Wye Valley & Vale Of Usk 2010

...
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and
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th
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nt
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owen Sheers’ rare descriptive power gives an insight into the Wye Valley & Vale of Usk. It’s his world,
Taken from ‘Farther’ by Owen Sheers.
too. Cropping up again and again in his writings. Sheers’ first novel, ‘Resistance’, currently being made
Copyright © 2005 Owen Sheers.
First published in ‘SKIRRID HILL’.
into a film, is set in the Black Mountains, near Abergavenny. He presented the BBC’s A Poet’s Guide
Reproduced by permission of the author
to Britain which considered the biographical and literary context of landscape poems by the likes of
c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd.,
Wordsworth and Sylvia Plath. owen-sheers.co.uk 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN
a good walk a green week
spoiled could include....
Some of our countryside is given over to For fewer blisters, try the 20 mile • relaxing in Tintern Abbey Cottage – with a wood
golf but the majority will never be tamed. Three Castles Walk which links Grosmont, burner, locally-grown firewood and solar garden
Thankfully. Our huge range of walking routes Skenfrith and White castles. Ideal done lighting , a bus-stop outside, on the Wye Valley walk,
mean it’s the walkers alone who are spoiled. over two days, with an overnight stay at strolling distance from pubs and cafés serving local
The Brecon Beacons National Park offers Gentle Jane’s in Grosmont which serves produce, and uninterrupted views of the Abbey.
rugged moorland and peaks while the wonderful, homemade cakes in its (map ref D5) tinternabbeycottage.co.uk
Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural tearoom, or the Bell at Skenfrith,
Beauty is exactly what it says – stunning!
• scrub clearance, footpath maintenance, painting
(map ref C3), which has an organic
and bracken bashing – sense of fun essential on this
kitchen garden. gentlejane.co.uk
National Trust working holiday near Abergavenny
Three long-distance footpaths
skenfrith.co.uk
27 February – 6 March nationaltrust.org.uk
pass through the area:
The new 5½ mile circular Kingswood route
Offa’s Dyke Path (177 miles from
• pub lunches and picnics as you mosey along
which starts in Dingestow (map ref C4) is
Chepstow to Prestatyn in North Wales)
the ‘Mon & Brec’ canal from Goytre to Brecon
suitable for walkers, horseriders and cyclists,
nationaltrail.co.uk/offasdyke
(map ref B5) waterscape.com
while Newport Wetlands offers flat
Wye Valley Walk (136 miles from
walking with abundant wildlife along the
Chepstow to Plynlimon) wyevalleywalk.org
Severn Estuary (map ref B7).
Usk Valley Walk (48 miles from Caerleon to
monmouthshire.gov.uk/countryside
Brecon) uskvalleywalk.org.uk
rspb.org.uk
As if that wasn’t enough, our first Walking
Festival takes place this autumn, from
22 to 31 October. A celebration of all
that’s green, be it long, short, flat or steep.
And a time for friendship. Because walking
is great. But walking with friends is better.
walkinginmonmouthshire.co.uk
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