Over the last few years we have been working with Craig Grimes from Experience Community, scouting suitable routes to make up some decent length off-road wheelchair rambles, which take wheelchair ramblers into the heart of the National Landscape to explore. We have miles of barrier free footpaths, forest tracks and lanes which can be accessed with the right off-road wheelchairs and knowledge.
There are four wheelchair rambles which have been developed with the help of Craig and Callum from Experience Community: the Willow Walk, Whitestone and Beacon Hill, Haugh Wood and Chepstow Park Wood.
There is also the Wye Valley Greenway, along a section of the old Monmouth to Chepstow railway line, which is a route suitable for users of mobility scooters, as well as off-road wheelchairs. View the Greenway route on the Disabled Ramblers Outdoor Active page here.
You can find out more about some of the work we have been doing to improve access below.
Craig and Callum from Experience Community have tested the four wheelchair ramble routes for off-road wheelchair users. Their Photo Trails provide vital information for wheelchair ramblers, through descriptive text, photos and mapping, so that you can make informed decisions about where you would like to go.
Enjoy a beautiful riverside walk along the Wye to find the Willow Man.
Distance/Time 4 ½ miles | 2 hours
Accessibility Suitable for all-terrain wheelchairs.
Follow the Wye upstream across riverside fields and along the old railway to the bird hide. Farm tracks take you around Townsend Farm, passing the Willow Man.
In dry conditions extend your walk by adding this peaceful riverside section. (Not suitable for off-road wheelchairs after heavy rain/ river flooding.)
Distance/Time 1 ½ miles | ¾ hour
Accessibility Suitable for all-terrain wheelchairs except after heavy rain/ flooding.
From the bird hide follow the yellow route to join the riverside path upstream past Backney bridge. Rejoin the Red Route after the Wye Valley Walk bench.
Craig Grimes from Experience Community tested the Willow Walk for off-road wheelchair users. His Photo Trail provides vital information for wheelchair ramblers, through descriptive text, photos and mapping, so that you can make informed decisions about where you want to go.
Why the Willow Walk?
Willow weaving and basket making was an important local industry. Before the age of plastic, willow was the go-to material for everything from baskets to coracles, fish traps, furniture and even invalid carriages! Willow weavers in Ross rented land at Townsend Farm, known as the ‘Withy Beds’, where they grew willow for basket making. The harvested willow was loaded onto Wye trows and taken to the town dock in Ross, by the Hope & Anchor, where the willow weaving industry was located. Follow the walk upstream to find the Willow Man.
View the Willow Walk Photo Trail View Disabled Ramblers Route on Outdoor Active
Callum from Experience Community tested this route around Haugh Wood, in the Woolhope Dome, for off-road wheelchair users. His Photo Trail provides vital information for disabled people so that they can make informed decisions about where they want to go, through descriptive text, photos and mapping.
This is a 4.5 mile route through Haugh Wood, an ancient woodland that is nationally recognised for the butterflies and moths which live there – in fact over 600 species of butterflies and moths! If you are lucky you might just spot the rare Wood White butterfly or Drab Looper moth, which thrive in the recently coppiced areas. The route also goes to Joan’s Hill Farm Nature Reserve, where the traditional wildflower meadows are full of cowslips in Spring and orchids in early Summer.
This is a 9 and a half mile walk from the main Whitestone car park near Cleddon in the Wye Valley, that takes in great views and winds it way through the woodland to Beacon Hill. From a clearing in the wood, on a clear day, the view west takes in Hay Bluff, the Black Mountains, and the Brecon Beacons, including Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in South Wales. There is a picnic bench here. An extra loop around Trellech Common can be added to make a 9.5 mile route.
The route passes Cleddon Falls, a seasonal waterfall, and weaves around Beacon Hill, an area of heathland restoration, where conservation grazing cattle such as Belted Galloways and Ancient Cattle of Wales, help keep invasive plants in check.
The area is also home to nightjars during the summer months, where their incredible calling brings this heathland area to life after dark!
Chepstow Park is a large area of woodland with both mature broadleaf and conifer species. A network of footpaths will lead you into the heart of the wood where you can walk for miles without seeing another soul. This route is 5 miles and will take around 2-3 hours to complete.
There are a couple of fantastic viewpoints, an expansive one looking south east across the Severn Estuary and one looking West across the Usk Valley towards the Black Mountains.
Chepstow Park wood was a medieval hunting park covering over 300ha. The wood is 4 miles north-west of Chepstow Castle and was originally used by the Lords of the castle in the 13th and 14th centuries as a hunting forest.
