Hay on Wye to Bideford

Section 6 route map

172 miles in 11 days

The cloud lifted as I climbed my way up Hay Bluff for a glorious day traversing the Black Mountains and the last few miles of the Offas Dyke path down the Wye valley were completed in rising temperatures. I crossed the Seven Bridge and skirted around the edge of Bristol though the Avonmourh Industrial Complex in a heat wave with temperatures well above 30C stopping at every ice cream vendor. Not ideal walking conditions, but it only lasted a couple of days before temperatures returned to normal crossing the Mendips to Cheddar. Trying to cross the Somerset Levels on unused and overgrown footpaths I was defeated by nettles and resorted to road walking for most of the day to Bridgewater. From there it was into unknown territory over the Quantocks to Watchet and on across Exmoor to rejoin the acorns once more for the final leg along the South West Coast path.

Severn Bridge
Crossing the Severn Bridge in a heatwave