The Gloucestershire Way - Day 1

Something slightly different for you. This weekend we left our doorstep on a Friday and returned on a Sunday. Yes, we braved sleeping outside. Our plan was to walk from Chepstow to Gloucester along the Gloucestershire Way. This long distance path goes through most of Gloucestershire but the first leg to Gloucester is definitely enough for one weekend. Equipped with a tent, some food and a dog we set out just after lunch on the Friday. The weather forecast was average at best but with three days outside we reasoned whatever the forecast there would be a risk of getting wet and cold.

The freshest we would look for the next three days.

The walk officially starts from Chepstow Castle. We joined the path half a mile up the road in Tutshill but we’d walked from home so we’d already done three miles by this time. Our goal for the first evening was to get to Bream on the south edge of the Forest of Dean. I was hoping to get there for around 6ish. The walk out of Tutshill was across fields and farmlands. We made one detour when the bullocks in a field started to show a little too much interest in us. This may have been because Bea was pilfering their fruit of a tree. Cow attacks would become a recurring theme of this walk.

The beginning of the relentless climb.

The walk continued through a mix of woods and small roads. It seemed we were climbing relentlessly. The constant crossing of styles, deadlifting the dog over them and the uneven ground was taking its toll quite early on. Our first major sticking point came near Woolaston. Two horses in a field were very interested in Chuck. Whilst they seemed friendly enough they were skittish and nervous. In our efforts to get around them we took the wrong path out of the field and ended up heading up a very steep hill and making quite a long detour. These things don’t matter too much if you’re on a loop back to your car but when you know you are trying to get somewhere these things can take a toll on morale.

Always check the view behind you.

The path wound on through more woods and farms. We met a couple of friendly goats but not much else. We walked through a lovely little woods with some water features between Hewelsfield and Alvington but for the next few miles it was just more hills woods and fields. Eventually after what seemed like perpetual climbing we broke out onto the road into Bream. Our first stop in Bream was to the Family Shopper on Coleford Road. The Gloucestershire Way actually bypasses Bream and in fact pretty much every town on the way but we could only carry limited supplies so we broke track quite a lot. Be warned if you stick religiously to the Gloucestershire Way you will not pass a pub or a shop the entire way. You won’t see many even if you don’t. More of which later.

Neighbourhood watch near Woolaston.

We set off up the road to The Rising Sun pub. It had gone seven o’clock already and we were getting worried about the available daylight for tent pitching. I had checked on Google to see if they did food. They didn’t have a website but a Google map check revealed a sign outside that said ‘Stable Restaurant’. That’ll do I thought. As we got to the pub the same sign was there announcing the restaurant. When I asked the lady inside if they were serving food this evening she looked at me as if I were mad. ‘Oh no, we don’t do food here’. So we stormed out in a hungry huff.

Lovely lake garden just before hitting Bream.

I made the decision that the Gloucester Way was going to have to be diverted through Whitecroft. I had planned to get back on it after our stop in Bream but we were going to be a good two miles away from it now. We would pick it back up north of Parkend. Thankfully the RoyalOak in Parkend was open and serving food. We had a good meal and a couple of drinks for £30. We were told that the landlord would probably let us set up tent in the pub grounds but we thought we’d have a little more freedom in the woods.

Unless you are planning on carrying all your food you will need to go here.

We set off in the direction of Parkend and just out of Whitecroft broke track right across the railway tracks. We found a half decent spot and in the fading light erected the tent as speedily as we could. The ground we had chosen was quite hard and lumpy but it was the best we had available. I did some research before we left about the law and where you can camp. It was shall we say, a little hazy. I shall say no more on the subject. We quickly realised that camping in a hastily chosen spot is not comfortable. Despite being very tired we could not get to sleep. The rain started just as we were putting up the tent and the constant drizzle was rather noisy. Chuck however loved being in the tent and was fast asleep in minutes. Cuddling up with Mummy and Daddy in bed is a very rare treat which he doesn’t get at home.

Our eats for the evening in The Royal Oak.

 About two hours later after lying wide awake occasionally chatting we realised we were definitely not alone in the woods. A loud grunting sound and the noise of much foliage being moved could be heard outside. Then another grunt. And then the sound of something large and angry moving past our tent at very high speed. Two male wild boar were having a territorial fight outside our tent. This was going to be a long night. Thankfully they took their discontent elsewhere but later that night another hog returned and did several laps of the tent sniffing at the door. We eventually fell asleep through sheer exhaustion. Despite this we still woke up around 5am the next day surprisingly refreshed.

Our boar-safe abode for the night.

Our camping experience had been fraught and we were several miles off the path I wanted to follow. But on the plus side we had survived the boar attack and we hoped there would be coffee available half an hour away in Parkend. We breakfasted with the tent door open and surveyed our campsite. It was obvious in the light that this was boar territory from the dug up ground all around the tent. For Chuck we had brought tins of Country Hunter Venison. It’s quite expensive but is a tinned version of what he eats at home. We were feeding him extra due to the extra miles he was covering. We set off towards Parkend in relatively high spirits. But would there be coffee this early in the morning? What else would our first full day away from home hold in store? Find out in next week’s thrilling instalment of the Gloucestershire Way. 

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