We were treated with an unexpected Bank Holiday after the Queen’s death. However, I was in Bristol at the time, so I decided to find some activity that would be open on such a day. I settled on hiking. I asked one of my hostel buddies to come with me, and off we went, across the Severn and into the Wye Valley, the border between England and Wales.
It is an area of exceptional natural beauty, and fans of the show will recognise it as the filming location for the show ‘Sex Education’. There are many walks, most of which are not particularly challenging as the paths are well trodden, and the ascents aren’t too steep or tall. In fact, we managed to get two different walks in on a single day.
Lancaut and Wintour’s Leap
The main target of this walk, Wintour’s Leap, a stunning viewing platform over the river Wye was actually quite easy to reach. Somewhat disappointed, (by the lack of difficulty, rather than the views), we made our way down toward the river itself, where we found the remains of the village of Lancaut, namely the roofless remains of a church.
We made our way back along the river, after which we made the ascent up the rather steep cliffside path through a quarry, which allowed us to exit almost directly next to the place we parked the car.
Llandogo and Cleddon Falls
It was still early, so we decided to go on another walk. We drove to the village of Llandogo, and began the ascent to Cleddon Falls. On the way, we found a lovely little viewing platform with a bench and a plaque describing the place as the location where men from Llandogo would watch the river, waiting for the boats coming downstream. As soon as they saw them, they’d run down the hill side, and get the town ready to meet the boaters – to trade and to offload the goods they brought down.
We then continued walking along the top of the hills, until we reached a small set of rocks. We realised, with great disappointment, that these were the Cleddon Falls, unfortunately fried out due to the lack of rain. Only somewhat discouraged we made our way back down into the village.
We met a lovely Welsh lady on the way down, who told us all about how the town has changed over the decades. As other readers may remember from my older posts, the Welsh are very kind and hospitable! We also went inside Llandogo’s small church, as I’ll be damned if I don’t go into a church I find.
Tintern Abbey
As a sort of happy coincidence, we drove past the ruins of Tintern Abbey. Still having some time spare, we decided to stop, and have a look around. It was closed due to the Bank Holiday, but what we saw was incredibly impressive, the ruins of the former monastery casting a shadow on the surrounding town.
We May Roam 