DISCOVER Monmouthshire
The worlds of rock music and country walking come closer than anywhere else at this Welsh farm – and legendary album factory.
HAVE YOU EVER looked back at old photos and wondered why the sun never shone in that long-ago monochrome world? I’ve come to the conclusion it was the invention of rock music in the 1960s that tore the sky apart, allowing colour to flood into all our lives. If you don’t believe me, check out your family photos. You’ll only have drab ones pre 60s, but those from the decades that follow get more and more vivid. This benefited us walkers as it also brought the countryside into bright technicolour and there is a place, tucked in the verdant hills of Monmouthshire, where we can repay that debt to rock music. Rockfield Studios has done more to keep the grey clouds from returning than any other place in history.
My world changed forever the day I realised my two passions in life had something in common. I’d not mixed the two before. Out on a walk I like to listen to the world around me, not be plugged into headphones. Music was for my living room, pubs and gigs. Then I learned about Rockfield Studios and its existence in the heart of the countryside.
Let me put this in context. Such has been the output from this legendary place that since reaching adulthood I’ve probably listened to something recorded there every day I’ve listened to music. I’m now in my early fifties. To further convince you of the importance of Rockfield, let me list a few of the local walking highlights. There are the Black Mountains, the Forest of Dean, Symonds Yat, the Kymin, Offa’s Dyke Path – not to mention the River Wye and its Wye Valley Walk. This has to be the greatest coming together since the dawn of time.
There’s one other reason why this partnership was made in heaven. If you book early enough (and they don’t have to advertise) then you can actually stay at Rockfield Studios. It was, after all, the very first residential recording studios in the world.
First,
