Taking The Wye Tour 250 Years On
250 years ago, the birth of British Tourism began right here in the Wye Valley. Today a group of us retraced the steps of the man who kicked it all off, William Gilpin, on The Wye Tour 2020 with the Wye Valley AONB.
We started before the mists had burned off but slowly blue sky appeared and the sun shone for most of the day on many incredibly beautiful and inspiring scenes. It’s not hard to see why this area inspired Gilpin so, and brought so many artists, poets and writers to take ‘The Tour’ and see it for themselves.
From the beginning of the tour in Ross-on-Wye, we journeyed to Goodrich Castle, Symonds Yat, Monmouth, Tintern and finally Chepstow. A driving tour instead of by boat as Gilpin would have done in 1770, we managed to see in a few hours what it would have taken him two days to explore. Stairs, walkways and bridges have been added, the industry which especially would have been seen in Tintern is gone, but so much of what he saw remains, thankfully, unchanged in its natural beauty.
What a truly spectacular area this is, we’re still blown away with it ourselves. It’s a privilege to live and work here. We had a fascinating day exploring the Wye Valley today as part of the 2020 celebrations.
Find out more at: https://www.wyevalley-nl.org.uk/the-wye-tour/
