This is a short walk, ideal for walking off a few calories if you’ve had tea at Tintern Old Station or Sunday lunch at the Brockweir Inn. It begins by going along the river bank, there’s then a couple of short steep climbs, and the final section wends downhill on lanes back to the pub.

SUMMARY

• Grade: Moderate – the middle section involves two short but steep uphill climbs, and these can be muddy and slippery
• Length: 2.2 miles
• Key Features: Brockweir Quay, walk along the river bank, the house where Flora Klickmann used to live, views towards the Severn estuary.
• Refreshments: Brockweir Village Shop,Brockweir Inn, Tintern Old Station.

For an interactive version of this map click the image above or here

Route

This walk begins at the Brockweir Inn. Go towards the river, and just before the bridge take the right hand turn along Quayside, following the path marked towards Bigsweir. Go along the river bank for about a mile, past the boathouse.

50 yards after the boathouse, you want to take a path up on the right hand side. This path is not easy to see. If you look you may find tracks in the grass. There used to be a stile where the path went across the fence into the woods, but this has more or less disintegrated completely – so just follow the path upwards. This is quite and steep and potentially muddy climb, which includes going under and over fallen trees as necessary, and doing your best to avoid brambles.

After a fairly short distance you will find yourself walking towards a substantial stone wall, and you begin by going to the left up some steps on the other side of this for a few yards, then turn left and almost immediately right. This should take you onto a path which has stone walls on both sides (and a tree growing in the middle which you have to squeeze past). Turn right at the end of this and make your way around the outside of the field with donkeys in it.

When you get up to the double lane track turn right for about 15 yards, and then turn left in front of Spring Cottage. The drive of the cottage bends to the right, by you want to take the little footpath which goes sharply left and along the side of the cottage. Go uphill on this track, until you come to a rusty kissing gate which you go through, and then go diagonally across the land in front of you.

The house to your right is the one that used to belong to Flora Klickmann, probably best known as the editor of the Girls Own Paper. You continue going diagonally across another small field, until you reach a former lane where you go right.

Continue along this until you see a yellow water hydrant signed in front of you, and here you turn left. Go right at the end of this lane along a restricted byway, onto an asphalted track, and you will find your way back by heading downhill and following signs towards Brockweir.


The walk

This is a fairly short walk, but it encompasses several interesting features, and for those who want to feel their hearts pounding, the uphill stretch is short but fairly steep.

A few minutes into the walk you will see the recently restored Brockweir Quay. When Brockweir was a thriving port and boatbuilding centre, sailing barges (trows) could come upriver on tide as far as Brockweir. Their cargoes were then transferred to smaller barges which were hauled up river. As you go further along the river bank you pass Brockweir house boathouse –also recently restored.

The first part of the uphill climb, from the river, is often slippery because of mud, and footholds can be difficult to find. Just to add to the fun, this path has not been very well maintained, and so you often end up climbing over or trying to get under fallen trees.

The first part of the uphill stretch takes you to Flora Klikmann’s old house – if you want to know more about her and the books she wrote Stella books in Tintern is a treasure trove of local information.

When I did the walk in December, it was one of those days you just want to forget about. The temperature was cold, but not enough to freeze the mud for easier walking. There was no rain, but the skies were an unremitting grey. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood, but there is no doubt that the best time to do this walk is in early summer. One of the reasons is that Flora Klickmann’s did not call the area near her house a flower patch for nothing. The fields around the house (Sylvan House) and more widely in this area of full of wildflowers in the late spring and early summer, including common orchids, green veined orchids, twayblade and yellow rattle – for more information look at the details of the meadows near Sylvan house here. The photo below shows what the meadow would have looked like if I’d done the walk in the summer rather than the winter!

Brockweir and St Briavels extend over a network of small fields, and the local parish grasslands society, helps owners of these small fields to maintain them in a way which is conducive to nurturing and increasing biodiversity. There have been occasional open days when visitors can take a look around some of these wild flower Meadows. For more details of the work of the parish grasslands society look here.

Walking back from Flora Klickmann’s house, you’ll catch glimpses of views down the valley towards the Severn estuary, by looking over the walls and through the trees.