D155: English Coastal Path

Day 155: PORTISHEAD to CHEPSTOW

Thursday 13th March 2025

Today miles: 17.7 Total miles: 2543.3

First up, I just wanted to say how excited I am that I’m going to be entering Wales later today.
I was back on the coastal path before 8am and my first priority for today was to find something to eat. I crossed the Southern dock and then immediately dropped into the nearby Sainsbury’s store before carrying on. As I left the urban sprawl behind I walked along the sand dunes and minutes later I came upon a huge outside new car storage depot. It took around forty minutes to walk around the entire perimeter fence until I arrived at the graffitied subway under the M5 motorway. I was then also able to cross the River Avon. After passing through Avonmouth I knew that I must have been close to an Amazon Warehouse as I was passed by at least sixty of their liveried vans over the next mile. Most of the drivers looked about fifteen years old. Just beyond Seabank Power station the route passed through a short wooded copse. It was only around three hundred metres but it was horribly littered with piles of household rubbish.

The first vehicular route across the Severn Estuary, The Prince of Wales Bridge is now very close by. Unfortunately pedestrians have to continue up the estuary for a further two miles towards the Severn Road Bridge. Before continuing I stopped at Severn Beach and ate some lunch. There were several other people milling around in the area, having their photo taken with the Prince of Wales (Bridge) in the background. The walk along the estuary towards the Severn Road bridge was nicer than I had expected and I arrived at the foot of the bridge excited to be entering Wales. A couple of years ago my better half, Gemma who was already aware of my walking intentions was surprised that my route along ‘The English Coastal Path’ also included Wales. I had always intended to circumnavigate the entire mainland UK. I just kept referring to it as the English Coast Path and the ‘Wales’ thing surprised her. I climbed onto the bridge and was expecting to pass a ‘Welcome to Wales’ sign half way across, but it never appeared.

As I walked along I had to move to the inside of the bridge as I began to feel lightheaded and a little dizzy looking down towards the water. I got to see my first ‘Welcome to Wales’ sign just beyond the subway under the M48. Rather than continue along the coast I turned off towards Chepstow. Anybody who’s read this journal will confirm that I’m not a purest. I don’t intend walking the additional mile into Chepstow just to reach the start/finish of the Wales Coastal Path.
I waited for my bus which returned me to Bristol and the ‘Full Moon Backpackers’ around 5pm. I then had a bizarre conversation with a young male who I was sharing an eight bed room with. As I entered the room the poor thing was looking a bit flustered and I asked him if he was okay. He then told me that he had lost his ‘script’ which is common speak for a methadone prescription and this is a popular substitute for heroine. He wouldn’t have known that I’m a serving police officer so I just played dumb. As I started to leave he then decided to tell me that he’d have to get in touch with somebody to source some heroine and I just smiled towards him as the door closed. I wasn’t particularly happy that I could potentially be sharing a room tonight with somebody who is high on a class A drug. I considered reporting this to reception but instead decided to wait and just hope that nothing kicked off.

It’s my final day of walking on the coast path tomorrow but my first full day on the Welsh Coast Path. I’m excited about this new section.