I live in Monmouthshire. Several long distance paths either start or finish in Chepstow, just 5 miles from my home. I’ve completed the longest of these – The 870 mile Wales Coast Path- and am slowly doing the Offa’s Dyke Path. Both of these are written up elsewhere in my blog.

The Monmouthshire Way is a 121 mile circular walk that explores the ancient county of Monmouthshire in South East Wales. It has been designed by South Wales Long Distance Walkers Association member, David Morgan.

Monmouthshire is a county of considerable variety; the walk visits the towns of Chepstow, Monmouth, Abergavenny, Pontypool and Usk. In doing so it follows two key Welsh rivers, the Wye and the Usk.

The route meanders across the fertile agricultural land of the county before rising into the Brecon Beacons National Park where it crosses Chwarel y Fan – at 2227 feet above sea level is the county’s highest point. The route visits the UNESCO World Heritage ‘Forgotten Landscape’ near Blaenavon, a key location that was so important during the Industrial Revolution.

The eastern valleys and their broad whale back ridges are walked, and the wide variety of terrain visited also includes the ancient forestry of Wentwood and the Gwent Levels that were originally drained by the Romans.

The Monmouthshire Way is currently not waymarked, but work has commenced to find funding that will mean that the route obtains official status. There is a website for the route – https://www.themonmouthshireway.co.uk/MW.html- where you can download a GPX file to load onto your smartphone – I use OS Maps for this.