NCN 4 Bristol to Caerphilly
Croeso i gymru - Welcome to Wales
The day is bookended by a cathedral and a castle, but on this stage, the main players are bridges;; Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Severn Bridge and the Newport Transporter Bridge, all glorious, soaring and spectacular. And linking them are narrow lanes, traffic-free paths, some gentle countryside, albeit a little wilder and a little harsher than the soft downs of middle England. It’s a good ride, almost beside the sea, nearly country, nearly industrial, and always varied.
Ride Practicalities
START/FINISH: Windsor DISTANCE: 95km TOTAL ASCENT: 577m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: Traffic-free throughout other than a couple of short sections through Maidenhead and along the quiet country lanes beyond Hungerford. The tow paths can be a little bumpy and muddy after rain so the route is best suited to 28mm tyres RECOMMENDED CAFÈS/PUBS; Newbury; The Tiny Cafe, Great Bedwyn; The Old Post Office CAMPING; Grafton; Wildcampingwiltshire, Pewsey; The Bruce Arms NEARBY MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Windsor, Reading, Thatcham, Newbury, Hungerford, Great Bedwyn LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: London to Windsor, NCN 5
Ride Notes
Bristol is a hard place to leave; there’s world-class street art, classical squares and vibrant modernity. IControversial issues are debated in a grown-up way, and the M Shed museums is one of the best in the land. The city, beside the sea, surrounded by a ‘green and pleasant land’, has been a departure point for many British adventurers, including John Cabot and William Weston, who was the first known Englishman to lead an expedition to North America. And now it’s out turn to be the adventurer and set out for Wales.
Bristol Cathedral
If you’d been standing on Bristol Bridge from where this stage begins, in 1793, you’d have been mixed up in a famous riot. The protest was over the tolls being charged. Eleven people died. There were protests too in 2020, when the City Council closed the bridge to private vehicles and vans in an attempt to make the city less polluted, and although tempers were raised, no one died.
You follow the little red 4s through the rolling over the Clifton Downs to the Suspension Bridge, another of Isambard Kingdom’s constructions. It was a woman, Sarah Gubby who in 1811 patented a ‘new mode of constructing and erecting bridges and railroads without arches or sterlings whereby the dance of being washed away by floods is avoided’. Gubby was the first woman to patent an engineering design. Her drawings included a pair of chains laid over wooden boards to form a deck. The chains were to be anchored in someway to piles erected on each bank. Whilst her drawings no longer exist, her design which she promoted vigorously, was used as the basis for Brunel’s bridge.
Once out of the city, the riding is on traffic-free paths through the Blaise Castle Estate and onto the quiet back lanes of the Severn estuary. Soon you arrive at one of Britain’s most beautiful post-war constructions, the Severn Bridge, opened in 1966 and is now Grade 1 listed. The salt air scudding off the river, the elevation above the the blue-brown sea and 1.6km distance make it a thrilling ride.
The Prince of Wales Bridge over the Severn
Once in Wales, the route follows the estuarine banks of the Severn. As with so many estuaries, there is a feeling of remoteness and neglect as you ride around semi-abandoned fields on ninety degree corners. What homes there are seem to be poorly maintained and gravelly puddle-filled lay-bys are habituated by cars with steamy windows. You follow the dykes and ditches, riding on rough paths through woods and poorly surfaced roads to cross the river Usk at Newport.
The pasture of South Wales
For centuries, bridge building styles arose from geographical restrictions as well as naval and mercantile. It was essential to maintain the free flow of ships serving an empire up and down the rivers and few places presented the challenge of Newport’s position on the Usk. The river is wide and meandering. A tunnel was declared too expensive and the low-lying land made a traditional span bridge difficult. The solution was the Transporter Bridge which took taffic on an electrically powered gondola. The bridge is closed for major repairs and is due to re-open in the summer of 2024.
The Transporter Bridge, Newport
The route now heads inland, on narrow, high-hedged lanes. It’s a hilly end to the day but the the great, grey humps you see on the horizon are not for this trip. There is a wilder feel to this section; the wind is a little brisker, the sheep-grazed pasture a little rougher. The day ends outside Britain’s second biggest castle at Caerphilly. Depending on how late you left Bristol and how much time you spent gazing out to sea from the Severn Bridge , you’ll either visit the castle today, or tomorrow before you pedal away. But visit the castle, you should!
To go to the previous stage, (3) click here
For stage 5 click here
All the details given on this route are given in good faith. However, situations on the ground can change, so if you know of any access issues, closures, or have any thoughts and feedback on the route, please include them in the comments section below.