One Day Tour of South Wales

This evening, I am reprising a report on a one day tour of South Wales which encompassed an ancient abbey, the longest and fifth longest rivers in Britain, scenic landscapes and a large suspension bridge.

We departed our Cheltenham lodgings and drove west to Tintern in Wales.Here, we spent time visiting the romantic ruin of Tintern Abbey on banks of the River Wye.Tintern was a Cistercian Abbey founded in 1131 by Walter fitz Richard of Clare. The Cistercian community relied on farming, an activity which prospered and facilitated growth in the religious complex at Tintern from an inital collection of wooden buildings to modest stone structures to a significant expansion in the early 13th century with the magnificent Gothic church as the centrepiece.

 

 

Despite ravages of war and the Black Death Tintern Abbey continued to prosper with further expansions implemented through to the early 16th century.

Tintern’s demise came in 1536 when the monastery and its wealth was surrendered to King Henry VIII and thereafter went into decline.

Tintern was discovered by ‘Romantic' artists and poets in the late 18th century and from thereon has grown in importance as a visitor attraction, which it remains to this today.

We were impressed by the sheer scale and sophistication of the architecture.

Here is image of River Wye at Tintern.

After departing Tintern we drove up the Wye Valley to Llandogo from where we obtained some high elevation views of the Valley and then to the Forest of Dean via a delightful scenic drive along narrow lanes and roads with sheep on the edges.

After a pub lunch  at Parkend we moved south to Sedbury on the Welsh side of the River Severn from where we viewed the vista of the expansive Severn Estuary and the nearby suspension bridge.

 

 

At conclusion of the tour we returned to England across the Severn Bridge