Walking in the Wye Valley. Mike Dunn
exceptional walk includes part of the ‘Grand Tour’ of the Wye Valley, devised in the Romantic Period and beloved of artists, writers, poets and gentry. It features celebrated viewpoints and a steep ascent of the 365 Steps to the Upper Wyndcliff high above the Wye.
The way from the car park is very clearly signed to the 365 Steps, trending right through a quarry and then taking a path that tackles a few steps at a time as it rises through mixed woodland with a good number of ancient yews. Railings protect walkers where there are steep drops at times, and there are increasingly excellent views from Upper Wyndcliff across the Lancaut peninsula, the limestone cliffs below Wintour’s Leap and the final meanders of the Wye as it approaches the wide, sluggish River Severn.
The increasingly steep ascent of the 365 Steps
A series of picturesque viewpoints, linked by romantic walks – which were constructed in the 1750s by Valentine Morris, owner of the Piercefield estate north of Chepstow – soon became highlights of the Wye Tour, which took visitors along the Wye Gorge by boat and carriage. Subsequent owners embellished the attractions, with the 365 Steps – a steep and rocky path built by the Duke of Beaufort’s steward – and the Eagle’s Nest viewpoint added around 1828.
The last part of the ascent is unremittingly steep, up a flight of stone steps that curves left and then ascending a metal ladder across a gully, and more concrete steps before the path abruptly levels out at the top of the cliff. Turn right at a post festooned with waymark discs, briefly following the Wye Valley Walk northwards, but after only 150m turn right again to drop down to the Eagle’s Nest viewpoint – a platform jutting out from the top of the Wyndcliff. The Eagle’s Nest boasts unrivalled views down the Wye Valley to Chepstow and the two Severn bridges. Coleridge described the view as having ‘the whole world imaged in its vast circumference’.
Retrace your steps to the junction of the paths and this time go southwards along the Wye Valley Walk on a stony track that gradually descends to the Upper Wyndcliff car park, where fallow deer can often be seen. Go straight ahead along a tarmac lane, looking down into the Wye Gorge to the left, and at a crossroads turn left and quickly left again, now using a green lane that runs past a cottage and goes over a stile. Bear right here, keeping to the field boundary, and drop down towards the main road, aiming for a stile that gives access to the A466. Go right along the pavement for 100m, cross the road with care and aim for a kissing gate on the far side of a yard. Chepstow Racecourse lies straight ahead, but turn left to find another gate in the far left corner of the field.
Just to the left are the Temple Doors – entrance pillars hinting at the location of an octagonal turreted folly known as the Temple, which was demolished around 1800 – but a superb clear path goes right, along the edge of an escarpment, with a sudden drop down to the Wye flood plain on the left. The route passes Lover’s Leap, rising above a sheer rock face and with another dramatic view of the Wye Valley, and finally zigzags down to a junction of paths. The route heads right from here in about 1km to The Grotto – dilapidated now but once a centrepiece of the Piercefield walks, with its domed, encrusted alcove framing the view. Return to the junction of paths and drop down slightly to walk along a well-worn path that quickly reaches the extraordinary Giant’s Cave.
The view across the Lancaut peninsula from the Giant’s Cave
The Giant’s Cave has recently been restored, although the stone giant that once guarded the entrance is no more. The views over the Lancaut peninsula and along the river in both directions are superb, and the path runs in a tunnel through the cave itself, with a big chamber and smaller anterooms hewn out of the rock.
Beyond the cave the way is straightforward, along a narrow but obvious path following a natural terrace halfway up the cliff but still well above the river. The way forward is rocky in places – with retaining walls on the left hinting at the difficulty of constructing the path – then crosses a stream and a boggy area before passing the gently decaying ruins of the Cold Bath (yet another feature of the Piercefield walks). The remains of the Cold Bath include the sunken plunge pool, with some ceramic tiles still visible, and the dressing room. A final steep climb up through the trees leads to the Lower Wyndcliff plateau and the car park, although the thatched Moss Cottage that once stood here and offered refreshments to weary travellers was demolished in the 1950s.
WALK 3
The Devil’s Pulpit from the east
| Start/Finish | The Park, Tidenham Chase (ST 993 558) |
| Distance | 6km (4 miles) |
| Ascent | 90m (295ft) |
| Time | 2hrs |
| Map | Outdoor Leisure 14 |
| Public transport | Tidenham Chase has no public transport services useful for walkers |
| Parking | Car park on the west side of the B4228, signposted for Offa’s Dyke |
This is an easy and relatively short walk that nevertheless includes spectacular stretches of the Saxon earthwork of Offa’s Dyke, with a remarkable view of Tintern Abbey, and which crosses restored heathland teeming with wildlife and grazed by Exmoor ponies.
Go past the Forestry Commission sign for The Park at the edge of the car park, taking the obvious track across the open heath of Tidenham Chase. Once the hunting ground of Chepstow Castle, the Chase is the most significant fragment of lowland heathland to survive in Gloucestershire and now forms an inviting and attractive recreational resource.
Tidenham Chase is now being actively managed to improve the habitat by restoring native woodland and clearing plantations in order to increase the area of sandy heathland, using Exmoor ponies for grazing to encourage re-colonisation by heather, bilberry and gorse. The area is now developing as prime habitat for butterflies and dragonflies, snakes, lizards and a range of birds including nightjar and woodcock in spring and summer, and crossbills, redpolls and siskins in winter.
The track across the heath soon reaches a trig point. Keep this on your left and go through a wooden kissing gate onto a clear track as far as Miss Grace’s Lane. Despite being named after a 20th-century occupant, this lane lies on the route of a prehistoric trackway connecting the Severn at Woolaston with the Wye at the river port of Brockweir. Go left and immediately right across the lane, onto a track signposted to Offa’s Dyke Path and the Devil’s Pulpit. This route was formerly known as Abbey Road because it led towards the abbey and ferry at Tintern. An easy walk now crosses four fields, with good views to the Cotswold ridge beyond the Severn, then enters woodland again and immediately arrives at Offa’s Dyke Path; 50m to the left is the Devil’s Pulpit – an extraordinary clifftop lookout.
The approach to the Devil’s Pulpit
The Devil’s Pulpit is a spectacular rock stack standing proud from the cliff face with sensational views of Tintern Abbey (built by the Cistercians in the late 13th century) far below on the opposite side of the river. The devil is reputed to have preached to the monks from his pulpit – already known as such by 1769 – to divert them from their ways.
The route now lies south, along one of the best-preserved sections of Offa’s Dyke, with earthen ramparts up to 6m (20ft) high, but now threatened by badgers and walkers. The dyke was constructed in the second half of the eighth century both as a defensive earthwork