It was springtime; the snowdrops were peeping through the ground and catkins were softening the outline of the leafless trees, so it was time for travel! We were heading to Hewelsfield in the Forest of Dean, in the county of Gloucestershire.
In the period 1782-1850, traveling through the Wye Valley was a popular excursion and might be said to be the start of the tourist industry in the UK. When the Napoleonic Wars stopped travel to Continental Europe, the fashionable traveller had to abandon the Grand Tour and travel locally instead. Typically they would start at Ross-on-Wye and sail down the River Wye to Chepstow, stopping off at Goodrich Castle, Symonds Yat, Monmouth, Tintern Abbey, and Piercefield.
On our Grand Tour, we visited Chepstow, Symonds Yat, Monmouth and Tintern Abbey. In addition, we explored Puzzlewood, Raglan Castle and the Big Pit National Coal Museum at Blaenavon. So because we were not following the route of the Wye Tour, I will present this blog with events in chronological order.
