Walk 11

Walk No 11: West of Usk - Bridleway - Llanbadoc
(about 3 miles - 1¼ hours; directions last revised on 25.11.23)

Boots are recommended for this walk as stretches of it are often muddy.

This is a short walk on hilly farmland to the west of Usk. It involves climbing a steep, muddy path in order to reach the ridge to the west of the river.

Usk Bridge

Leave the town square and turn left on the main road. Cross the river and turn right. Almost immediately cross over the road and take the path signposted "Coed Duon 1.6 km".

Go through a metal gate (usually open) and straight across the field, keeping as close as possible to the factory building, and at the edge of the narrow wood take a path uphill to the right. At the top climb 7 steps, cross a stile at the edge of the wood and head half left across the field to the double telegraph poles.

Follow the waymark arrow on the telegraph pole, heading slightly left to a metal gate at the end of the hedge, which becomes visible only as you climb the slope. Cross a stile to the left of this gate and another stile after 25 metres. Go almost straight on across the field to a stile in a hedge. Go straight on across the next field, then downhill to cross a stile to the right of a tiny copse.

West of Usk on a frosty November morning
West of Usk
(See an enlargement)

Turn right and follow the wire fence to a stile at the edge of the wood. Head slightly left towards a telegraph pole and cross the stile nearby. (An optional detour can be made by turning right at this point to visit Coed Cefn Ila, a large and very pleasant Woodland Trust site offering a number of paths.) Turn left on a track, turn right on the lane and shortly take the bridleway on the left.

West of Llanbadoc

Go straight up the field alongside a line of trees and then swing left just before a conifer wood, to take a track to the left; there is a blue arrow on a post at this point. Go straight on, following a track at the field edge, and then through a small wooden gate to the left of a larger gate. Climb the bank and take the path along the field edge with trees on the right. Pass two redundant gate posts, following the blue arrow on one of them.

Shortly, near a telegraph pole on the left, continue ahead, following the white bridleway arrow (on a post). Go through a small wooden gate (with a blue arrow) and follow the track to another small wooden gate. The track eventually descends steeply past some houses to the hamlet of Llanbadoc.

The Bridleway
(See a full-sized different photo.)

Llanbadoc Church

Turn left on the road and shortly turn right at the telephone box to the area called Llanbadoc Island, passing St Madoc’s Church.

Turn left on the riverbank, shortly rejoining the road. Follow this back to the bridge and then to the town square.