\n\tWe parked at the RSPB nature reserve, which is in the Gwent levels near Nash, on a very cold but sunny morning. There was still ice on the ground as we set off at 10a.m. We went east across fields and then northeast towards Nash passing close to power lines. Walking around Nash and then across the road we passed under another two power lines to return to<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tthe road and head northeast to Henton farm where we spotted some gorgeous calves in a barn and geese gesturing at us from behind a wire fence.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThis area is called Swaplands covering 2138 acres it contains Uskmouth reed beds, salt marsh grasslands, Goldcliff lagoons (saltwater lagoons where waders nest in spring and early summer) and the foreshore – mudflats connecting the other areas and providing feeding areas for ducks and waders. There is a network of drainage ditches, ‘reens‘, all dug by hand across Swaplands.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tNow we turned southeast towards Goldcliff and its picturesque 14th C church which has a plaque recording the great Bristol Channel flood of 1606\/07. We continued west along the estuary. It was lunchtime and we found a bird hide, offering shelter from the biting wind and large enough for each of us to look out at the marsh spotting swans in the estuary. Very <\/span><\/span><\/span> \n\tA short stretch north took us to Moorlands where there was a wood carving of a pair of boxing hares, about 6ft high. We headed west and then southwest across fields to the sea wall.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tBeautiful views of the Severn estuary greeted us with the low winter sun piercing the clouds. From the sea wall can be seen the remains of Putcher baskets, traditionally made from hazel rods and willow plait, they are set out in wooden ranks. They trapped salmon at high tide to be retrieved by fishermen at low tide.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tFollowing the coastal path we came to the East Usk lighthouse, one of two either side of the river Usk at the Severn estuary. Built in 1893 by Thomas Williams it is still operational and forms part of the sea wall. We took a brief diversion on a floating pontoon into the reed beds – an interesting sensation.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAhead loomed the power station with its many power lines radiating inland. The land from Goldcliff to Uskmouth was originally covered in ash from the power station. In 2000 the wetlands reserve was created, removing the ash and re-landscaping the site, to mitigate the loss of wildlife habitat in the Cardiff Bay barrage area.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tSoon we returned to the RSPB wetlands centre for tea. The flat walk covered 8miles, our steepest climb of the day being the ramp up to the bird hide. Map OS 152<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uskmouth Nature Reserve We parked at the RSPB nature reserve, which is in the Gwent levels near Nash, on a very cold but sunny morning. There was still ice on the ground as we set off at 10a.m. We went east across fields and then northeast towards Nash passing close to power lines. Walking around Nash and then across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-IK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15874,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15874","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":0},"title":"Beauty And The Beast","author":"Alan Williams","date":"24th August 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Whether you\u2019re enjoying a ramble along this stretch of the Wales Coastal Path, enjoying a coffee or hot Welsh cakes from the caf\u00e9, or just stopped by to take in the views, Nash Point continues to wow visitors every day. With a large bedrock beach full\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for August 2025"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for August 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=424"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Picture11.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5632,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5632","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":1},"title":"Llanharan Winter Walk","author":"Alan Williams","date":"4th March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Llanharan What a contrast to the Craig yr Allt walk, it had snowed and the sun was shining so visibility was great but it was very cold. We voted to go to Llanharan and walk in the snow to the wind turbines. Parking in the station car park, we climbed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Picture1z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Picture1z.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Picture1z.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Picture1z.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5951,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5951","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":2},"title":"Brecon Nature Reserve and Hidden Valley","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st May 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Brecon Nature Reserve and Hidden Valley We parked in the lay-by, on A470, at Brecon Nature reserve about a mile north of Storey Arms. A notice stated \u2018In just a few hundred metres you will find yourself enclosed within a shady, atmospheric amphitheatre created by the soaring craggy cliffs of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sm-mountain.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4439,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4439","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":3},"title":"Clytha","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th March 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Clytha - It was the middle of March and snow flurries persisted as we drove east, the hills to the north of the M4 soon had a dusting of white. We started at the National Trust car park at Clytha Park. Clytha is an18thC landscaped estate consisting of the park,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5304,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5304","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":4},"title":"Introducing Thursday Walkers","author":"Alan Williams","date":"23rd December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The \"Thursday Walkers\" are an afternoon social walking group who meet monthly. The walks are organised by Bert and usually cover some 5 miles with a cut-off point for those undertaking a shorter route. They also include a visit to a coffee shop either during or at the end of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Valeways Walkers"","block_context":{"text":"Valeways Walkers","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=336"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Thurs-group.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10421,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10421","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":5},"title":"Rilgrimages to Raise Funds","author":"Alan Williams","date":"13th October 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"x THE MONK\u2019S TROD \u2013 AUGUST 2021 The Monk\u2019s Trod is a track that runs between the two Cistercian abbeys of Strata Florida and Abbeycwmhir, two of seventeen such abbeys in Wales. A group of friends decided to walk the route and having been advised to walk it in dry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reader's Travel Tales"","block_context":{"text":"Reader's Travel Tales","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=125"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Picture8-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2774"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2994,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions\/2994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/MarchWO-4-of-5.jpg?resize=500%2C328\")
luxurious compared to our usual lunch settings.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/bootPrintLine.jpg?resize=600%2C29\")
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