|
|
|
Symonds Yat and the Wye Valley |
|
|
Written by Richard Ratcliffe
|
|
Thursday, 25 June 2009 |
 View from Yat Rock
Tuesday 16th June saw us take a walk out of the Jarrold “pathfinder” guide for the area. Walk 26: Symonds Yat and Highmeadow Woods. This is a nine mile leg stretch from our accommodation and is accurately described in the book as a splendid and quite energetic walk through delightful woodland with occasional forays into more open country with superb views over the forest, Wye Valley and beyond. The River Wye is 135 miles long and it’s easy to see how it achieves this length through the many sweeping meanders that we saw. The start and finish of the walk necessitated the use of the rope ferry across the Wye. We dined at Saracens Head Inn at SY East which left a little to be desired.
Wednesday was forecast to be wet, so I left early for a walk from the chalet into the dense woods all around SY West and up on to Doward Hill. Within the woods are limestone caves which were interesting for exploration; map and compass were essential for route-finding through the woods. After breakfast we set off for a cultural half-day in Bath, some 50 miles away. It rained as predicted and we shopped whilst admiring the local architecture (not really my thing). We travelled up and down the lower Wye Valley and used the Severn Bridge (old). In the evening, after the rain had ceased, we took a look at Monmouth and ate at First Thyme in the town, very good, small restaurant.
Thursday we visited Ross-on-Wye in the morning and then followed Walk 4 from the book in the afternoon: King’s Caple, Sellack and Hoarwithy. This five mile walk’s quality was overstated by the writer of the book; nonetheless it was an easy, interesting walk with little in the way of gradient. In the evening I took the car to Kerne Bridge and took a short walk along the Wye, looking for the evidence of an old railway.
 Wye River Bridge
We packed up on Saturday morning and travelled into the Forest of Dean for a trip on the Dean Forest Railway. This was quaint and very tame, for £10 each you can travel all day, but I can assure you that one round trip is plenty. We were pulled by the oldest steam locomotive in running order (so we were told) and it is possible that the guard was the oldest attendant still in working order. For enthusiasts, the museum and bookshop were disproportionately interesting in comparison to the journey. Holiday over, we left the Forest and headed home – up to Tewkesbury by “A” road and then M5, firstly Southbond due to a navigational error, then Northwards all the way home.
I can recommend this part of the Wye Valley for a walking holiday; there surely isn’t anywhere else in the UK that you could find such a wealth of mixed deciduous woodland and so many paths and walks through very interesting landscapes and villages. I know we only scratched the surface.
Richard Ratcliffe
|
|
"It was great to see so many old friends again and to meet new people who have now become familiar names on the message board." Jill Rowland on the Honister 2007 weekend
|
