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Dan’s second walk explores what the invaders did next, as they aimed to cement their rule across a diverse nation. Despite William the Conqueror being confirmed as King, the Normans had only completed stage one of their colonisation, and few areas were as unstable as the Welsh borders. Challenging topography and a multitude of local chieftains made for an uncivilised region and Dan’s walk around the Monnow river system is dominated by the motte and bailey castles that sprang up throughout the Norman era. These were the handiwork of ambitious barons who made their mark on the ’march’ – a border zone from which the Normans pushed their influence west into Wales and Ireland. Dan’s very rural walk is still touched by the agriculture, forests and common ground established by the Normans, and he discovers that one of the present-day landowning families has held its lands for almost a thousand years.
