Friday 9th February 2024

We’re back for more. Two weeks to fill the coastal path gap we have between Chepstow in Wales and Minehead, Somerset. Today we walked between Pill (the name originates from a Welsh word for tidal inlet) and Aust (derived from the latin name Augusta) and I can tell you the day was a real mixed bag!!

We drove up from Milton Keynes yesterday afternoon – we’re not due to start our house-sitting until Sunday so we’d booked into a Travelodge for 3 nights. Seemed like a good idea at £40 a night as it was just near the Coastal Path and also well positioned to do the Severn Bridge parkrun plus a couple of days walking. It was a foul day weather-wise and the hotel was on the M48 Service area with pretty uninspiring dining facilities, so not the most attractive of starts. It was a choice between Costa and Burger King for dinner so the burger won out – and we treated ourselves to a can of Gin and Tonic each from WH Smith to cheer ourselves up – Rock and Roll. And gasp horror – no free Wifi. 

We had a great night’s sleep though – the bed was comfy. Steve had planned the first day’s walk but by the time we woke in the morning he had devised a whole new route. The best we could do for breakfast was a BLT sandwich from the services, with a cup of tea. But it was so lucky we had that as we saw nothing else until we returned from our walk 5 hours later! 

We took an Uber ride to the pretty village of Pill, the sun was shining and all was well in the world. In a very short space of time we were crossing the bridge on the M5 Motorway and from thereon in we were walking through dockside and industrial areas, residential areas and miles of roadside – with articulated lorries whizzing by at 60mph – it was a pollution fest for 7 miles … it just seemed endless and dispiriting. 

At mile 7 however things took a better turn and there were paths that took us away from the roads so the noise levels greatly improved. And we had views of the estuary and the magnificent bridges – the Prince of Wales Bridge and the Severn Bridge. The weather had largely been kind to us but for the last two miles we got drenched in a downpour and with plenty of flooded paths we arrived back at the Services like drowned rats. 

It was 13 miles of walking today – unless you’re trying to complete the whole UK coastline I would suggest it’s one to miss. But having discovered a bit in daylight today we find we’re near the lovely village of Aust and, now we’re all dry and recovered, we’re about to visit the pub for refreshment. Tomorrow’s another day – it’s Severn Bridge parkrun and we’re meeting Ros and David. 

The Boars Head in Aust