Offa's Dyke Path #1 Hike the days, camp the nights (Chepstow to Monmouth)

Offa's Dyke Path is a national trail of a 177 miles (285km), starting near Chepstow and finishing in Prestatyn. This trail is along the beautiful boarderlands of the Welsh Marches and aims to visit the remaining parts of the iconic earthworks of Offa's Dyke. We begin the hike above the cliffs of Sedbury on the outskirts of Chepstow. Here we use the inscribed bolder as the 'official' start and immediately we are able to view some remains of the dyke. Pushing on, we initially pass through a housing estate with a footpath on the outskirts that allows us to view the River Wye. From here we can see the Old Wye Bridge and Chepstow Castle which is the oldest stone castle in Britain. Leaving the urban area behind we come to a high view overlooking the river Wye which we discover was used as a jump off point for Sir John Wintour to escape his pursuing forces of the Parliamentarians during the Civil War. Another high point provides spectacular views of the ruins of Tintern Abbey. Further along we come to the Devil's Pupil, this is believed to have been a high point the devil used to try and temp the monks of the abbey. Now we make a decision to follow the high route as we believe the route along the river maybe muddy due to the recent rain. So we take the high route, which entails walking over a large hill. On completion of our ascent of the hill, we rejoin the trail at Bigweir Bridge. Eventually, on the outskirts of Monmouth we come across the hill Kymin. It is here we find first of all the naval temple built in 1800 in honour of the admirals killed in the Napoleon Wars. Then nearby we discover the Round House which was built in 1794 by the members of the Monmouth Picnic Club. Wet descend in to Monmouth and view all the historic buildings before pushing on to try and find a wild camp spot in the fading darkness on the outskirts of the town.