Day One - Leaving and Arriving

Left Detroit Metro Airport on schedule at 9:40 p.m. Flight was pretty uneventful, a couple of little boys were running around the plane about 2 am until a couple of young men threatened them with bodily harm. Most folks slept, a few like Janet, read till the wee hours.



We were awakened to the sounds of food carts clanging down the aisles by the flight crew serving breakfast. Not a full English breakfast in any way, shape, or form.


We arrived in London's Gatwick airport and stood for about two hours in the immigration line. From that point on, from the luggage claim, to the rental car counter, there were no problems. We had nice weather once we cleared the greater London area heading west.

We crossed the Severn and began to feel the lush warmth of the now familiar Welsh & England borderlands. The landscape becames increasingly hilly and wooded. We past Tintern Abbey and surveyed the site with anticipation. The consistent scaffolding is outside another section of the abbey. It seems with such old buildings, the need for restoration and/or repair is pretty constant.


We drove on past towards Redbrook, drove into our B&B, greeted first by Bella, the courtyard dog (Doberman Pinscher), then Christine our gracious host. Everything was in order -- our room was ready, her husband Dave had left instructions on how to sign onto the wireless (WEP) network and we quickly changed clothes to return to Tintern.

Gilpin thought Tintern Abbey too geometric to be Picturesque and mused it would be improved by toppling a part of the gable in order to create a more proper ruinous effect. Regardless of it's lack of roughness, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in England. Romantic poets, artists, and an endless stream of tourists have made this a premier stop since the early 1700s.

Once covered in Ivy (English, of course) until the first decade of the 20th century, when conservation efforts removed the clinging plant which was slowly destroying the mortar and thus the entire structure.


Today it's pristine shape rises abruptly in a site just off the Wye River, complete with car and bus parking, gift shop, restaurants, and a hotel. It''s a busy place. I was a bit more aware of how steep the surrounding hills are and how more green everything is this time of year.


I got an image with the new Claude Glass.


We decided to drive around the area, arriving at Upper Wyndcliff. We took a short walk down a marked path and came upon the view of WIntours Leap. Named for a gentleman escaping the Parlimentarian forces of Cromwell (Roundheads) and finding no other outlet than a precipitous plunge off the steep cliffs into the Wye. We met a couple, a husband (and fellow photographer) Ray Mitchell and wife, Teresa (Terry), who while allowing a quick snap wished there were some locals available for the photograph... they'd only lived here forty-three years!


We began to feel the effects of jet-lag and began a slow return to the B&B, but first drove past St. Briavels and discovered several nice views plus a surprising new development cut into the thick woods.


We ate at the George Inn in St. Briavels and finally wound our way home down dark, narrow, steep and winding roads... even stopped to let a large herd of sheep pass safely on the roadway.

For a glimpse at other pictures from the first day, go to the galleries.