1.
River Wye
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The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK, stretching some 215 kilometres from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of the border between England and Wales, the Wye Valley is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Wye is important for conservation and recreation. The Wyes Latin name is Vaga, an adjective meaning wandering, the Tithe map references a Vagas Field in both Whitchurch and Chepstow. The modern Welsh name Gwy may be derived from old Welsh Gwybiol or Gwyr, the source of the Wye is in the Welsh mountains at Plynlimon. Its total length is 134 miles, the lower 16 miles of the river from Redbrook to Chepstow forms the border between England and Wales. The River Wye forms two Sites of Special Scientific Interest, one covering the Upper Wye above Hay-on-Wye, and one covering the Lower Wye downstream to Chepstow. The criteria for inclusion of the river as an SSSI include geology, topography, flora, mammals, invertebrates, fish and birdlife, as the river, the Wye abuts a range of other SSSIs in England and Wales, including the Upper Wye Gorge and Lower Wye Gorge. It is also a Special Area of Conservation and one of the most important rivers in the UK for nature conservation and it is an important migration route and wildlife corridor, as well as a key breeding area for many nationally and internationally important species. The river supports a range of species and habitats covered by European Directives, in Powys the river lies within the Radnorshire Environmentally Sensitive Area. Much of the valley is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Lower Wye has been designated as a salmonid fishery under the EC Freshwater Fish Directive, the Wye is largely unpolluted and used to be considered one of the best rivers for salmon fishing in the United Kingdom, outside Scotland. In the 1980s and 1990s salmon in the Wye declined dramatically, in 1967 the Wye rod catch was 7,864, and as recently as 1988 it was 6,401, but by 2002 it was only 357. It is now recovering from this low in response to the extensive habitat improvement work carried out by the Wye and Usk Foundation, set up to restore the spring salmon runs. In 2015 the five-year average once again climbed above 1,000 and it is now the third best salmon river in England and Wales, surpassed only by the Tyne and Wear. The Wye was particularly famous for its large spring salmon that had spent three or more years at sea returning to spawn. The last recorded 50 lb rod-caught salmon from the Wye was taken in 1963 by Donald Parrish, since the early 2000s the spring catch has been steadily recovering and salmon of over 35 lb have been reported every year since 2011. The Romans constructed a bridge of wood and stone just upstream of present-day Chepstow, the River Wye was and still is navigable up to Monmouth at least since the early 14th century
2.
Bigsweir Bridge
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Bigsweir Bridge is an 1827 road bridge crossing the River Wye, straddling the boundary between the parish of St. Briavels, Gloucestershire, England, and Llandogo, Monmouthshire, Wales. It carries the A466 road, and is located about 2 miles north of the village of Llandogo,2 miles south of Whitebrook and it is the Normal Tidal Limit of the River Wye, and navigation below this point falls under the jurisdiction of the Gloucester Harbour Trustees. There is no village at Bigsweir, the bridge is about 600 metres upstream of the fishing weir and ford of Bigsweir, which is close to Bigsweir House. Recorded early spellings of the name include Bikeswere and Brithekeswere, fishing rights at Bigsweir were mentioned in the Domesday Book. By 1331 the rights were held by the monks of Tintern Abbey, some 4 miles downstream of the weir, the rights over the weir transferred to the Earl of Worcester in 1537, later passing to his successors, the Dukes of Beaufort. The Bigsweir estate, on the Gloucestershire side of the weir, was part of the lands of the Bishops of Hereford. It remained the seat and estate of the Catchmay family for several centuries. Bigsweir House itself was rebuilt around 1740, probably by William Catchmay and it is a building of two storeys built of sandstone, with a symmetrical five-bay front. Additions were made to the house after it passed to James Rooke, the estate was enlarged by purchases of woodland, and the house itself was refurbished with rich internal decoration, including panelled rooms and elaborate cornices and architraves. Further extensions were added in the 20th century, Bigsweir House is a Grade II listed building, added to the register in 1954. The elegant cast iron bridge was built in 1827 as part of the new turnpike road constructed up the lower part of the Wye valley between Chepstow and Monmouth. The bridge connects the English and Welsh sides of the river, with an abandoned, the bridge comprises a single arch of 50 metres, and was designed by Charles Hollis of London and cast at Merthyr Tydfil. A pair of flood arches were added at each end some years later. Because of its width, modern traffic using the A466 is controlled by traffic signals at either end. Bigsweir Bridge became a Grade II* listed structure in 1988, Bigsweir Woods List of crossings of the River Wye List of bridges in Wales
3.
A49 road
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The A49 is an A road in western England, which traverses the Welsh Marches region. The stretch between Ross-on-Wye and the A5 at Shrewsbury is a road, maintained by the national Highways England. From the A6 at Bamber Bridge, south of Preston, the road parallel to the M6 motorway. Through Ashton in Makerfield and Newton-le-Willows, reaching Warrington via Winwick, from junction 9 of the M62, there is a dual-carriageway through Warrington, as far as Loushers Lane. During this section, it passes under the Liverpool to Manchester Line railway, then has the Cockhedge Green roundabout with the A57 and passes to the east and it passes over a roundabout with the A5061 situated on the River Mersey, then goes past Priestley College. It passes over the Manchester Ship Canal, Cheshire Ring Canal Walk, at Pewterspear there is the Owens Corner roundabout. The road has crossroads with the B5356 at Stretton and meets the A559 at junction 10 of the M56, the road enters Cheshire West And Chester. There is crossroads with the A533 and the crosses the Cheshire Ring Canal Walk. The three-mile £6m Weaverham Diversion opened in September 1992, the old route is now the B5144, passing near Weaverham High School. The road passes over the West Coast Main Line railway after the Weaverham Roundabout, the section from Weaverham to Cuddington is a new much-straightened section. In Cuddington it crosses the Mid-Cheshire Line near Cuddington railway station, there is the Oakmere Crossroads with the A556 south of Cuddington, before the road crosses the Whitegate Way. It then crosses the A54 near Abbots Moss Hall, and the passes through Cotebrook. The two-mile £3. 8m Tarporley Bypass opened in September 1986, Tarporley Community High School is near here. The road leaves the A51 to the west at Four Lane Ends near the Red Fox, the road travels over the Shropshire Union Canal and under the Welsh Marches Line railway south of Tiverton. It crosses over the River Gowy north of Bunbury next to the Beeston Castle, the road briefly overlaps the A534 Wrexham Road from the junction at Ridley and crosses over the River Weaver. At Cholmondeley there is Cholmondeley Castle, at the crossroads of Bickerton Road and Wrenbury Road, there is the Cholmondeley Arms. Moving from the parishes of Cholmondeley to Bickley east of Moss Wood, it moves back into Cheshire West. It crosses the Shropshire Union Canal again at Tushingham cum Grindley, the road enters into Shropshire and is crossed by the South Cheshire Way near Hinton
4.
A40 road
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The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Goodwick, Wales, and officially called The London to Fishguard Trunk Road in all legal documents and Acts. The road still begins and ends in the places, but a number of changes have been made to its route. The first change dates from 1935, between Ross-on-Wye and Abergavenny, the original route of the A40 was via Skenfrith, this road was renumbered the B4521. Subsequently, the A40 was rerouted within west London, Western Avenue dates from the 1930s, but was originally opened as the A403. After the Second World War, the A40 was rerouted along part of the A219, the old route was renumbered the A4020. For the A40 in London, see A40 road, in central London it is named High Holborn, then Oxford Street. At Marble Arch it joins the A5 Edgware Road as far as the Marylebone Flyover to become Westway, formerly classified A40 as an elevated motorway and it takes the A40 to meet Western Avenue. With two exceptions, Western Avenue forms a grade-separated motorway standard dual-carriageway between Paddington and the M40 motorway, which continues towards Oxford and Birmingham, the two at-grade intersections are Gypsy Corner and Savoy Circus, both of which are traffic light controlled. For the greater part, the road is six lanes wide, at Denham Roundabout, the six lane Western Avenue flows into the M40. The A40 branches off Denham roundabout and runs alongside the M40 as a dual carriageway, after the A413 branches off the A40 becomes single carriageway, still roughly following the route of the M40, passing through the towns of Beaconsfield and High Wycombe. Beyond Stokenchurch the road is much quieter, when meeting the B4009, east of Oxford the A40 becomes a busy dual carriageway again, carrying traffic from the M40 to Oxford and beyond. The route forms the eastern section of the Oxford ring road, crossing the A44, after the road passes under the A34, the A40 reverts to single carriageway for 10 miles. It then turns to dual carriageway again to form the Witney bypass, the dual carriageway then finishes at a roundabout. For the rest of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire until Cheltenham, other than for a few short stretches and this section has the highest point of the entire A40 which is 250 m above sea level, located 5 km west of the A429 junction. Before Andoversford the A436 breaks off to the west to try to take away from descending into the centre of Cheltenham itself. The road travels through Cheltenham town centre along at least two parallel routes, afterwards it becomes dual carriageway out of Cheltenham and has a junction with the M5 motorway. The junction is a three-level stacked roundabout, where neither road is interrupted, in February 2015, the Witney Oxford Transport Group proposed the reopening of Yarnton railway station as an alternative to improvements to the A40 road proposed by Oxfordshire County Council. There is a case to reopen the railway given the severe traffic congestion on the roads to
5.
A48 road
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The A48 is a major trunk road in Great Britain. It runs from the A40 at Highnam 3 miles west of Gloucester to the A40 at Carmarthen, before the construction of the first Severn Bridge in 1966 it was the principal route between South Wales and South West England. For most of its journey through South Wales, it runs almost parallel to its successor. Before the construction of the Second Severn Crossing, during times of high winds at the Severn Bridge the A48 was used as part of the diversion route, there is a motorway section which is a spur from the M4 running from junction 29 on the west side of Newport. The A48 has the feature of having no junction options at both ends – it leads into limited-access junctions. Near the east of Cardiff, at St Mellons, it ends by flowing onto the A48 and it is 2 miles long and is a 2-lane motorway throughout its length. At St Mellons it runs continuously into a further 6 miles of the dual-carriageway A48, the original A48 continues to link Newport and Cardiff. Just before Junction 44 of the M4 motorway, there is a dual carriageway trunk road. This road used to have two stations, which have been demolished. The A48 from Highnam to Newport runs adjacent to the River Severn and it runs through a series of villages, until it reaches Chepstow where it crosses the Wales-England border. From the M4 Motorway at J15 near Swindon, traffic is directed for Wales if it is over the Severn Bridge weight limit of 44 tonnes, traffic is directed onto the A419, then onto the A417 after Cirencester, and at Gloucester, onto the A40. This road has some speed cameras, as there have previously been incidents here, during busy periods, such as the Severn Bore, this road may become busy with parked cars near the rivers edge. The road is quite empty and free running, with no heavy traffic reports. The road also runs next to the Forest of Dean, the woods may be viewed from the roadside, as may the hills of the Dean. There is a crossing in Lydney. Until Chepstow, there is a height limit under the low railway bridges, tall vehicles are directed to Newport on the A40. For some parts of route, short distance dual carriageways occur. At Chepstow, the road links Gloucestershire with Monmouthshire, there is access to the Forest of Dean in Chepstow
6.
M48 motorway
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The M48 is a 12-mile long motorway in Great Britain, which connects Gloucestershire, England, and Monmouthshire, Wales, via the original Severn Bridge. The M48 is anomalously numbered, as it is entirely to the west of the M5 motorway thus falling into zone 5 of the numbering system. It is one of three motorways in Wales. Travelling from east to west, after leaving the M4 at Awkley, Junction 21, near Olveston in England and it then passes through a toll booth for westbound traffic only, and crosses the Severn and Wye rivers via their respective bridges. Entering Wales, the M48 heads south-west after Junction 2, passing to the south of Chepstow, past Crick and continuing in a westerly direction, passing Caldicot. The motorway rejoins the M4 at Undy, Junction 23 to the east of Magor, Junction 2 can be reached via the A466, which leads to the A48. The junction gives access to the Wye Valley, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, when travelling either east or west on the M4, the M48 is the most direct route for Chepstow and Caldicot. The M48 was opened as part of the M4 in 1966, after opening, the route became increasingly busy, and in 1984 a report was commissioned into a Second Severn Crossing. After four years of construction this new route was opened in 1996, the original stretch of motorway was renumbered as M48 and now shares the traffic between England and Wales. Junction 1 is the location of Severn View services, which can also be accessed by the A403, there is a footpath leading from the service station to allow pedestrians to cross the bridge. When the M4 was diverted over the Second Severn Crossing, it was anticipated that these services may close, data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and start and end points are available, information above gathered from Advanced Direction Signs May 2011 List of motorways in the United Kingdom CBRD Motorway Database – M48 The Motorway Archive – M48
7.
Chepstow
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Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, about 2 miles above its confluence with the River Severn and it is 16 miles east of Newport,18 miles north-west of Bristol and 110 miles west of London. Chepstow Castle, situated on a clifftop above the Wye and its bridge, is cited as the oldest surviving stone castle in Britain. The castle was established by William FitzOsbern immediately after the Norman conquest, a Benedictine priory was also established within the walled town, which was the centre of the Marcher lordship of Striguil. In the late eighteenth century the town was a focus of tourism as part of the Wye Tour. Chepstow is also known for its racecourse, which has hosted the Welsh National each year since 1949. The town had a population of 10,821 according to the 2001 census and it is served by the M48 motorway, and its accessibility to the cities of Bristol, Newport and Cardiff means it has a large number of commuters. It is administered as part of Monmouthshire County Council, and is within the Monmouth parliamentary constituency, Chepstow is on the western bank of the Wye, while adjoining villages on the eastern bank of the river, Tutshill and Sedbury, are located in England. The name Chepstow derives from the old English ceap / chepe stowe, the word stow usually denotes a place of special significance, and the root chep is the same as that in other placenames such as Chipping Sodbury and Cheapside. The name is first recorded in 1307, but may have used by the English in earlier centuries. However, the used by the Normans for the castle and lordship was Striguil, probably from a Welsh word ystraigyl. The Welsh name Cas-gwent refers to the castle of Gwent. There are also Iron Age fortified camps in the area, dating from the time of the Silures, at Bulwark,1 mile south of the town centre, and at Piercefield and Lancaut, some 1.5 miles to the north. During the Roman occupation, there was a bridge or causeway across the Wye, Chepstow is located at a crossing point directly between the Roman towns at Gloucester and Caerwent. Although historians think it likely that there was a small Roman fort in the area, after the Romans left, Chepstow was within the southern part of the Welsh kingdom of Gwent, known as Gwent Is-coed. To the north of the town centre, a small church was established dedicated to St. Cynfarch. This later became an Augustinian priory on what is now Kingsmark Lane, the town is close to the southern point of Offas Dyke, which begins on the east bank of the Wye at Sedbury and runs all the way to the Irish Sea in north Wales. It is possible, though not clearly substantiated, that Chepstow may have superseded Caerwent as a trading centre, after the Norman conquest of England, Chepstow was a key location
8.
Roads in the United Kingdom
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Roads in the United Kingdom form a network of varied quality and capacity. Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour or by the use of the speed limit symbol. Some vehicle categories have various lower maximum limits enforced by speed limiters, enforcement of UK road speed limits increasingly uses speed guns, automated in-vehicle systems and automated roadside traffic cameras. A unified numbering system is in place for Great Britain, whilst in Northern Ireland, the earliest specifically engineered roads were built during the British Iron Age. The road network was expanded during the Roman occupation, some of these survive and others were lost. New roads were added in the Middle Ages and from the 17th century onwards, certain aspects of the legal framework remain under the competence of the United Kingdom parliament. Although some roads have much older origins, the network was subject to development from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. From then, construction of roads has become controversial with direct action campaigns by environmentalists in opposition. In the UK, vehicles drive on the left and on multi-lane carriageways drivers are expected to keep to the left lane except when overtaking, in Great Britain, the Highway Code applies to drivers. In Northern Ireland, the Highway Code for Northern Ireland applies, UK speed limits are shown in mph. With a few exceptions, they are in multiples of 10, unless a lower speed limit is posted on a road, the national speed limit applies, which varies between class of vehicles and the type of road. In a built-up area, unless signs indicate otherwise, a limit of 30 miles per hour applies, other limits are shown in the table. For a road to be classed as a carriageway, the two directions of traffic flow must be physically separated by a central reservation. Roads in the UK are classified as M, A, or B roads, as well as categories of more minor roads, for internal purposes. These numbers follow a zonal system, there is no available explanation for the allocation of road numbers in Northern Ireland. The majority of the major routes are motorways, and are designed to carry long distance traffic. The next category is the A roads, which form the route network. A primary route is defined as, primary destinations are usually cities and large towns, to which, as a result of their size, a high volume of traffic is expected to go
9.
Monmouth
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Monmouth is a traditional county town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow meets the River Wye, the town is 30 miles northeast of Cardiff, and 113 miles west of London. It is within the Monmouthshire local authority, and the constituency of Monmouth. According to the 2001 census, its population was 8,877, the town was the site of a small Roman fort, Blestium, and became established after the Normans built a castle here after 1067. Its mediaeval stone gated bridge is the one of its type remaining in Britain. The castle later came into the possession of the House of Lancaster, in 1536, it became the county town of Monmouthshire. Monmouth later became a tourist centre at the heart of the Wye Valley and it now acts as a shopping and service centre, and as a focus of educational and cultural activities for its surrounding rural area. The name Monmouth is an English contraction of Monnow-mouth, the Welsh name for the river, Mynwy, which may originally have meant fast-flowing, was anglicised as Monnow. The town was known in Welsh as Abermynwy, replaced by Trefynwy by the 1600s. Excavations undertaken by the Monmouth Archaeological Society on sites along Monnow Street have uncovered a wealth of information about the history of the town. Indeed, the Council for British Archaeology have designated Monmouth as one of the top ten towns in Britain for archaeology, the excavations later revealed the remains of a Neolithic crannog. The dwelling was constructed on stilts on an island away from the lake shore in water up to 10 feet deep. Timbers from the structure were dated to 4867 years before present. The first recorded settlement at Monmouth was the small Roman fort of Blestium and this was connected by road to the larger Roman towns at Glevum and Isca Augusta. Archaeologists have found Roman pottery and coins within the town centre. After the end of Roman rule in Britain, the area was at the edge of the Welsh kingdom of Ergyng. The only evidence of continuing settlement at Monmouth is a record of a 7th-century church, at a location within the town. Initially it would have been a motte and bailey castle, later rebuilt in stone, and refortified and developed over time
10.
Hereford
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Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately 16 miles east of the border with Wales,24 miles southwest of Worcester, with a population of 58,896, it is the largest settlement in the county. The name Hereford is said to come from the Anglo-Saxon here, an army or formation of soldiers, and the ford, if this is the origin it suggests that Hereford was a place where a body of armed men forded or crossed the Wye. The Welsh name for Hereford is Henffordd, meaning old road, much of the county of Herefordshire was Welsh-speaking, as reflected in the Welsh names of many places in the county. An early town charter from 1189 granted by Richard I of England describes it as Hereford in Wales, Hereford has been recognised as a city since time immemorial, with the status being reconfirmed as recently as October 2000. It is now known chiefly as a centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include, cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals, hostilities between the Anglo-Saxons and the Welsh came to a head with the Battle of Hereford in 760, in which the Britons freed themselves from the influence of the English. Hereford had the only mint west of the Severn in the reign of Athelstan, and it was to Hereford, then a border town, the present Hereford Cathedral dates from the early 12th century, as does the first bridge across the Wye. Former Bishops of Hereford include Saint Thomas de Cantilupe and Lord High Treasurer of England Thomas Charlton. The city gave its name to two suburbs of Paris, France, Maisons-Alfort and Alfortville, due to a manor built there by Peter of Aigueblanche, Bishop of Hereford, in the middle of the 13th century. Hereford, a base for successive holders of the title Earl of Hereford, was once the site of a castle, Hereford Castle, which rivalled that of Windsor in size and scale. This was a base for repelling Welsh attacks and a stronghold for English kings such as King Henry IV when on campaign in the Welsh Marches against Owain Glyndŵr. The castle was dismantled in the 18th century and landscaped into Castle Green, after the Battle of Mortimers Cross in 1461, during the Wars of the Roses, the defeated Lancastrian leader Owen Tudor was taken to Hereford by Sir Roger Vaughan and executed in High Town. A plaque now marks the spot of the execution, Vaughan was later himself executed, under a flag of truce, by Owens son Jasper. During the civil war the city changed several times. On 30 September 1642 Parliamentarians led by Sir Robert Harley and Henry Grey, in December they withdrew to Gloucester because of the presence in the area of a Royalist army under Lord Herbert. The city was occupied briefly from 23 April to 18 May 1643 by Parliamentarians commanded by Sir William Waller. On 31 July 1645 a Scottish army of 14,000 under Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven besieged the city but met resistance from its garrison
11.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
12.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
13.
Tintern
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Tintern is a village on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about 5 miles north of Chepstow. It is popular with tourists, who visit for the scenery, the village is designated as a Conservation Area. A ford across the navigable and tidal River Wye was in use in Roman times, the name Tintern may derive from the Welsh din + d/teyrn, meaning rocks of the king. Tintern Abbey was founded beside the river by Walter de Clare on 9 May 1131 and it was the second Cistercian foundation in Britain, and its monks came from a daughter house of Cîteaux in France. The present-day remains at Tintern are a mixture of building works covering several centuries, between 1270 and 1301 the abbey was rebuilt, and when it was completed around four hundred monks lived in the complex. The abbeys land was divided into units or granges, and local people provided farm labour and served the abbey. For 400 years, it dominated the economy of its surrounding area, during some of this period the area was contested between the Welsh and English, the closest battle being won in 1404 by Owain Glyndŵr, at Craig y Dorth near Monmouth. The area also had to contend with the Black Death, the abbey remained in operation until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. Though it has suggested that the monks or lay brethren of Tintern Abbey exploited the woodlands and river power for operating iron forges. Industrial activity began in 1568 when the newly established Company of Mineral and it is possible that brass was made, but the works mainly made iron wire. This was used for a variety of industries with essential goods, cards for the woollen industry, nails, pins, knitting needles. The company began letting their works, farmers of the works in the 17th century included Sir Basil Brooke, Thomas Foley, the important ironmaster and his son Thomas Foley. A blast furnace and forges were built in the valley in the 17th century, for 300 years, the numerous works and forges along the Angidy Valley dominated the village and surrounding communities. A branch from the Wye Valley Railway to the Lower Wireworks by way of a bridge was completed in 1875, but too late to stop them going out of business. In 1878 a new company leased the site to manufacture tinplate although by 1895 it was reported as closed and only ruins, associated ponds. The bridge was used in the early 20th century as a horse-drawn tramway, by the late 18th century, tourism had started in the Wye Valley, with many visitors travelling on the river to see the abbey and other picturesque sites in the area. William Wordsworth stayed in the village in 1798 and wrote Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, the Royal George Hotel is one of several located beside the main road. Tintern is home to several different walking trails, in addition to areas of interest
14.
Wye Valley
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The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic areas in southern Britain. The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the United Kingdom and it is also historically important as one of the birthplaces of the modern tourism industry. The area is rural, and many people make a living from tourism. Ross-on-Wye is the town within the AONB itself, but Hereford, Monmouth, Coleford. The varied landscapes of the Wye Valley can be explained by underlying rocks and structures, close to Hereford, the geology of the area around the village of Woolhope is largely made up of Silurian limestones, shales and sandstones. To the south of this, the Herefordshire lowlands are underlain by red mudstones and sandstones. These rocks are softer than the limestones elsewhere, so the river created more meanders, a floodplain. Around Symonds Yat, limestones and red sandstones meet and this leads to a landscape of hills and plains, as well as substantial meanders which have formed impressive river cliffs. The Lower Wye landscape was formed by the acting on a series of layers of rock that dip towards the Forest of Dean. Here the river has incised into the margins of the Old Red Sandstone plateau to form a gorge with substantial river cliffs, the steepest parts of the Wye gorge are cut through the Carboniferous Limestone. Here the combined action of the river, natural joints in the rocks and quarrying have exposed many vertical faces, geological interest extends underground, and there are many rock shelters and solution caves in the area. These include King Arthurs Cave and many others in the area of Symonds Yat, lancaut and Ban-y-Gor are Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves. They both have SSSI status being part of the nationally important Lower Wye Gorge SSSI and within the Wye Valley AONB, the Wye Valley is important for its rich wildlife habitats. The area has three sites of importance, designated as Special Areas of Conservation under the European Unions Habitats Directive. These are the River Wye, the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean Bat Sites and it supports a population of lesser horseshoe bats, a growing population of peregrine falcons, goshawks, ravens, rare whitebeam, nightjar and lesser known fish like the shad and twaite. The main Welsh populations of the small but colourful moth Oecophora bractella are found here, in September 2006 it was reported that one colony of lesser horseshoe bats in the area had reached record numbers, with some 890 bats in a small stone barn. The valley has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, caves near Symonds Yat and Chepstow provide evidence of settlement dating from Palaeolithic times, and finds from later stone ages such as the Neolithic have also been found
15.
Turnpike trusts
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At the peak, in the 1830s, over 1,000 trusts administered around 30,000 miles of turnpike road in England and Wales, taking tolls at almost 8,000 toll-gates and side-bars. During the early 19th century the concept of the turnpike trust was adopted and adapted to manage roads within the British Empire and in the United States. Turnpikes declined with the coming of the railways and then the Local Government Act of 1888 gave responsibility for maintaining main roads to county councils and county borough councils. The term turnpike originates from the similarity of the used to control access to the road. Pavage grants, originally made for paving the marketplace or streets of towns and these grants were made by letters patent, almost invariably for a limited term, presumably the time likely to be required to pay for the required works. Tudor statutes had placed responsibility on each parish to maintain all its roads and this arrangement was adequate for roads that the parishioners used themselves but proved unsatisfactory for the principal highways that were used by long-distance travellers and waggoners. During the late 17th century, the approach to road maintenance caused acute problems on the main routes into London. As trade increased, the numbers of heavy carts and carriages led to serious deterioration in the state of these roads. A parliamentary bill, presented in 1621/2, proposed to relieve the parishes responsible for part of the Great North Road by imposing a scale of tolls on various sorts of traffic. The revenue from the tolls was to be employed in repairing the road, however, during the following forty years, the idea of making travellers contribute to the repair of roads was raised on several occasions. Then in 1656 the parish of Radwell, Hertfordshire petitioned the quarter sessions for help to maintain their section of the Great North Road, probably as a result of this petition the quarter session justices of Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire represented the matter to Parliament. The toll-gate erected at Wadesmill became the first effective toll-gate in England, Parliament then gave similar powers to the justices in other counties in England and Wales. An example being the first Turnpike Act for Surrey that in 1696, during the reign of William III, the first scheme that had trustees who were not justices was established through a Turnpike Act in 1707, for a section of the London-Chester road between Fornhill and Stony Stratford. This became the pattern for the turnpiking of a number of highways. The proposal to turnpike a particular section of road was normally a local initiative, the Act gave the trustees responsibility for maintaining a specified part of the existing highway. It provided them with powers to achieve this, the right to collect tolls from those using the road was particularly important, Local gentlemen, clergy and merchants were nominated as trustees and they appointed a clerk, a treasurer and a surveyor to actually administer and maintain the highway. These officers were paid by the trust, trustees were not paid, though they derived indirect benefits from the better transport, which improved access to markets and led to increases in rental income and trade. The first action of a new trust was to erect turnpike gates at which a toll was charged
16.
Wye Valley Railway
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It followed the route of the River Wye for most of its length. The line opened on 1 November 1876 as an independent company but was financially unsuccessful, the GWR ran the line until the Transport Act 1947, which nationalised the railways of Britain. From then, it was operated by British Rail until its closure to traffic in 1964. The southern section of the railway between Tintern Quarry and Wye Valley Junction remained open until 1981, when operation was cut back to Dayhouse Quarry. This remained used for traffic until the early 1990s. The line was inaugurated by an Act of Parliament in 1866 and these events were caused by the collapse of the well known firm Overend and Gurney in 1866 due to many railway companies taking out loans and not paying them back. The business was in a debt of 11 million pounds when it collapsed, evangelical services were organised during the construction of the line at Woodcroft and Tidenham, partly in an attempt to combat drunkenness among the labourers building the railway. North of Tintern the line followed the valley bottom, with a bridge over the river at Penallt. Outside Monmouth, the line used an existing viaduct across the river which had built in 1861 by engineer Joseph Firbank to carry the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk. On 18 November 1875, during the construction of the line, a landslide occurred near Redbrook, the event was reported in one of the columns in the next days Times. The railway was opened on 1 November 1876, from Wye Valley Junction near Chepstow, here passengers could change for Pontypool, Ross-on-Wye and Coleford. Trains stopped at the stations on the line, Tidenham, Tintern, Bigsweir. Tintern Station was the largest station after Monmouth Troy Station, it had a platform in the centre of the station. The line was intended to serve both tourist traffic and freight, such as those visiting Tintern Abbey, and also the quarries, paper mills. Although constructed by the Wye Valley Railway Company, the line was operated from the outset by the Great Western Railway and it was not financially successful, and in 1905 the Wye Valley Railway Company was bought by the GWR. The Wye Valley Railway had been more than once during its short life as an independent company. The GWR added several halts along the line, at Netherhope Halt, Brockweir Halt, Llandogo, Whitebrook Halt, Penallt Halt, Penallt Halt and Redbrook Station became the closest stations on the line with only a viaduct over the River Wye separating them. Tutshill Halt for Beachley was also added in 1934 on the mainline at Wye Valley Junction, Redbrook Station became nationally noted for its floral displays
17.
Severn Bridge
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It is the original Severn road crossing between England and Wales, and took three-and-a-half years to construct at a cost of £8 million. The bridge was opened on 8 September 1966, by Queen Elizabeth II, the bridge was granted Grade I listed status on 26 November 1999. From 1966 to 1996, the bridge carried the M4 motorway, upon the completion of the Second Severn Crossing, the motorway from Olveston to Magor was renamed the M48. However, the bill was rejected by Parliament after opposition from the Great Western Railway Company, the public inquiry into the scheme was held on 24 September 1946 at Bristol University. The substructure was completed by contractors John Howard and Co in 1963, the superstructure contract was awarded to Associated Bridge Builders Ltd in 1963, and completed in 1966. The bridge has featured in several promotions. During its 40th year of operation in 2006, the bridge was inspected to check for corrosion of the suspension cables, according to the Highways Agency, the inspection concluded that the bridge needed restrictions on heavy goods vehicles. Such vehicles are now restricted to one lane on the bridge, in keeping with the ideal of the bridge as a crucible of design, this cable saving technology has been used around the world to lengthen the service life of suspension bridges. On 6 February 2009, during a week of snowfall throughout Britain, on 22 December 2009 both bridges were closed again for the same reason. These were only the second and third times, respectively, that both bridges have been closed together, the first being due to a fire in Avonmouth some years earlier. The Severn Bridge crossing consists of four structures, which, listed in order from England to Wales, are, the Aust Viaduct, Severn Bridge, Beachley Viaduct and Wye Bridge. The Severn Bridge and Aust Viaduct was granted Grade I listed status on 26 November 1999, while the Wye Bridge and Beachley Viaduct was granted Grade II listed status on 29 May 1998. The 514 ft Aust Viaduct is a box girder structure with a concrete deck. The roadway is then carried over the top of the anchorage to the Severn Bridge. The Severn Bridge is located close to the former Aust Ferry, the bridge is a suspension bridge of conventional design, with the deck supported by two main cables slung between two steel towers. In 1966 the cables supporting the deck were spun from 18,000 miles of wire. The main cables are made up of 8,322 individual 5 mm wires. The triangulation this offers is an attempt to reduce vibration, as is the prominent use of Stockbridge dampers on the cables
18.
Herefordshire
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Herefordshire is a historic English county in the West Midlands. It is a county and a unitary non-metropolitan county and district, also named in legislation as the County of Herefordshire. The Welsh unitary county covering the part of Gwent next to Herefordshire is Monmouthshire, Hereford is a cathedral city and is the county town, with a population of approximately 55,800 inhabitants it is also the largest settlement. The county is one of the most rural and sparsely populated in England, the land use is predominantly agricultural and the county is well known for its fruit and cider production, and the Hereford cattle breed. From 1974 to 1998, Herefordshire was part of the former county of Hereford. Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new district and as a new county by Statutory Instrument as defined in The Hereford and this Order established Herefordshire as a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, combining county and district functions into a single council. Herefordshire is also called a unitary district, but this is not official nomenclature. Herefordshire is officially known as an authority for local government purposes. The Lieutenancies Act 1997 made Herefordshire a ceremonial county, covering the area of the unitary district. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire NUTS2 region. The River Wye, which at 135 miles is the fifth-longest in the United Kingdom and it flows through both Hereford and Ross-on-Wye before returning to Wales. Leominster is situated on the River Lugg, a tributary of the Wye, there are two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county. The Wye Valley is located in the valleys south of Hereford, while the Malvern Hills are in the east of the county. Herefordshire is one of the 39 historic counties of England, in 1974 it was merged with neighbouring Worcestershire to form the Hereford and Worcester administrative county. Within this, Herefordshire was covered by the government districts of South Herefordshire, Hereford. However, the county was dissolved in 1998, resulting in the return of Herefordshire and Worcestershire as counties, the current ceremonial county and unitary district have broadly the same borders as the pre-1974 historic county. However this has been from a base, with only Northumberland. The population is White 98. 2%, Asian 0. 8%, Mixed 0. 7%, Black 0. 2%, gypsies and Travellers have historically been Herefordshires largest minority ethnic group
19.
Gloucestershire
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Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the fertile valley of the River Severn. The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other towns include Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud. Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. The local rural community moved to the city, and Bristols population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and it later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. The official former postal county abbreviation was Glos, rather than the frequently used but erroneous Gloucs. or Glouc. In July 2007, Gloucestershire suffered the worst flooding in recorded British history, the RAF conducted the largest peace time domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion, the county recovered rapidly from the disaster, investing in attracting tourists to visit the many sites and diverse range of shops in the area. This is a chart of trend of gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven schools, two are in Stroud, one in Cheltenham and four in Gloucester. There are 42 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, all but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire have sixth forms, each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county. Most of the old market towns have parish churches, at Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, and Bishops Cleeve near Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship, other notable buildings include Calcot Barn in Calcot, a relic of Kingswood Abbey. Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, near Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone. Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at Cleeve, the mansion contains a tiled floor from Hailes Abbey
20.
Monmouthshire
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Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the county of Monmouthshire of which it covers the eastern 60%. Other towns and large villages are Caldicot, Chepstow, Monmouth, Magor, the Laws in Wales Act 1542 again enumerated the counties of Wales and omitted Monmouthshire, implying that the county was no longer to be treated as part of Wales. However, for all purposes Wales had become part of the Kingdom of England, for several centuries, acts of the Parliament of England often referred to Wales and Monmouthshire. The use of the name Monmouthshire rather than Monmouth for the area was controversial, being supported by the MP for Monmouth, Roger Evans, by area it covers some 60% of the historic county, but only 20% of the population. A new council building at the site of Coleg Gwent. Planning permission was granted in September 2011, the new county hall in Usk was opened in 2013. co. uk BBC Wales on Monmouthshire Genuki National Gazetteer of 1868
21.
Wye Bridge, Monmouth
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The Wye Bridge in Monmouth is a bridge across the River Wye. The A466 passes over it and immediately meets the A40 at its western end, the bridge is a grade II listed building. The total span of the bridge is 71 metres, the original wooden bridge was built in the Middle Ages, there is a clear reference to it in the fourteenth century. It was completely rebuilt in stone in the seventeenth century. At that time, tolls were collected from all those crossing the bridge, the bridge is built of red and buff sandstone ashlar. It has five arched spans with the pointed arches visible beneath. The bridge is a crossing for the Wye but it is also the start of the Wysis Way which is a footpath that connects Monmouth to the Kemble in Gloucestershire. List of crossings of the River Wye List of bridges in Wales Painting Wye Bridge and the Barkhouse, Monmouth by J. A. Evans, 19th century Media related to Wye Bridge, Monmouth at Wikimedia Commons
22.
Llandogo
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Llandogo is a small village in Monmouthshire, south Wales, between Monmouth and Chepstow in the lower reaches of the Wye Valley AONB, two miles north of Tintern. It is set on a hillside overlooking the River Wye and across into the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. The village derives its name from St Euddogwy, the third Bishop of Llandaff, the church was formerly also or alternatively dedicated to St Einion Frenin, who was credited with establishing Saint Cadfans monastery on Bardsey Island off Llyn. The present church is on the site of a 7th or 8th-century foundation and it has been described as one of Seddons most high-spirited small churches, with polychromatic interplay inside and out between mauve and ochre stone, and an extraordinarily elaborate belfry. The boat gave its name to the historic Llandoger Trow pub close to the harbour in Bristol, the bell of The William and Sarah, one of the last Chepstow barges to trade on the river, can be found in the bell tower of the church at Llandogo. The Priory is a built in 1838 for John Gough by the architects Wyatt & Brandon. It is associated with Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement and he recounts in the sixth yarn of Scouting For Boys an expedition by folding boat up the River Thames, down the River Avon and across the Severn Estuary, finishing in Llandogo. The house belonged to Count Henry Philip Ducarel de la Pasture, whose wife, there are many local walks along the river bank and up through the village to Cleddon Shoots, a local Site of Special Scientific Interest and towards the village of Trellech. The Wye Valley Walk runs along the top of the village, the village is designated as a Conservation Area. The village hall, the Millennium Hall, was opened in 2003 by The Princess Royal, events are organised by the local community. Browns Stores has been the only general goods store since 1921 and is still to this day run by the family. The family itself have lived in the village for generations, Cleddon Shoots is an area of acidic woodland on the east facing slope of the valley above Llandogo. The main trees present are Sessile Oak, Beech, Ash, Cleddon Falls is a waterfall that rises above the southwest of the village and runs eastwards down into the Wye Valley. St Briavels railway station was a station along the Wye Valley Railway and it was closed on 5 January 1959 when the line was closed to passenger services. St Briavels station was renamed three time during its life, firstly Bigsweir Station, then St Briavels and Llandogo Station, eventually a new halt was provided. Llandogo Halt railway station was a request stop on the former Wye Valley Railway and it was opened on 7 March 1927 to serve the village of Llandogo. It was closed in 1959 following the withdrawal of services on the line. It was the smallest construction on the Wye Valley Railway
23.
Buckholt, Monmouthshire
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Buckholt is a small village in Monmouthshire, Wales, located some 2 miles north of Monmouth, adjoining the boundary with Herefordshire, England. It is a settlement situated in the valley of the Mally Brook along the A466 road between Monmouth and Hereford. The name Buckholt derives from words meaning beech wood, and much of the area around the village remains wooded on steeply sloping valley sides, the local woods contain evidence of Neolithic settlement, and Bronze Age and Roman material has also been found. In 1248 the Buckholt area was owned by Monmouth Priory and the local lord John of Monmouth gave the monks certain rights, Buckholt Old Mill Farm is the site of a mediaeval corn mill owned by the Priory, the mill remained operational until the late 19th century. The area came into the possession of the Duke of Beaufort in 1682, houses built in the valley in the 18th and 19th centuries were mainly occupied by charcoal burners and were constructed from local timber and stone. Charcoal burning was an important local activity until the 1890s, building stone was provided by local quarries, including Callow Quarry which produces red sandstone. Stone from the quarry was used to build Haberdashers Schools in Monmouth, the quarry was taken over in 2007 by Black Mountain Quarries, based at Pontrilas, and remains operational. The church of St. John was built in 1889 and its octagonal font is dated 1663 and is said to have come from St Peters Church at nearby Dixton. A small school operated in a building opposite the church for 40 years after it was built in 1860, the Old Inn at Manson Cross was built in 1760 and is said to have been used by highwaymen. The Plough Inn at Buckholt was used by charcoal burners and millers, both pubs have now been converted into private houses. The village hall was built in 1929 by public subscription and it continues to host a wide range of village activities. Farms in the area include Great Manson Farm, southwest of Manson Lane
24.
Redbrook
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Redbrook is a village in Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the border with Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located on the River Wye and is within the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Redbrook was historically an important industrial centre with many industrial sites including mills, an ironworks, tinplate works and copper works. The oldest site is the Kings Mill, which was a mill first recorded in 1434. The Redbrook Copper Works used ore brought from Cornwall via Chepstow and worked until 1740 when it closed down and it is from this iron ore that the village got its name - the brook running down the valley through the village often ran dark red. The tinplate factory, run by the Redbrook Tinplate Company, was famous for the high quality product it made. Redbrook was also a port where the various products of the local industries were shipped. The village once boasted no less than 13 Inns and three breweries, the last brewery to close, in 1926, was Redbrook Brewery and the site is still marked by Brewery Yard and Brewery Terrace. Redbrook was the last station before Monmouth on the Wye Valley Railway, the railway was opened in 1876 to connect Monmouth to the South Wales line, closing to passengers in 1959 and freight in 1964. Today a wood-decked footbridge spans the river which carried the railway. Redbrook has a population of 372 and is a quiet village amidst peaceful wooded hills, a little above the river is the 19th century church of St. Saviour. Two local pubs, the Boat Inn at Penallt on the Welsh side of the River Wye, the Boat Inn is accessed from Redbrook via Penallt Viaduct, which used to carry the Wye Valley Railway across the River. The village also has a Post Office and stores, the Offas Dyke Path and the Wye Valley Walk run through the village. Both teams have had success in recent years with the First team winning the West Dean Charities Cup, the first team also won promotion to the North Gloucestershire Premier Division in the 2013/14 season winning the First Division title by 5 points. First team success has also filtered to the Reserve team who won the 2014/15 F J Pope Cup after a thrilling 6-5 victory against Mushet And Coalway Reserves at Ellwood, the game was watched buy around 200-300 people who witnessed a truly pulsating afternoons game of football. Geograph - photos of the Redbrook area Redbrook Village website
25.
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
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An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside in England, Wales or Northern Ireland which has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of their importance, by the relevant public body, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales. In place of AONB, Scotland uses the similar national scenic area designation and they also differ from national parks in their more limited opportunities for extensive outdoor recreation. To achieve these aims, AONBs rely on planning controls and practical countryside management, as they have the same landscape quality, AONBs may be compared to the national parks of England and Wales. National parks are known to many inhabitants of the UK, by contrast. The idea for what would become the AONB designation was first put forward by John Dower in his 1945 Report to the Government on National Parks in England. Dower suggested there was need for protection of certain naturally beautiful landscapes which were unsuitable as national parks due to their small size and lack of wildness. Dowers recommendation for the designation of these other amenity areas was eventually embodied in the National Parks, there are 46 AONBs in Britain. The first AONB was designated in 1956 in the Gower Peninsula, AONBs vary greatly in terms of size, type and use of land, and whether they are partly or wholly open to the public. The smallest AONB is the Isles of Scilly,16 km2, the AONBs of England and Wales together cover around 18% of the countryside in the two countries. The AONBs of Northern Ireland together cover about 70% of Northern Irelands coastline, AONBs in England and Wales were originally created under the same legislation as the national parks, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Unlike AONBs, national parks have special powers to prevent unsympathetic development. Two of the AONBs, which extend into a number of local authority areas, have their own statutory bodies. All English and Welsh AONBs have a dedicated AONB officer and other staff, as required by the CRoW Act, each AONB has a management plan that sets out the characteristics and special qualities of the landscape and how they will be conserved and enhanced. The AONBs are collectively represented by the National Association for AONBs, AONBs in Northern Ireland were designated originally under the Amenity Lands Act 1965, subsequently under the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands Order 1985. There are growing concerns among environmental and countryside groups that AONB status is increasingly under threat from development, the Campaign to Protect Rural England said in July 2006 that many AONBs were under greater threat than ever before. The subsequent development, known as Falmer Stadium, was opened in July 2011. The Weymouth Relief Road in Dorset was constructed between 2008 and 2011, after environmental groups lost a High Court challenge to prevent its construction, writing in 2006, Professor Adrian Phillips listed threats facing AONBs
26.
Trunk road
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Many trunk roads have segregated lanes in a dual carriageway, or are of motorway standard. In the United Kingdom, trunk roads were first defined for Great Britain in the Trunk Roads Act 1936, thirty major roads were classed as trunk roads and the minister of transport took direct control of them and the bridges across them. The Trunk Roads Act came into force in England and Wales on 1 April 1937 and this development did not extend to Northern Ireland, which has always had a separate system of highway and road traffic law. At that time,4,500 miles of British roads were classified as trunk roads, additional roads have been trunked, notably in the Trunk Roads Act 1946. Others, like virtually all British motorways, have entered the system as a result of new construction, as of 2004, Great Britain had 7,845 miles of trunk roads, of which 2,161 miles were motorways. The Welsh government has had responsibility for roads in Wales since its establishment in 1998. England has 4,814 miles, Scotland has 1,982 miles and Wales has 1,048 miles of trunk roads, highways England publishes a full network map of trunk roads and motorways in England. Most interurban trunk roads are primary routes, the category of roads recommended for long distance, not all primary routes are trunk roads, the difference being that maintenance of trunk roads is paid for by national government bodies rather than the local councils in whose area they lie. Primary routes are identified by their signs, which feature white text on a green background with route numbers in yellow. Trunk roads, like other A roads, can be either single- or dual-carriageway, a trunk road which has been upgraded to motorway standards may retain its original A number, but with an M in brackets to denote that motorway regulations apply on it. Long distance examples of this are the A1 in England, and it is possible for roads to be de-trunked – for example, when superseded by a motorway following a similar route – in which case they normally become ordinary A roads. When a road is de-trunked signposts are often replaced, and sometimes route numbers are changed, in Ireland, major roads were previously classified under an old system as trunk roads, and had route numbers prefixed by a T. Connecting roads were classified as roads, and had route numbers prefixed by an L. Many of these roads had their origins in historic routes, including turnpike roads, local road numbers were previously not signposted, although they are now indicated on signs in many areas of the country. The current L-prefixed local roads are unrelated to the previous L-prefixed link road classification, some former trunk roads, or sections of former trunk roads, became non-trunk regional roads under the new road numbering system introduced in the 1970s and 1980s. More recently, sections of national primary routes which have been bypassed by motorways or other road improvement schemes have been downgraded to regional road status. Though the term trunk road is not commonly used in American English, each state maintains all of its roads and tries to integrate them into a system appropriate for that state. The states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin designate their highways as state trunklines or state trunk highways, not all state highways and state routes, however, serve this purpose or are constructed to these standards, many in rural areas are simple two-lane roads
27.
National Assembly for Wales
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The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, the Assembly was created by the Government of Wales Act 1998, which followed a referendum in 1997. The Assembly had no powers to initiate primary legislation until limited law-making powers were gained through the Government of Wales Act 2006, the council had 27 members nominated by local authorities in Wales, the University of Wales, National Eisteddfod Council and the Welsh Tourist Board. A post of Minister of Welsh Affairs was created in 1951 and the post of Secretary of State for Wales, the establishment of the Welsh Office effectively created the basis for the territorial governance of Wales. The Royal Commission on the Constitution was set up in 1969 by Harold Wilsons Labour Government to investigate the possibility of devolution for Scotland and Wales. Its recommendations formed the basis of the 1974 White Paper Democracy and Devolution, proposals for Scotland and Wales, however, voters rejected the proposals by a majority of four to one in a referendum held in 1979. After the 1997 general election, the new Labour Government argued that an Assembly would be more accountable than the Welsh Office. For eleven years prior to 1997 Wales had been represented in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom by a Secretary of State who did not represent a Welsh constituency at Westminster. A second referendum was held on 18 September 1997 in which approved the creation of the National Assembly for Wales by a majority of 559,419 votes. The following year the Government of Wales Act was passed by the United Kingdom parliament, the Richard Commission reported in March 2004. It recommended that the National Assembly should have powers to legislate in certain areas and it also recommended changing the electoral system to the single transferable vote which would produce greater proportionality. In so doing, the Government rejected many of the cross party Richard Commissions recommendations and this has attracted criticism from opposition parties and others. The Government of Wales Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 25 July 2006 and it conferred on the Assembly legislative powers similar to other devolved legislatures through the ability to pass Assembly Measures concerning matters that are devolved. Requests for further legislative powers made through legislative competence requests were subject to the veto of the Secretary of State for Wales, the Act reformed the assembly to a parliamentary-type structure, establishing the Welsh Government as an entity separate from, but accountable to the National Assembly. It enables the Assembly to legislate within its devolved fields, the Act also reforms the Assemblys electoral system. It prevents individuals from standing as candidates in both constituency and regional seats and this aspect of the act was subject to a great deal of criticism, most notably from the Electoral Commission. Plaid Cymru, the Official Opposition in the National Assembly from 1999–2007, many commentators have also criticised the Labour Partys allegedly partisan attempt to alter the electoral system. By preventing regional Assembly Members from standing in constituency seats the party has accused of changing the rules to protect constituency representatives
28.
Wormelow Tump
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Wormelow Tump is a village in Herefordshire, England,11 km south of Hereford and 15 km north west of Ross-on-Wye. The tump itself was a mound which local tradition holds was the place of King Arthurs son Amr. The tump was flattened to widen the road in 1896, Wormelow gave its name to a hundred. The village is the site of the Violette Szabo GC Museum, Szabo stayed occasionally in the village from childhood until just before her final mission, at a house then called The Old Kennels, which was the home of her cousins the Lucas family. Map sources for Wormelow Tump Media related to Wormelow at Wikimedia Commons
29.
St Weonards
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St Weonards is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, located 10 miles south of Hereford,7 miles west of Ross-on-Wye and 7 miles north of Monmouth, on the A466 road. Within the parish and also on the A466 is the hamlet of Sandyway, St Weonards lies within the area known to the Saxons as Archenfield, previously the kingdom of Ergyng, adjoining the modern border with Wales. Ergyng was later reduced to a semi-autonomous cantref retaining Welsh language, the parish church is dedicated to St Weonard, who may have been a local Celtic saint. Old stained glass in the church, now destroyed, described him as a hermit and his name is spelled in various ways, including Wannard and Gwennarth. The church was first mentioned in a charter of 1155, the chancel arch, part of the south wall, and the inner doorway of the porch, date from the 13th and 14th centuries, as does a large wooden chest. Most of the current church building dates from the early 16th century, the internal oak screens date from the same period, as does the Mynors Chapel, built for the family who owned, and still own, Treago Castle. The pulpit dates from the 17th century, the chancel was enlarged in 1884, and the south vestry added. The churchyard contains the remains of a 15th-century cross base, immediately south of the churchyard is a large mound or tump, some 45 yards in diameter at the base and 14 feet high. This was traditionally the place of St Weonard, in a golden coffin. Excavations in 1855 revealed two cremation burials dating from the Bronze Age within the mound, the tump seems to have been used by the Normans as a motte for a small wooden castle, and in later centuries was used as the site of morris dancing and other village festivities. Treago Castle, some 0.3 miles west of the village, is a fortified manor house. It is believed to have built around 1480 by Sir Richard Mynors. The castle is set within parkland, and is privately owned by the Mynors family. Media related to St Weonards at Wikimedia Commons
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Llangarron
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Llangarron is a small village and civil parish in southwest Herefordshire within seven miles of Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth. The population of the Civil Parish at the 2011 census was 1,053, the church is dedicated to St. Deinst. The village no longer has a post office nor pub, though it does have a hall, the civil parish includes the settlements of Llangrove, Llancloudy and Three Ashes. The name refers to the Garron Brook, a tributary of the River Wye, several local farms have Welsh names, a legacy of the fluid nature of the England-Wales border in the past. An alternative view is that the village is named after the Welsh word “garan” which means heron and this may explain the representation of such a bird in the church gates. St Deinst appears nowhere else in England and it is identified with St. Deiniol, or Deiniel, a sixth-century abbot-bishop who founded a monastery at Bangor and to whom the mediaeval Bangor Cathedral was dedicated. An electoral ward in the name exists. This ward stretches towards Ross-on-Wye with a population taken at the 2011 Census of 3,357. Archenfield Llangarron Parish Council Llangarron Community Llangrove CE Academy
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Welsh Newton
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Welsh Newton is a small village and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England. It is located close to the border with Wales to which the parish extends towards Monmouthshire, catholic martyr St John Kemble, executed in 1679, is buried in St Marys churchyard. There is another Anglican church at Llanrothal, the area contains a lot of history, including Pembridge Castle and at least thirty-one other archaeological sites in Welsh Newton parish alone. The parish also contains a piece of land, currently registered as unowned under the Commons Act 2006, at Welsh Newton Common. The village is said to be haunted by several restless spirits, in the first week of December each year, several locals hold a ceremony to still the spirits. This takes place in the ruins of St Faiths Church, the church of St. Marriot, in 1879, and there are memorial windows to Mrs. Tylor, of Callow Hill, who died in 1881. The register of baptisms dates from the year 1798, marriages,1758, the living is a vicarage, with the rectory of Llanrothal annexed in 1927. in the gift of the Bishop of Hereford. There is a Primitive Methodist Chapel on Welsh Newton Common, Pembridge Castle, built prior to the 13th century, is now a farmhouse. This historic castle was purchased by Dr, the soil is loamy, subsoil, clay and rock. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, turnips, cf Wikipedia, Counties Act 1844 Notable buildings Pembridge House is an 18th Century listed former Parsonage house situated in a central position within the village. Tremaide Farmhouse and its range of farm buildings overlook the village to the East of the A466. Parkside Farm to the west of the village is a stone farmhouse Media related to Welsh Newton at Wikimedia Commons
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Toll house
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A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road or canal. Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and those built in the early 19th century often had a distinctive bay front to give the pikeman a clear view of the road and to provide a display area for the tollboard. In 1840, according to the Turnpike Returns in Parliamentary Papers and these were sold off in the 1880s when the turnpikes were closed. Many were demolished but several hundred have survived as domestic houses, canal toll houses were built in very similar style to those on turnpikes. They are sited at major canal locks or at junctions, the great age of canal-building in Britain was in the 18th century, so the majority exhibit the typical features of vernacular Georgian architecture. Being small, most have proved unsuitable for occupation, and so are used as shops or tourist information outlets. The managers office in modern toll plazas is also referred to as a toll house even though they are not used as a residence, Toll road Toll House Inn, a restaurant intended to evoke the image of a 1709 toll house. Tollhouses in England, Haynes, R. & Slocombe, I, kanefsky, J. Devon Tollhouses, Exeter Ind Arch. Turnpikes and Toll-bars, publ. Hutchinson Taylor, P, the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies
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Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
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St. Arvans
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St. Arvans is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom. It is located two miles north west of Chepstow, close to Chepstow Racecourse, Piercefield House and the Wye Valley AONB, connected by a Segregated Bicycle Path to the edge of Chepstow. The village church is named for St. Arvan, according to tradition he was a 9th-century hermit who supported himself by fishing for salmon in the River Wye, and drowned when his coracle capsized. The circular nature of the churchyard suggests that the church may be a Celtic foundation, there are remains of a Celtic cross of the period, and also part of an apparently Saxon doorway, but essentially the original church was late Norman in date. By 1254 it belonged to the priory of St. Kingsmark or Cynmarch. It was enlarged between 1813–1823, and extensive work was carried out in the 1880s and again in the 1980s. The village has a village hall, the Memorial Hall. There is also a cast iron drinking fountain constructed in 1893, the centre of the village is designated as a Conservation Area. The cave systems in the area are an attraction to cavers and potholers. To the north of the village is Wyndcliffe Court, a Grade II* listed house, the ruined Piercefield House is also grade II* listed. An electoral ward in the name exists. This ward stretches north from St. Arvans to Tintern, the total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 1,618. Official Community Council Website Kellys 1901 Directory of Monmouthshire on St Arvans Photos of area at Geograph. org
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Chepstow Racecourse
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The track is a roughly oval circuit of just under 2 miles. It is an undulating course, used for both flat and jump racing. The finishing straight is about 5 furlongs in length, with five fences on the course to be jumped. There are eleven fences on a complete circuit, there is also a straight mile course. There are 32 fixtures in the 2016 calendar year including the new two-day Totepool Jumps Festival with £300,000 of prize money on Saturday 8th and this meeting features the Grade Three Tote Silver Trophy and the Grade Two Totepool Persian War Novices Hurdle. The £150,000 Coral Welsh Grand National takes place on Tuesday 27th December, Chepstow is one of three racecourses in Wales, the others being at Bangor-on-Dee and at Ffos Las. It is also used as a venue for other indoor and outdoor events, such as concerts, weddings. Several places in South Wales had race meetings in the nineteenth century and there had been racing at St Arvans, very close to the present course. Despite struggling to raise cash, the racecourse was opened on 6 August 1926. The first race was a two-year-old seller won by Lord Harewoods colt Conca DOro, the two day flat race meeting had good prize money and was termed The Welsh Goodwood. The course nearly had to close immediately after the first meeting. Unforeseen extra costs in laying it out meant that it struggled financially for the first ten years of its existence, the first jump racing took place in March 1927. Since then the course has been used for racing in the summer. To begin with, the racing was more prestigious, with the Welsh Derby, Oaks. During the Second World War, the site became designated as RAF Chepstow. From then on, National Hunt racing overtook flat racing as the dominant activity as a string of good horses and top trainers. It have sponsored it for forty years, making it the second longest continuous race sponsorship. The opening of the Severn Bridge and the completion of the M4 motorway made the more accessible to English racegoers
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Devauden
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Devauden is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located between Chepstow and Monmouth near the top of the Trellech ridge on the B4293 road, the community covers an area of 3,790 hectares. There is evidence that an ancient ridgeway between Monmouth and the coast at Mathern passed through Devauden, roman coins from the period of Antoninus Pius were found in the village in 1840. The name may be derived from the Welsh Tyr ffawydden, or house of the beech tree, until the mid-20th century the village was often known as The Devauden. The village was part of the parish of Newchurch. On 15 October 1739, John Wesley preached his first sermon in Wales on the green at Devauden. He wrote in his journal, Upon a pressing invitation, some time since received, I set out for Wales. About four in the afternoon I preached on a green at the foot of the Devauden. to three or four hundred plain people on Christ our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. After sermon, one who I trust is an old disciple of Christ willingly received us into his house, James Davies was schoolmaster at Devauden for over 30 years during the early 19th century and was responsible for establishing a village school in 1815. In 1830 the school was converted into a chapel and a new schoolroom was built next door, Davies gained a strong local reputation for enduring personal hardship in order to help the poor in the community. The small parish church is dedicated to St. James, devaudens population was 1040, according to the 2011 census, a 7. 44% increase since the 968 people noted in 2001. The 2011 census showed 11. 4% of the population could speak Welsh, an electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches from Devauden to Llangwm, the total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 1,480. Chepstow Park Wood, located south of the village towards Itton, is an extensive area of mixed woodland owned and managed by the Forestry Commission. It was established as a hunting forest around 1280 by Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk and it covers about 3,300 hectares, and was originally enclosed by a fence stretching 7.8 km. Around 1340, it was occupied and taken over by a band of outlaws led by William de Derneford and his son Robert. It was re-enclosed with a wall around 1630, and at the same time a stone lodge was built in the centre of the forest, with views back towards Chepstow. Later, the wood became notorious as a haunt of highwaymen, historically, the woodland lay within the parish of Newchurch East
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Trellech
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Trellech is a village and parish in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, located on the B4293 road about 5 miles south of Monmouth and 4 miles north-north-west of Tintern. The name of the village derives from Welsh and means the town of slates, the church of St Nicholas is a Grade I listed building. The village is located on a plateau between the valleys of the Usk to the west and Wye to the east, the village is designated as a Conservation Area, and gives its name to the community of Trellech United, in which it is located. There are historically 26 known spellings of the name, on each of the three roads entering the village, signs give a different spelling - Trellech, Trelleck and Trelech. Trellech was one of the towns of medieval Wales, the remains of which have been subject to archaeological excavations which have been sustained over many years. By 1288 there were 378 burgage plots recorded in Trellech, which would have made it bigger than Cardiff or Chepstow at the time, Trellech was largely destroyed in 1291 as a result of a raid following a dispute over alleged deer poaching. The Black Death struck in 1340 and again in 1350, subsequently the ravages of Owain Glyndŵr and his men in the early 15th century further reduced the prosperity and in consequence the importance of Trellech. Archaeological investigations at Trellech have been led since the early 1990s by the South Wales Centre for Historical and Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Wales, there is currently some dispute over the layout and development of the medieval town and its environs. In 2005, young archaeology graduate Stuart Wilson privately bought a field in which and this site had first been identified as of potential interest by Julia Wilson, in 1998. The programme revealed that Wilson had apparently discovered medieval walls and yard-paving, in 2016, Wilson proposed turning the site into a camp site, research centre and tourist attraction. Some of Wilsons claims have been criticised by academic archaeologists, with an elegant pointed and prominent steeple, a font and 17th-century sundial, it is a focal point of the village. The main part of the building is of local Old Red Sandstone. The spire can be seen for miles around and is described by architectural writer John Newman as the towns pride. A church on site, probably a wooden structure, was endowed by Ffernwael ap Ithel. The Preaching Cross in the churchyard may date back to this time, the present building dates from the 13th or early 14th century. The early English Gothic stonework has been dated to between 1225 and 1272, and that of the Decorated Gothic up to 1350, the church has a large clerestoried nave, with a much smaller chancel. The impressive interior has a high tower arch, and the five-bay nave has arcades on octagonal piers. The altar rails and pulpit, dated 1640, are survivals of 17th century church interior design, at the west end of the church, directly below the window, is a Royal Coat of Arms for King Charles II dated 1683
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Brockweir
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Brockweir is a small village on the eastern bank of the River Wye, within the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. A road bridge links it across the river to Monmouthshire, Wales, the village is close to both the Offas Dyke Path and the Wye Valley Walk. The name Brockweir dates from about the 7th century, previously it was known in Welsh as Pwll Brochuail, the pool of Brochuail or Brockmael, the weir was owned by Monmouth Priory and later Tintern Abbey, its remains can be seen as shallows under Brockweir bridge. The village existed from at least the 13th century, as a hamlet within the parish of Hewelsfield, the oldest existing building, the Malthouse, dates in part from the 15th century and probably formed part of a grange owned by Tintern Abbey. Another house, the Manor House, dates from about 1600, for centuries Brockweir had a thriving shipbuilding, fitting-out and repair industry. In 1587, one resident, John Gethin, was killed on his boat in the Bristol Channel in an affray with Bristol merchants, according to some sources, in the early 19th century the village was thought to be one of the most lawless places in the country. Its reputation was earned by having about 16 public houses, to cater for the stevedores who were employed to load and unload the ships at the quayside, the first minister was Lewis West, who drew congregations of up to 200 people. The minister described the life of its watermen as being centred on beerhouses, skittle alleys, and cockfighting, the church was rebuilt later in the 19th century. Several chapels, a school, the decline of its trade, during the early 20th century several Nonconformist groups, including Quakers, Pentecostalists, and Christian Scientists, held meetings in Brockweir and the surrounding area. The cast iron bridge was built in Chepstow by Edward Finch & Co. and was opened in 1906. The last ship to sail to Brockweir was the Belle Marie in 1914, in 1929 Brockweir Halt was opened on the Wye Valley Railway on the Monmouthshire side of the bridge. The writer Flora Klickmann, who wrote popular books about her experiences of living in the Wye valley as well as on other subjects, is buried at Brockweir. The Brockweir and Hewelsfield Village Shop and Cafe is established as a non-profit making community enterprise and it was opened by the Prince of Wales in December 2004, when he described the project as a triumph of community spirit. The community shop includes a café, general store and food outlet, post office, library kiosk, art gallery, the building also has a geothermal heating system, drawing energy from the ground under the village playing field
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Wye Tour
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The Wye Tour was an excursion past and through a series of scenic buildings, natural phenomena, and factories located along the River Wye. It was a destination for British travellers from 1782 to around 1850, and reached its peak popularity during the Napoleonic Wars. Relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, made in the summer of the year 1770, for British travellers unable to travel to continental Europe during the Napoleonic Wars, the Wye Tour became a replacement for the Grand Tour. In his Wye Tour, Thomas Dudley Fosbroke compared the Wye Tour to the Grecian Tempe, during the early 19th century, the popularity of the Wye and other Picturesque Tours skyrocketed. Thousands of tourists descended upon Ross-on-Wye each summer to take a Picturesque tour, despite this criticism, the popularity of the tour endured until the middle of the 19th century – well after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the Picturesque fad. These pleasure boats were equipped with drawing tables, at which tourists would either read travel journals or sit, the boats also featured canopies, and crews to steer and row the boats downriver. Such boats could be retained for the price of three guineas per passenger per day, alternately, a tourist could elect to walk along the banks of the Wye, or, if they were exceptionally rich, take a private carriage. Each Tour followed the general itinerary. First, tourists would leave Ross-on-Wye, appreciating the “mazy course, of the river on the way to their next major destination, Goodrich Castle. From Goodrich Castle, tourists would sail past the ironworks at New Weir, after sailing past New Weir, the boats would next pass under Symonds Yat, a 470-foot-tall rock that impressed passers-by with a sense of the Sublime. At the end of the first day of the Tour, the travellers would arrive at the town of Monmouth, the following morning, tourists would pass riverside hamlets and Picturesque natural scenery before finally arriving at the Tour’s greatest spectacle, Tintern Abbey. There, awestruck seekers of the Picturesque observed the bare columns and walls of what was once a massive structure, overrun with vegetation, before the Abbey was immortalised by William Wordsworth’s poem Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey. It was considered to be an impressive, although imperfectly Picturesque, during the 18th century, the Abbey was purchased by the Duke of Beaufort, who had immediately attempted to “restore” the Abbey. Despite the Duke’s restorative efforts, Gilpin remained unimpressed with the Abbey, and complained that “though the parts are beautiful, most tourists, however, generally considered Tintern Abbey to be the most important and beautiful location on the Wye Tour. Later tourists were probably familiar with Wordsworth’s famous poem Lines. the ruins of Chepstow Castle were the final spectacle of the Wye Tour. After arriving in Chepstow, Tourists would arrange for transportation back to their respective homes, the Wye Tour was first popularised by William Gilpin’s Observations on the River Wye…, a travel journal, complete with sketches. Gilpin had been encouraged to make the journey by his friend Thomas Gray, Gilpin’s book did more than encourage British citizens to observe the beauties of the Wye Valley – it marked the first time that Gilpin discussed the Picturesque at length. From May to September 2010, Chepstow Museum held an exhibition, The Wye Tour and its Artists
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Coleford, Gloucestershire
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Coleford is a small market town in the west of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, two miles east of the Welsh border and close to the Wye Valley. It is the centre of the Forest of Dean district. The population at the 2011 census was 8,359, there are two electoral wards in Coleford. Their total area and population equal that quoted above, Coleford was originally a tithing in the north-east corner of Newland parish. The settlement grew up at a ford through which charcoal and iron ore were probably carried, by the mid 14th century hamlets called Coleford and Whitecliff had grown up along the road in the valley of Thurstans brook. Coleford had eight or more houses in 1349 and was described as a street in 1364, in 1642 the commander of a parliamentary garrison in Coleford started a market in the town because the nearest chartered market, in Monmouth, was under royalist control. Coleford saw some action during the English Civil War, at Coleford their progress was impeded by a troop of Parliamentarians under Colonel Berrowe, aided by a disorderly group of country people. A skirmish ensued, during which the market-house was burnt, and Major-General Lawley, Colonel Brett was then put in command of the foot, Lord John Somerset continuing at the head of the horse. Following the restoration, a market was granted in 1661, much building took place within the town and by 1710 it was reckoned to have 160 houses. Among the older surviving buildings in the place the Old White Hart Inn dates from the 17th century. In the late 18th century and the early 19th the town also expanded along its other streets, the Angel inn, which had opened by the 1650s, was re-fronted or rebuilt around 1800. For many years it housed an office and in the mid 18th century it was the towns principal coaching inn and it was used for public meetings. The number of houses increased as the town grew in importance and in 1830 there were seven or eight inns, most of them in the market place. The market house was rebuilt on a scale in 1866. A much larger church was built on a hillside overlooking the town, expansion of the town continued in piecemeal fashion throughout the 20th century with both council and private development. Traffic congestion in the place was eased by the demolition of the town hall in 1968. Iron production in Coleford dates to the Middle Ages, this produced large quantities of material or cinders. Some formed prominent mounds, which by the late 17th century were being re-worked to provide iron-ore for the furnaces which were more efficient by that time, the medieval ironworks were moveable forges operating on the royal demesne woodland of the Forest of Dean
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Valentine Morris
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He was the son of Colonel Valentine Morris, a sugar plantation owner and merchant who claimed descent from the Walter family of Monmouthshire and who, in 1740, bought Piercefield House near Chepstow. On his fathers death, the younger Valentine Morris, who was attending school in London. In 1748 he married Mary Mordaunt, a niece of the third Earl of Peterborough, Morris added to the magnificent splendour of the estate and its setting, by landscaping the parkland, with the help of Richard Owen Cambridge, in the fashionable style of Capability Brown. At a time when tourism in the Wye valley was starting to become popular, Piercefield was developed into a park of national reputation, Morris laid out walks through the woodland and included a grotto, druid’s temple, bathing house and giant’s cave. He also developed viewpoints along the clifftop above the River Wye, one of the many tourists to marvel at this view was the poet Coleridge, who wrote, Oh what a godly scene. The whole world seemed imaged in its vast circumference. Morris was strongly in favour of road improvement, and promoted the first Turnpike Bill in Monmouthshire and he gave evidence to the House of Commons that there were no roads in Monmouthshire and, when asked how people travelled, replied We travel in ditches. He was responsible for ensuring the building of over 300 miles of roads in Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire during the 1760s. As a magistrate, he also imposed standardised weights and measures in trading, however, Morris personal generosity and his gambling, business and political dealings took him into financial difficulty. In 1771, Thomas Morgan, MP for Monmouthshire and a member of the powerful Morgan family of Tredegar House, died, a contested election was highly unusual at the time, and the Morgans attacked Morris as an outsider, a Creole, and a slaveowner. Morris lost the election, by 535 votes to Morgans 743, after failing to be elected, Morris was forced by both political and financial pressures to set sail for his estates in Antigua. In 1772 he became Governor of the island of St. Vincents and he helped defend it at his own expense against the French, but, in 1779, negotiated its surrender to French forces. He later brought charges against the American-born military commander of the island, Lt. Colonel George Etherington, on the grounds of neglect of duty, improper behaviour in the face of the enemy. However, Etherington was acquitted and recent research has suggested that Morris may have motivated by vindictiveness against him. By now reduced to poverty, he returned to London and his wife had attempted suicide and been confined to a madhouse. He was imprisoned for debt, surrendered his estates in the West Indies and he died in London in 1789
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Piercefield House
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Piercefield House is a largely ruined neo-classical country house designed by Sir John Soane, located near Chepstow in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. Its extensive surrounding park overlooking the Wye Valley includes Chepstow Racecourse, the house is now a shell, along with its extensive stable block, but its status as a Grade II* listed building reflects its importance. It is currently owned by the billionaire Reuben brothers, a campaign to seek the protection of the building was launched by SAVE Britains Heritage in 2013. Records since the 14th century refer variously to Peerfield, Peersfield, Persfield and Piersfield, the land was owned by the influential Walter family from medieval times until the 18th century. In 1727, the estate was sold for £3,366,5. 6d to Thomas Rous of Wotton-under-Edge and his son then sold it again in 1740, for £8,250, to Colonel Valentine Morris. Morris was born in Antigua, the son of a planter and merchant. The estate was inherited by his son, also Valentine Morris. At this time, tourism in the Wye Valley was in its infancy, Morris soon added to the magnificent splendour of the estate and its setting, by landscaping the parkland, with the help of Richard Owen Cambridge in the fashionable style of Capability Brown. The work was undertaken by architect Charles Howells and builder William Knowles of Chepstow. Piercefield was developed into a park of national reputation, as one of the earliest examples of picturesque landscaping, Morris laid out walks through the woodland, and included a grotto, druids temple, bathing house and giants cave. He also developed viewpoints along the clifftop above the River Wye, one of the many tourists to marvel at this view was the poet Coleridge, who wrote, Oh what a godly scene. The whole world seemed imaged in its vast circumference. The scientist and traveller Joseph Banks wrote, I am more and more convinced that it is far the most beautiful place I ever saw. In the 1770s Valentine Morriss gambling, business and political dealings bankrupted him, in 1785, Piercefield was sold again, for £26,200, to George Smith, a Durham banker, father of the linguist Elizabeth. Smith continued to open the walks, but straightened some of them, work began in 1792, and the new three-storey stone building had reached roof level when Smith found himself in financial difficulties. Wood was also the owner of Llanthony Priory, in 1802, Wood in turn sold the house and estate to the mixed race planter Nathaniel Wells, for £90,000 cash. Wells was born in St. Kitts, the son of William Wells, a merchant and planter originally from Cardiff. With his inherited fortune, Wells continued to add to the Piercefield estate until it reached almost 3,000 acres, in 1818 he became Britains only known black sheriff when he was appointed Sheriff of Monmouthshire. It is rumoured that Admiral Nelson spent a night at Piercefield House on one of his visits to Monmouthshire, Nelson was closely connected to the town of Monmouth through his mistress Lady Hamilton
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Google Maps
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Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google. It offers satellite imagery, street maps, 360° panoramic views of streets, real-time traffic conditions, Google maps began as a C++ desktop program designed by Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen at Where 2 Technologies. In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google, which converted it into a web application, after additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a realtime traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched in February 2005. The services front end utilizes JavaScript, XML, and Ajax, Google Maps offers an API that allows maps to be embedded on third-party websites, and offers a locator for urban businesses and other organizations in numerous countries around the world. Google Map Maker allows users to expand and update the services mapping worldwide. Much of the satellite imagery is no more than three years old and is updated on a regular basis. Google Maps uses a variant of the Mercator projection. The current redesigned version of the application was made available in 2013. Google Maps for mobile was released in September 2008 and features GPS turn-by-turn navigation, in August 2013, it was determined to be the worlds most popular app for smartphones, with over 54% of global smartphone owners using it at least once. In 2012, Google reported having over 7,100 employees, Google Maps provides a route planner under Get Directions. Up to four modes of transportation are available depending on the area, driving, public transit, walking, in combination with Google Street View, issues such as parking, turning lanes, and one-way streets can be viewed before traveling. China mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Jordan, Lebanon, only public transit directions are provided for South Korea. All countries of mainland North and Central America are covered contiguously, all countries of mainland South America are covered. All countries including Trinidad and Tobago* are treated contiguously, all inhabited countries and territories in the Caribbean are covered, though in general there are no connections between islands. Like many other Google web applications, Google Maps uses JavaScript extensively, as the user drags the map, the grid squares are downloaded from the server and inserted into the page. When a user searches for a business, the results are downloaded in the background for insertion into the panel and map. Locations are drawn dynamically by positioning a red pin on top of the map images, a hidden IFrame with form submission is used because it preserves browser history. The site also uses JSON for data rather than XML
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Great Britain road numbering scheme
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The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Great Britain. Each road is given a letter, which represents the roads category. Introduced to arrange funding allocations, the numbers soon became used on maps, two sub-schemes exist, one for motorways, and another for non-motorway roads. The scheme applies only to England, Scotland and Wales, similar systems are used in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey and British overseas territories. All of these schemes use identical basic conventions and road-sign designs. Work on classification began in 1913 by the governments Roads Board to determine the quality, the definitive list of these roads was published on 1 April 1923 following consultations with local authorities. Government funding towards the repairs of roads were set at 60% for the former. Shortly after this, the numbers started to appear in road atlases and on signs on the roads themselves, the Trunk Roads Act 1936 gave the Ministry direct control of the major routes and a new classification system was created to identify these routes. Originally these numbers beginning in T were to be made public, with the introduction of motorways in the late 1950s, a new classification M was introduced. In many cases the motorways duplicated existing stretches of A-road, which therefore lost much of their significance and were in some cases renumbered, occasionally the new motorway would take the name of the old A-road rather than having its own number. The most notable example of this is the A1, in England and Wales the road numbering system for all-purpose roads is based on a radial pattern centred on London. In Scotland the same scheme is centred on Edinburgh, in both cases the main single-digit roads normally define the zone boundaries. The exception is between Zones 1 and 2, where the River Thames defines the boundary, Zone 5, North/East of the A5, west of the A6, south of the Solway Firth/Eden Estuary covering North Wales, North Midlands, western Leicestershire, Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire. In Central London, the A40 provides a border between the 4 and 5 zones east of Marble Arch, the original A5 also provides such a border, and north of St Albans the original A6 provides an Eastern border. Zone 6, East of the A6 and A7, west of the A1 covering North East England, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, eastern Leicestershire and Rutland, between St Albans and Luton, the original A6 provides the Western border of the 6-zone. For example, the A38 road, a road running from Bodmin to Mansfield starts in Zone 3. Additionally, the A1 in Newcastle upon Tyne has moved twice, originally along the Great North Road, it then moved to the Tyne Tunnel, causing some of the roads in Zone 1 to lie in Zone 6. The designated A1 later moved to the bypass around the city
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M48 motorway Junction 2
Media related to A466 road (Great Britain) at Wikimedia Commons
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