LEAVING MONMOUTH

I slept badly last night, worried about the first stage of the Wysis Way.  When I thought I could travel from London in the morning and walk all the way to the Speech House before dark, I hadn’t realised how far it was, nor allowed for the scarcity of waymarks in the Forest of Dean.

The bus from Newport was crowded with a lively group from a University rowing club and their giant suitcases.  A beautiful journey through Caerleon and Usk.  No time to stop for food in Monmouth, but I did stop to take a few photos of its priory and two rivers before crossing the Wye.

The first climb, to the Naval Mausoleum at Kymin, was one I had done last October as part of Offa’s Dyke.  Here I met a local walker, who advised me about the route and suggested that if running late I could take a taxi from Coleford.  She also photographed me and the landscape.  Were the clouds really so mobile?

Then the Wysis Way parted company from Offa’s Dyke.  The first bit was easy – to find and to walk.  Then by a huge stone called Suck Stone, a path went straight up a steep slope.  I met a couple coming down.

Navigation was a problem, going back and forth between the route description and sketch maps in the guide book, a bigger and better rain-resistant map of the Forest of Dean, a compass, and the Ordnance Survey app on my phone.  Eventually I missed the important instruction “Take neither of the tracks, but a path off to the left” and found myself on the edge of a big caravan site, where a couple of holidaymakers were able to direct me to the village of Christchurch.

I could have returned to the trail from there, but it was already after 5 pm, there were quite a few km to go, and the possibility of getting lost again.  So I took the advice of the woman on Kymin, went into the Angel Inn in Coleford, and asked for a number to ring for a taxi.  He couldn’t come till 7, so I ate a vegetarian chili while I waited. 

So I failed to complete the first stage.  I walked about 9 miles rather than the 12 I planned.  What with the mud and navigation, my average speed was under 2 mph, and I didn’t stop for lunch.

I could, I suppose, get a taxi back to Christchurch in the morning, as I have plenty of walking time tomorrow.  But I did walk from Coleford to Speech House, along the busy road, last October, so I shall count that in my Wye to Thames itinerary. Sufficient unto the day …