Author Topic: Walking the Severn way - slowly!  (Read 1988 times)

aw6334

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Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« on: 15:12:38, 25/01/18 »



I live a few miles from the river Severn in Worcester. A few days ago I bought a book from a charity shop about walking the Severn way, just to look at the local walks, but it got me interested in walking it all.  It's 220 miles though, starting in Wales and ending in Bristol.


So I'd like to do it bit by bit.  How do I start planning something like this?  I would like to do circular walks I think, and I appreciate that this will increase the mileage substantially, but it will save having to get back to the start every time by public transport or having to leave one car at the start of the walk and one at the end.


Any thoughts, tips, useful links to route planning and other relevant websites welcome..... :)

NeilC

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Re: Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« Reply #1 on: 09:19:44, 26/01/18 »
I've not walked it so can't comment on specifics but if you can't find anyone to pick you up at the other end (taxis will do this often) then obviously you're limited to either there-and-back walks or trying to find loops which will include the Way's path and, necessarily, whatever footpaths/roads you can find to get you home.


Trouble with loops is that you could end up walking 3x the distance for each leg, limiting how much of the Way you manage to a few miles per trip, which at 220 miles, could take you a long time. If you can find a walking partner to go with you then you can do what I've done before which is both drive to the end point in 2 cars, leave one car and drive to the start, leave the car, walk to the end and drive back to the start. Sounds lengthy but given the distances one can walk in a day, it's not.


A good place to start is Bing Maps which you can switch to Ordnance Survey mode. You're gonna need to work out each leg individually and only some serious map time is going to do that I would have thought.

aw6334

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Re: Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« Reply #2 on: 09:47:00, 26/01/18 »
I've not walked it so can't comment on specifics but if you can't find anyone to pick you up at the other end (taxis will do this often) then obviously you're limited to either there-and-back walks or trying to find loops which will include the Way's path and, necessarily, whatever footpaths/roads you can find to get you home.


Trouble with loops is that you could end up walking 3x the distance for each leg, limiting how much of the Way you manage to a few miles per trip, which at 220 miles, could take you a long time. If you can find a walking partner to go with you then you can do what I've done before which is both drive to the end point in 2 cars, leave one car and drive to the start, leave the car, walk to the end and drive back to the start. Sounds lengthy but given the distances one can walk in a day, it's not.


A good place to start is Bing Maps which you can switch to Ordnance Survey mode. You're gonna need to work out each leg individually and only some serious map time is going to do that I would have thought.







Thanks.  I guess I can do a mix of ways. For the more local walks using two cars is a good idea, or getting someone to pick me up at the end, but if we have to drive over a hundred miles in two cars, a taxi would probably be the cheaper and better option. And  I can throw in some circular routes if they don't add much to the mileage, or just walk 10 miles one way and 10 miles back to the car.  Lots of options, I just need to put a lot more thought into it, I think!


barewirewalker

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Re: Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« Reply #3 on: 11:56:13, 26/01/18 »
I have done some of linear hops that could be similar to the Severn Way, as part of several X Wales routes. I think the actual source of the Severn would be a T&B unless you make a day visit to the Hafren Forest, park at the visitor center walk to the actual source then there are several options.
Circle south and you have the source of the Wye to visit even Plynlimon, circle north, overlook Bugeilyn, find an interesting defile west and back into the forest. Of course you could just get a taxi in Llanidloes to the Hafren Forest and do that section in a linear.
Once that is done the X75 - Llanidloes - Shrewsbury via Newtown, Welshpool gives you a pretty good selection of serviced linear routes. Between Welshpool and Shrewsbury the Severn way does a mega loop away from the river it is supposed to following. I could give the trespasses I think that is the true route but there are other ways to split that section using the bus services from either Welshpool or Shrewsbury.


That should keep you going to start, the Bridgenorth and south will be made interesting by sections of the steam railway.
BWW
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aw6334

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Re: Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« Reply #4 on: 12:09:26, 26/01/18 »
I have done some of linear hops that could be similar to the Severn Way, as part of several X Wales routes. I think the actual source of the Severn would be a T&B unless you make a day visit to the Hafren Forest, park at the visitor center walk to the actual source then there are several options.
Circle south and you have the source of the Wye to visit even Plynlimon, circle north, overlook Bugeilyn, find an interesting defile west and back into the forest. Of course you could just get a taxi in Llanidloes to the Hafren Forest and do that section in a linear.
Once that is done the X75 - Llanidloes - Shrewsbury via Newtown, Welshpool [nofollow] gives you a pretty good selection of serviced linear routes. Between Welshpool and Shrewsbury the Severn way does a mega loop away from the river it is supposed to following. I could give the trespasses I think that is the true route but there are other ways to split that section using the bus services from either Welshpool or Shrewsbury.


That should keep you going to start, the Bridgenorth and south will be made interesting by sections of the steam railway.


Thank you for that - I can see this is going to take some planning, maybe I will postpone it until I have more confident in my walking and planning abilities! Perhaps I'd be better off starting with a simpler ldw like the Millenium Way, which is Pershore up to Warks and down to the Cotswolds and can be done in short circular routes.






Mel

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Re: Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« Reply #5 on: 23:18:00, 26/01/18 »
Hey! Don't discount doing it over a series of circular walks.  I'm currently "completing" The Yorkshire Wolds Way and the Cleveland Way doing exactly the same.  Some walks are circular.  Some involve catching a bus and doing a linear and some are simple out and back walks.... all adds to the variety and interest.


 :)

aw6334

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Re: Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« Reply #6 on: 14:15:39, 27/01/18 »
Hey! Don't discount doing it over a series of circular walks.  I'm currently "completing" The Yorkshire Wolds Way and the Cleveland Way doing exactly the same.  Some walks are circular.  Some involve catching a bus and doing a linear and some are simple out and back walks.... all adds to the variety and interest.


 :)


Thanks for your input.  I won't discount doing it entirely, maybe this year I will start with a shorter and simpler one though, and make the Severn Way my 2019 challenge. Gives me plenty of time to plan what I want to see and how I want to walk it. :)

Louwoo

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Re: Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« Reply #7 on: 23:16:59, 08/05/18 »
Hi. I walked the Wye a couple of years ago and loved it.  The source of the 2 rivers are pretty close.
I did a combination of things.
I arranged two long weekends away to cover the upper sections (as they were the furthest) and then managed to do quite a few linear walks combined with bus routes.  I was lucky enough to have someone who was happy to pick me up 20 up / downstream.  A couple of circular walks too when needed.
...I might look at the Severn next year. Good luck and let us know how you get on. O0

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zuludog

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Re: Walking the Severn way - slowly!
« Reply #8 on: 07:17:17, 09/05/18 »
Looks like you're not backpacking, but you could stay in B&Bs, pubs, and so on, and walk for 2 or even 3 days at a time
That way you can do longer sections for just a bit more planning. Do your homework on buses & other transport to get to and from the start or end of a section


We're very nearly into midsummer. If the weather's good & settled you could try walking for 24 to 36 hours at a stretch, just taking things at a steady pace and dozing by the side of the path
This will give you something different to look back on


Don't worry about taking longer if you do it in sections. A friend was asked
Have you ever done the Pennine Way?
Yes
How long did it take you?
About 18 or 19 years



 

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