CHICO the donkey dropped into a Severnside school to meet pupils on his 1,000-mile journey around Wales.

The visit to Welsh language primary Ysgol Gymraeg y Ffin Caldicot was the first time Chico – who is being accompanied on the adventure by travel writer Hannah Engelkamp and film maker Rhys Thwaite-Jones – had been to a school.

Wales now has a network of long-distance footpaths that makes it possible to circumnavigate the country – the first place in the world to achieve that.

The trek started in May in Aberystwyth with Chico heading north and since then the group has walked the entire length of the Wales-England border.

The visit came about after the parents of Ysgol Gymraeg y Ffin pupil Jeanie Hattosh-Nemeth contacted Hannah and Rhys on social media.

The school is only one of two Welsh medium schools in Monmouthshire with pupils coming from across the south of the county and parts of the Forest.

Although all lessons are conducted in Welsh, most of the pupils come from English-speaking households.

Hannah said: "Jeanie's dad, Jez, is walking around Britain and he found us on Twitter and invited us to stay."

Chico joined the school assembly where Hannah answered questions about Chico and the journey which is expected to finish in November.

She said: "The children asked good questions about why we're doing it and where we sleep and whether we'd been past their houses.

"I don't have any experience with donkeys but Chico is wonderful. He's very curious about everything.

"I'll be writing a book about the adventure – people think you have to go to faraway places to have an adventure but I knew only about five per cent of the landscapes we've been through.

"The book will be a love song to Wales."

You can follow Chico's progress on his website, http://www.seasidedonkey.co.uk">www.seasidedonkey.co.uk