Offa's Dyke - Abergavenny to Monmouth (★★★★★)

For this walk I will be walking the very southern end of Offa's Dyke - but the most observant will notice that Offa's Dyke does not pass through Abergevenny. 

Instead the plan here is to follow the Beacon's Way from Abergavenny, and this will take me across to Offa's Dyke Path near Pandy. From there I can then head down towards Monmouth, and then on to Chepstow on the following day.

And to be honest, I hadn't originally planned to be here - Offa's Dyke is a path I had been planning to walk in later years - but I'd spend the last few days in Camarthen visiting friends, and a two-day walk along this trail seemed like a nice way to break up the trip home.

Abergavenny itself sits just inside Wales, and as soon as you arrive you very quickly notice the steep hills surrounding the town - of which the most dramatic is Sugar Loaf, which leers over the town in quite a dramatic fashion.

For walkers, this town offers quite a useful starting point - as it has easy rail access and numerous routes up into the hills - but is probably best to visit as a walker if you like a big climb, as the ascent from the town to many of it's hills is quite steep.

For more casual visitors it is a town steeped in history - being the site of a Roman fort Gobannium (with Gobannia meaning River of the Blacksmiths, which gives a bit of a clue about the town's history) - and later it gained a Norman castle and other historical sites. But the main value of the town was as an access route along the river valleys, and to the resources in the hills. 

Beacons Way to (not quite) Pandy

And so we begin with the first phase of today's walking - heading out on the Beacons Way - and as I'm expecting a late finish to the day, will completely ignore all the historic parts of Abergavenny. 

Instead I head through the suburbs, up a busy road, and past an Esso garage (where I stop for supplies) - before heading out of Abergavenny on a minor road.

From here, the Beacons Way cuts across a golf course - where I have to cross about seven separate holes, with little idea of where the balls might be coming from, but manage to get through without taking a direct hit - and then pass through Brynygwenin - before cutting up to head towards Ysgyryd Fawr (apologies if I get any spelling wrong on this walk!).

Being in Wales everything here has multiple names, and I'm using the names used on the OS Maps - but this particular hill is also known as Skirrid Fawr in English - or Great Split in it's original meaning - and it is a dominant hill that we will continue to gaze upon for most of the day. 

Heading up from Abergavenny, it is a bit of a beast to climb - and in total ascent it is not far shy of 400 meters from the train station up to the peak at 486 meters - but a reasonable amount of climbing has already been done, and the route up looks pretty smooth on the map.

At first the route winds up towards - and then through - Caer Wood, before the path breaks out of the woods near the first top - where we head out along the ridge that forms Ysgyryd Fawr. From here the views are lovely - with Sugar Loaf in particular standing out in the distance.

Looking towards Sugar Loaf (on the left) and the Black Mountains

Still got more up to go

From here there is a pleasant (and fairly busy) walk along the wide ridge up to the summit - where you can find the slightly underwhelming site of what is left of St Michael's Chapel (it looks better on the map) - before (with a bit of backtracking) the Beacons Way continues on down the far side of Ysgyryd Fawr.

This section of walking has involved quite a lot of climbing, but this is not a major issue, because the up-coming section of the Offa's Dyke Path is not particularly hilly - and indeed by this point we have matched the total ascent that remains between here to Monmouth.

Heading down now

From the bottom

Having made it down, the path heads across the fields to the road, and rather than continue on to join the Offa's Dyke on the western side of Pandy, I here opt for the more direct route along the quiet roads of the Welsh countryside to join up with Offa's Dyke on the eastern side of Pandy.

(not quite) Pandy to Monmouth

Joining up with the Offa's Dyke here is very straight-forward, as it is crossing the road I am heading along - and the first section I meet up with heads through horse fields (which also house one Donkey), on the way to Llangattock Lingoed.

A donkey

Looking back at Ysgyryd Fawr

At Llangattock Lingoed we find St Cadoc's Church, and this is the first familiar site from the last time I walked Offa's Dyke (walking from Knighton to Monmouth - many, many years ago with my Dad).

Having been inside on my last trip I don't head in - which is maybe a bit of a shame, because I could have taken a photo of the painting of St George slaying his dragon, which sits on the walls - but even from the outside it is a very pretty church.

From the far side

From the front

And whilst it is a little early in the day to resupply, these churches are you best bet for water supplies on the Offa's Dyke Path - and for this reason alone a visit is often worthwhile (this one is particularly excellent inside).

From here the path heads on through the dry arid fields of Wales (I bet that hasn't been said too many times before), heading down to Caggle Street, where we find a more modern Cwmmera Baptist Church - which actually wouldn't look out of place in southern America.

Y'all gotta take a gander at this (sorry about that)

After cutting through Caggle Street, the path heads back through the fields as we start to get our final views back towards Ysgyryd Fawr (as it starts to head out of view).

Final look back

And just as we start thinking how wonderful this countryside is round here, we come up to something new, and yet hardly unexpected in this part of the world - a castle.

This particular castle is White Castle and as there are so many castles in Wales you can have a look around this one for free, with no English Heritage walls or barriers in sight.

White Castle

The Bridge

The castle itself dates back to shortly after the Norman conquest in 1066 - in it's earliest guise as an earth and timber fortress, but with more work being done over the years - in particular during the reign of Henry III. 

This castle was a key part of the defenses used by the English to hold back the Welsh, until the Welsh ceased to be such a challenge to the English - with the castle eventually passing out of use.

Today it - like many other Welsh castles - is a delight to have a quick walk around. But we are not just here to walk around castles, and so after pausing here to eat some lunch on the handy picnic benches, the onward journey must resume. 

From here, the next phase of the walk continues out along the fields to Llantilio Crossenny, and then on along a mix of quiet roads and fields to Llanfihangel Ystum Llewern (there will be a test to see if you remember all the village names at the end of this writeup).

Cutting across the fields

The church at Llanfihangel Ystum Llewern

From here there is plenty more field hopping to be done, as the path generally follows the route of the River Trothy - and on this section the path has been altered in it's route, so map reading skills are no longer required - instead it is just a case of heading from marker to marker through the fields (which is actually quite an entertaining way to cross a field).

Eventually though, this route joins a very minor road at Hendre Farm - and here it is time to head up over the hills at King's Woods - and then down into Monmouth to finish for the day.

Walking the fields on the run into Monmouth

And this has been an excellent day of walking through a very pretty part of Britain - with the town of Monmouth being by far the easiest to stay over at along the whole of the Offa's Dyke Path.

Total Distance: 21.8 miles (14.8 miles on the Offa's Dyke Path)

Total Ascent: 2,972 feet (1,450 feet on the Offa's Dyke Path)

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Click for the writeup of the second day of walking along the Offa's Dyke Path from Monmouth to Chepstow.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 161 and 162 (a tiny section at Monmouth) OS Landranger maps - while there is also an Offa's Dyke guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked and easy to follow.