Wednesday 20 July: Symond's Yat (West), looking north up the rapids. What an amazing place this is, where the river Wye loops around towering wooded cliffs on its way down to Monmouth and the sea. I can see why people flocked here in the late 19th century - it really does have an alpine drama, without the need to cross the channel and much of Europe. I perched a folding chair in a usually flooded river bed and sketched watercolours with Wye water. Earlier I had looked down from this same rocky hillside at a panorama that stretched for miles towards the Malvern hills and beyond. The river is low for this time of year. Exposed rocks and fallen branches, make it easier to cross - but still I still slithered and stumbled. Even more precarious than walking through a room strewn with Lego. |