river's mouth at Chepstow in Monmouthshire, to Rhayader in Radnorshire.[1]
In September 2002, the route was finally extended to start or finish in the Hafren Forest, having passed within viewing distance of the source of the River Wye on Plynlimon near Aberystwyth, a total of 136 miles.[1]
The route
The Wye Valley Walk is marked out by circular yellow waymark arrows, finger posts, and signs showing the path's logo, a leaping salmon. Most of the route follows public Rights of Way. Some parts are permissive paths where owners have agreed for them to be used. Parts of Plynlimon are open countryside in which there is a right to roam established by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.[2]
The route passes through Chepstow, the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Naturual Beauty, Tintern, Monmouth, Ross-on-Wye, Symonds Yat, Hereford, Hay-on-Wye, Builth Wells, Rhayader, and Llangurig to Plynlimon.
The route of the Wye Valley Walk can be broken into 17 stages,[3] though the entire walk is often walked in 7 day-length sections from Chepstow to Plynlimon, or vice versa.[4]
Days and sections
Days and sections* described in the text "The Wye Valley Walk," and The Wye Valley Walk website, both by The Wye Valley Partnership.[3][4]
- Day 1 (Monmouthshire)
- Section 1: Chepstow Castle to Tintern Abbey - six miles
- Section 2: Tintern Abbey to Monmouth - 10 miles
- Day 2 (Monmouthshire-Herefordshire)
- Section 1: Monmouth to Symonds Yat - six miles
- Section 2: Symonds Yat to Kerne Bridge - eight miles
- Section 3: Kerne Bridge to Ross-on-Wye - six miles
- Day 3 (Herefordshire)
- Section 1: Ross-on-Wye to Fownhope - 11 miles
- Section 2: Fownhope to Hereford - seven miles
- Day 4 (Herefordshire-Brecknockshire)
- Section 1: Hereford to Byford - 10 miles
- Section 2: Byford to Bredwardine - five miles
- Section 3: Bredwardine to Hay-on-Wye - nine miles
- Day 5 (Brecknockshire)
- Section 1: Hay-on-Wye to Glasbury - five miles}
- Section 2: Glasbury to Erwood - nine miles
- Section 3: Erwood to Builth Wells - seven miles
- Day 6 (Brecknockshire-Radnorshire)
- Section 1: Builth Wells to Newbridge-on-Wye - seven miles
- Section 2: Newbridge-on-Wye to Rhayader - 10 miles
- Day 7 (Radnorshire-Montgomeryshire)
- Section 1: Rhayader to Llangurig - 12 miles
- Section 2: Llangurig to Rhyd-y-benwch (Plynlimon) - 12 miles
Landmarks
The Wye Valley Walk passes the following notable landmarks:
Rail access
The following stations can be used to connect with the Wye Valley Walk:
- Chepstow railway station
- Hereford railway station
- Builth Road railway station
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Wye Valley Walk Partnership (2011). The Wye Valley Walk. Cicerone. p. 2. ISBN 978 1 85284 625 1. https://books.google.com/books?id=r1kd5rwqUfcC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=wye+valley+walk+112+miles&source=bl&ots=kdDe7GYcYu&sig=I_iV1tiRj_SpV7emgvQwQX9N0LA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nlo9U8PTHubgsASA1ILQBQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=wye%20valley%20walk%20112%20miles&f=false.
- ↑ The Wye Valley Walk: The essentials. Retrieved 12 April 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wye Valley Partnership (2011). The Wye Valley Walk. Cicerone. p. 4. ISBN 978 1 85284 625 1. https://books.google.com/books?id=r1kd5rwqUfcC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=wye+valley+walk+112+miles&source=bl&ots=kdDe7HS82v&sig=-aV64xVdU1lPzDAdmxiOSZ7CQq0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=62g9U_25MIursAT_1YDgCQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=wye%20valley%20walk%20112%20miles&f=false.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Wye Valley Walk Interactive Maps". The Wye Valley Walk Partnership. http://www.wyevalleywalk.org/content.php?nID=6. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
Outside links
- Location of the source of the Wye: 52°28’7"N, 3°41’1"W