The Wye Valley

Exams are over - that only means one thing... a great big bike journey! I went with Sherry on the blue bike across into Wales and to the Forest of Dean then followed the River Wye back. It's a real scenic route (even Dad knows this one) and the valley itself is an AONB.

First stop - Chepstow. We'd been here before, but as it's along the way - why not.

My favourite spot, is easily Chepstow castle, although the Town Wall is worth checking out, the castle is a lot more impressive, and you can see England across the river. In addition, nearby is John Rennie's 1816 iron bridge that takes you across into England - don't have a [recent] picture of this one though.

Sherry at Chepstow Castle


Me

Looking across the Wye through the railings
Those houses there are on the English side.

We then went across the bridge and up into Tutshill on the English side and up (B4228) towards St Briavels. I thought I'd go through the Forest of Dean to see what it was like - I have to admit, it was pointless as I didn't really know what I was looking for, just cruising through it. I will see if there is anything worth checking out specifically next time.

Forest of Dean: Tidenham Chase
I saw my share of trees that day (I did enjoy seeing miles and miles of trees though.)

Coleford - a market town

We thought we'd head to Monmouth upon finding little to see (I'm certain it was us not knowing what to go and see rather there being a lack of things to see). The roads (Staunton, A4136) took us through lots of twisties into Wales, was real fun leaning my bike into all those corners... at speed. At some point I need to invest in a camera which takes pictures while I am on the road. Anyways, Monmouth was a pretty town and we decided to eat here. Hooray for Wetherspoons where we had a lovely lunch and desert.

Hooray for condiments =)

Unfortunately we spent a lot of the time eating, and by the time we came out, everything was closed and it had turned chilly. Uh-oh. But we did see a few nice things.

Monnow Bridge Gatehouse - Built in 1271.

We leave Monmouth around 8:15pm and upon heading down the A466, which took us back into England. Upon crossing the Wye (which marks the border) we found it to be far too picturesque not to stop.

Looking north up the Wye
The English side is on the right



Looking south down the Wye
The Welsh side is to the right


The old tollhouse on the Welsh side
...and Sherry blowing her nose - Hayfever =(

The Tintern Railway Station Tea Rooms
This was a bit further down the A466. It's an old railway station which is now a tourist attraction.

The old signal box


An old train


British Railways


The village of Tintern


The village of Tintern


Tintern Abbey

By now, it was getting late, and Sherry was getting cold (silly Sherry - inadequate clothing :P ), so we headed back down to Bristol. It was a great day out - and the perfect relief to weeks of hardcore revision and exams! We both agreed we'd come this way again as we found the area rather pretty, so we shall, since we didn't really have time to stop at Tintern and look at the Abbey.

Until next time....!

Lecturers....

Most lecturers are usually quite good at replying to emails (providing they're not being condescending).

I asked my law lecturer for the name of the photocopied handout she gave so I could locate the book myself after having lost the handout. She tells me to come in and see her, and says that she wrote it herself, she might have a spare. (she didn't write that particular handout herself, and I clarified that what I was after was from a book)

I then manage to locate what appears to be the exact book on Amazon (she photocopied the cover), and ask her to clarify if this is the book. She's a part-time lecturer, so she's off for the weekend. In the meantime I go to UWE to borrow said book and arrive home, find that it almost certainly appears to be the book. She sent me a reply today when she got back in and tells me again, to go in and see her and that I wouldn't need any additional material. (I won't - I have what I need now)

But the fact here, is that she failed failed twice to answer my emails (instead just sending me one-liners)
- I asked her for the name and author of a book she handed out a photocopy of (she failed to answer my question)
- I asked her to clarify whether the book I'd found on amazon (and subsequently in the UWE library) was indeed the book which the handout was from (which she failed to clarify)

I thought these people teach in the University of Bristol - they would at least be able to read the emails and give appropriate replies...

Geth: "lecturers never actually pay attention to what other people say... that's not their method :P"

Some do... but she is pretty bad at replying to emails compared to others. She's a great lecturer, but just annoying she failed to answer me here.

p.s. the book is actually a pretty good book!

Imber (on the Salisbury Plains)

Pretty certain very few people will have been. This one's about my visit to Imber, an abandoned village.

In short, the War Office bought up lots of land around WW2 period, and eventually bought up all the land that the village of Imber was on, making the villagers tenants of the War Office effectively. They evicted the villagers although told them that they could come back after the war. They did leave, and they believed that it was part of the war effort. The village is not normally open to the public except a few times each year at most. I visited on April 10th 2009 on my way to London. Imber lies in the middle of the Salisbury Plains, far away from most other settlements. I got there taking the A36 down to Warminster and asking some locals (it's not signposted...) Unfortunately it was cold, wet and dull so that really didn't help. My bike was covered in mud by the time I left. (and was 2 hours late to London - although it was cleaner by then!)

Imber Road
The road leading up to Imber from Warminster. Everything looks normal here.

Military signs are red.

The sign saying when it's open this year.

Passed by a tank...

Military Firing Range - Keep Out.
Almost there...

Almost at the checkpoint, I mean.
This is the checkpoint - I imagine it would be manned normally. Imber is still a few (2?) miles from here.

Danger Unexploded Military Debris - Do Not Leave The Carriageway
These signs were everywhere I went.

My bike!
First long journey within a week of hopping onto it and I'm off to London! (mastered it by the time I got there, haha.)

The loooooong road.... 3 dead tanks in this picture, there was a 4th on the far left.

The Village of Imber

Imber Court (19th century building I think)

Some army guys having a chat.

Plenty of these UGLY fake-houses around.
Target practice or something I'm guessing...? I hate the fact they're in the middle of the village.

The church
This is something the army didn't take over. Thankfully.

One of the derelict houses (building 21)

Seagram's Farm to the left. Not sure what the one on the right is.
19th century buildings.

Inside building 21

Building 21 again.

I enjoyed my visit to Imber, it was quite an eye-opener. I'll be back here in the future, but I hope they do something nice with the village in the future. It's very sad the way it is at the moment.

More info: ForeverImber.org.uk

That's it for now!

Pill and Portbury

Earlier today (now yesterday), I went out for a ride - I needed it. I wanted to take a long way round towards home, and I decided I'd want to see some of the River Avon. So I decided to head on the southern side into North Somerset and check out Pill and some roads I'd long forgotten about.

Pill is a village on the other side of the Avon and faces Shirehampton. It's a fair bit further downstream from the Suspension Bridge.

I've only got the river pictures here, there's a bit more to Pill than shown - about a railway bridge's worth - and not much else (by my standards anyway). However, it was a beautiful place, and offered an awesome view of the river and M5 bridge. There were many cyclists, both local kids riding around and also a group who had come from Bristol or somewhere more central. You can see the railway bridge in the distance of the first pic - it's the disused line that runs to Portishead.

Looking towards Pill

Portishead Crossing Club
a lovely maritime themed building.

Portishead Crossing Club

Looking at the M5 bridge from Pill
(it carries the M5 from Portbury/Easton-in-Gordano to Avonmouth)

Looking upstream

Looking downstream
...where I read Chapter 8 of Town and Country Planning!

I then rode over to Portbury Dock (just because it was signposted and decided to out of curiosity.) This was where I saw the car park full of Chevrolet Matiz's.. don't think I've seen so many of the same car all in one place.

Chevrolet Matiz car park

Toyota Vehicle Refurbishment Centre
Another interesting stop.

When I went back home I decided to check this place out on Google Earth, after driving over the M5 bridge and seeing a massive car park full of white vans. See here. Pretty amazing. I was told several years ago at Bristol Parkway station, as a train full of vehicles went by that they were on their way to Avonmouth, for export to North America. This must be pretty similar.

That's it for now. Let's see where else I go sometime soon!