Day Five - The more things change the more they stay the same
We spent the day mostly exploring two cities on the Wye River, appropriately named Ross-on-Wye and Hay-on-Wye. Ross was nearest and thus first up. We started the trek in a fashion similar to all boat-carried Picturesque tours from the past, looking forward to the first of many scenes on the river banks, Wilton Castle. It seems that Wilton has faced the fate of similar pieces of English heritage (no reference to the conservation group) in that they fall into private hands and are removed from public access. Nonetheless, the main enjoyment of Wilton, as a rather smallish ruin, was as a floating scene and that has certainly remained true today. We witnessed scores of canoeists and skulling teams gliding past the ivy covered monument... at least it's still ivy covered!
The launching point for most of the Picturesque tours was Ross and one can still rent canoes there, but must be a member if you want to launch from the site of the previous boat house. This (below) is the traditional viewpoint for many a picture postcard of Ross; changes include the disappearance of the coracle-clad fishermen and addition of a new boat house, but little else has changes beyond foliage between the Francis Frith & Co. postcard and my shot from today.
A brief rain prompted a short snack break at the Royal Hotel before we left heading for Hay-on-Wye.
We took a back road and found ourselves reasonably close to Dore Abbey and proceeded to the ancient site of the abbey. The abbey site contains both the ruins of the original 1147 A.D. structure and a church restored in the 17th century. Many Picturesque journeys enjoyed both, but (of course) it was the ruins which fit most nicely within the 'rules' of Picturesque scenery.
The site is located in the Golden Valley, a beautiful hilly drive on any day, but we experienced intermittent rain, rainbows, and glowing sunshine. I simply could not resist taking a photograph of sheep.. as if they were a rare commodity in Wales or England. Sue me.
We arrived in Hay-on-Wye late in the afternoon and headed directly for the grand-daddy of used book stores, Castle Books. In fact, Hay-on-Wye boasts proudly as the world's largest collection of used books and used book shops. Castle Books is indeed in an old castle and also home to a wide assortment of books, old prints, photographs, engravings, and many, many antiquarian and rare books. We spent the better part of two hours scouring dusty shelves and bins. I netted a nice Francis Frith & Co. photograph of Ross-on-Wye, that contained a nice surprise upon opening -- another photograph of (ivy-covered) Goodrich Castle. We'll visit there next week to see what has changed at Goodrich.
Check out the Day Five Gallery.
We spent the day mostly exploring two cities on the Wye River, appropriately named Ross-on-Wye and Hay-on-Wye. Ross was nearest and thus first up. We started the trek in a fashion similar to all boat-carried Picturesque tours from the past, looking forward to the first of many scenes on the river banks, Wilton Castle. It seems that Wilton has faced the fate of similar pieces of English heritage (no reference to the conservation group) in that they fall into private hands and are removed from public access. Nonetheless, the main enjoyment of Wilton, as a rather smallish ruin, was as a floating scene and that has certainly remained true today. We witnessed scores of canoeists and skulling teams gliding past the ivy covered monument... at least it's still ivy covered!
The launching point for most of the Picturesque tours was Ross and one can still rent canoes there, but must be a member if you want to launch from the site of the previous boat house. This (below) is the traditional viewpoint for many a picture postcard of Ross; changes include the disappearance of the coracle-clad fishermen and addition of a new boat house, but little else has changes beyond foliage between the Francis Frith & Co. postcard and my shot from today.
A brief rain prompted a short snack break at the Royal Hotel before we left heading for Hay-on-Wye.
We took a back road and found ourselves reasonably close to Dore Abbey and proceeded to the ancient site of the abbey. The abbey site contains both the ruins of the original 1147 A.D. structure and a church restored in the 17th century. Many Picturesque journeys enjoyed both, but (of course) it was the ruins which fit most nicely within the 'rules' of Picturesque scenery.
The site is located in the Golden Valley, a beautiful hilly drive on any day, but we experienced intermittent rain, rainbows, and glowing sunshine. I simply could not resist taking a photograph of sheep.. as if they were a rare commodity in Wales or England. Sue me.
We arrived in Hay-on-Wye late in the afternoon and headed directly for the grand-daddy of used book stores, Castle Books. In fact, Hay-on-Wye boasts proudly as the world's largest collection of used books and used book shops. Castle Books is indeed in an old castle and also home to a wide assortment of books, old prints, photographs, engravings, and many, many antiquarian and rare books. We spent the better part of two hours scouring dusty shelves and bins. I netted a nice Francis Frith & Co. photograph of Ross-on-Wye, that contained a nice surprise upon opening -- another photograph of (ivy-covered) Goodrich Castle. We'll visit there next week to see what has changed at Goodrich.
Check out the Day Five Gallery.
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