Hiking 3 days in a row is hard work! Today was changeover day / day off. For those who booked in for just 4 nights, it was time for them to go (2/3rds actually, including all the other Canadians); for those of us staying 7 nights, it was a free day. We still had breakfast starting at 7:45am and we were able to pack our regular bagged lunch, but there were no planned activities other than 4 o'clock tea, if we so wished (yes, please!).
A couple of years ago I had purchased a driving tour guidebook of Great Britain, which has proven invaluable. It is pretty much the only printed guide I used to plan our trip, and I cut out the corresponding sections relevant to this holiday. We had completed half of the suggested itinerary on our way to Wales, so the other half was our plan for today.
Hay-on-Wye was our first stop. It's famous for its literary festival and for its incredible number of antique book shops. We had a pleasant stroll through several and we decided we could easily live in Britain purely for the sheer volume of excellent books!
The next suggested activity was a "scenic drive" which turned out to be the single track 10 mile Gospel Pass road, the Antique Roadshow one we walked across Tuesday. The drive was wonderful, scenic, and rather tight quarters (as seen in opening photo) but fun to drive.
We stopped at Llanthony Priory, which I didn't bother to take any notes on the history of, but it was beautiful in its contrast with the blue of the sky and green green grass and was very manageable its scope. Enough to awe, not enough to bore.
On to Dore Abbey, in Abbey Dore, of course. A ruined 12th C. abbey reconstituted as a 17th. C. church. It was very approachable in that it was well signposted and decorative objects that normally were re-set back up against the ceiling, like bosses, were on display so one could really see the detail of these great carvings. Bits and pieces of ruined abbey architectural details were piled on the floor, inviting closer scrutiny. There was still painted plaster in evidence and figures still evident on the walls. Pretty neat.
Our final church was St. Mary's & St. David's in Kilpeck. A wee little Norman Saxon church, it's about 1000 years old and has a wonderfully carved entry door, a simple interior with some excellent stone carvings, and 85 unique corbels decorating the outside of the church.
It was a very relaxing day driving the countryside, having a break from the hiking and the busyness of the house - yet we were pleased to get back in time for Afternoon Tea on the terrace!
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