Walking Offa's Dyke Path

This guidebook describes Offa's Dyke Path National Trail, following the longest linear earthwork in Britain, running 177 miles along the English-Welsh border between Sedbury (near Chepstow) and Prestatyn on the north Wales Coast, linking the Severn Estuary and the Irish Sea, contouring above the Wye and Dee, visiting hillforts and Norman castles and exploring the hidden heritage of the Marches. The book splits one of Britain's classic trails into 12 stages, with suggestions for alternative 8 and 16 day schedules. This is a long but not too difficult walk for walkers of all abilities.

Step-by-step route descriptions are accompanied by 1:100,000 OS mapping. A trek planner gives at a glance information about facilities, public transport and accommodation available along the route. A separate convenient booklet of 1:25,000 OS maps provides all the mapping needed to complete the trail. 

The walk is astonishingly varied, taking in the lower Wye gorge, the Severn and the Dee rift valley, the pastures and woodlands of the border country, the remote moorland of the Black Mountains and the Clwydian range, and the dramatic limestone escarpments of Eglwyseg mountain. What makes it even more special is over 60 miles walking alongside the Saxon earthwork of Offa's Dyke. 

Mike Dunn

Mike Dunn was born in Leicester but has  lived in Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan for over 30 years. He worked for the Welsh Assembly Government, latterly specialising in environmental and conservation issues, and has written widely on landscape, walking, pubs and real ale. Mike's favourite locations for walking are the Welsh borders, the Hebridean Islands and the Lake District.