30/12/18 - Tidenham Chase and Wintours Leap

Distance - 6.7
Geocaches - 5
Walk Inspiration - Jarrold Book 29, Walk 16



Since 2005, its been an tradition to walk off the Xmas excesses with a walk in the Wye Valley, near Tintern.   We're still finding new routes - even if this one doesn't include a pub visit.   Not to worry, blogfans, tomorrow's New Year's Eve.

We start off at Tidenham Chase - an outlier from the Forest of Dean that has a popular car park.  We try and pick a route across the common land - the paths bearing little resemblance with what is marked on the OS map.   Joy, the Guide Dog in training loved the heather and the pools.

Joyful dog ruins photo symmetry 

The Gloucester Way is picked up, heading south to Tidenham.  We have murky views over the Bristol Channel, a magnificent church and the majority of the geocaches of the day.   My favourite pointed out the stone in the church's outer wall, which local legend says marks a Witches grave.   A fine stop for lunch - shared with three other ramblers who were singularly unimpressed by me passing on this information.

The Bristol Channel

Tidenham Church

Inscription has 1787 and W I T C H

A circuit of Dayhouse quarry - where we could hear the screams from the Zip Wire - and onto Offas Dyke Path at Wintours Leap.   Another legend - this time from the English Civil War.   There's simply no way that Sir John Wintour would have survived being chased off this cliff face by the Parliamentary forces.

Nervous enough getting this close to the edge

The route back is mainly on Offas Dyke Path - when its bad, you are sharing the road with idiots driving far too fast for the conditions - when it is good, its wooded and high above the River Wye. 

A high wooded path does not make for the greatest of photos, so here's Joy, posing delightfully.

Joy on the Offas Dyke Path