Tag: Castle

Usk Figure of 8

Wild Boar
Walk Leader: Graham Harris

Date: Sunday 24th June 2012 2:00p.m.

Start & finish point: Usk Island car park (SO373012)  Postcode NP15 1SY.

Distance: Approx 7 miles

Time to walk: Approx 4 hours

Description: The walk follows a way-marked route to Coed Duon (Blackwood) and then footpaths to Cefn Ila, 66 acres of ground now owned by The Woodland Trust and regarded as one of the best pinetums in the country. We then walk down into Llanbadoc, all the while skirting the Usk Inlier, before passing Alfred Russel Wallace’s cottage.
We stop briefly at Usk Island before following the Abergavenny road and River Usk (home of swans, herons, salmon and kingfishers) to Beech Hill turning inland to Park Woods (part of the Usk Castle estate). If we’re lucky we may spot wild boar and we will see the site of the Battle of Usk in 1405 before returning to the Usk Island car park via an old railway track.
Why not join us at the end of the walk at the Usk Rural Life Museum for a cider tasting, jazz band and BBQ evening?

Terrain: Undulating in parts. Several stiles and gates. Some road walking.

For your rucksack: Snacks and a drink. Binoculars to spot wildlife.

Price: £5 per ticket

Website Special Offer: Why not buy a joint ticket for the Usk Figure of 8 walk and the Summer Solstice Party at a special reduced price of £12.50 per ticket

Castle, Coast and Countryside

Caldicot Castle
Walk Leader: Mike Ogden

Date: Friday 29th June 2012 10:00a.m.

Start & finish point: Car park in front of Caldicot Castle (ST486884). Postcode NP26 4HW.

Distance: Approx 11 miles

Time to walk: Approx 6 hours

Description: Starting in the grounds of Caldicot Castle we will head north following the old stream that once took boats up to the Roman town of Caerwent. Then on to the once notorious and now deserted village of Runston, north through St.Pierre’s Great Woods then past Monmouthshire’s last corn mill to the St Pierre Golf resort with its ancient manor house and church. Here we join the Wales Coastal Path passing historic Black Rock with its salmon fishery and then to Sudbrook built to construct the Severn Tunnel, and then back, passing an iron age fort and the Second Severn Crossing.

Terrain: Two short moderate climbs and several stiles.

For your rucksack: A packed lunch or alternatively money to buy snacks and drinks.

Price: £5 per ticket