The Piercefield Estate, near Chepstow racecourse is, or was, an impressive Georgian estate, with a depressing past of carribean sugar plantations, cronyism and links with slavery. The story continues, with current ownership linked, via a Virgin Islands registered company to billionaire Newcastle United FC owners and Swiss residents. A once-fine house is now overgrown and in ruins, surrounded by security fences and Keep Out signs (which would have been no problem for my ten-year-old self and friends). We followed the Wye Valley walkway through some pleasant (steep) woodland paths above the river.