We had the morning to sightsee as it wasn't that far from rainy England to sunny Wales, so our first stop was Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey. Well, actually it was the Cistercian monks' Abbey long before Wordsworth came along - built in 11-something-something; ruined by good old Henry VIII but made famous to us English Lit grad's by W.'s poem of 1798. I belatedly remembered after I paid our admission fee that I'd actually been there before (high school trip); oh well, that was before digital photography so I'd might as well take some new pics!
Next was an extremely pleasant drive through the green green Wye Valley to the town of Abergavenney. We didn't stay long but had an enjoyable wander along the High Street and visited St. Mary's Priory, a church in use for over 1000 years. It's known for its magnificient medieval carvings and effigies; we liked its history and simplicity.
John de Hastings, Lord of Abergavenny (died 1324).
Last on the list was was Tretower Court and Castle. The former a rare surviving14th C. manor house (with subsequent restoration), the latter an 12th C. castle tower ruin. It was a lot of fun seeing these! The great hall in the manor was dressed up as if a feast was about to begin circa 1470, complete with tapestries on the walls, fully laid tables, and even food in the bowls! One could totally picture life back in medieval times. Most of the other rooms, however, were barren so one really had to use their imagination to picture what they were used for. Sheila had fun scouting out the tiny latrine closets in each room!
Sheila has had a wonderful summer training with her Ramblers Group in West Vancouver so she's fine with hiking without me tomorrow. She's decided that I want to do the Hard hike while she gets her feet wet (figuratively, forecast is good) so we will see how that works out!
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