The beautiful Wye Valley marries an industrial past with historical buildings and natural wonders. Susan Taylor goes with the flow
Duration
Three nights
When
Spring 2023
Why?
An excellent variety of good walking trails, not far from the campsite
It was a perfect piece of serendipity. I almost didn’t bother going to the washing-up area on the campsite, but we hadn’t heated the water in the boiler and I had a bowlful of dishes.
Washing our breakfast crockery, I got into conversation with a fellow camper who’d been coming here for years. He recommended a walk along the riverbank to the footbridge, crossing the river and heading back on the opposite bank, stopping at the pub on the way before taking the hand ferry back to ‘our’ side of the river.
It sounded like a great first-day outing and half an hour later, we were on our way.
But let me explain. We had arrived the previous afternoon at River Wye Caravan Camping Park, on the banks of the Wye, just minutes from Symonds Yat West (and Symonds Yat East on the opposite bank), amid the splendid scenery of Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
We were planning a few days of relaxing and exploring. Our pitch was perfectly positioned on the riverbank, both for the views and as the starting point for a variety of walks.
The weather was glorious, the walk scenic, and the ideal length for us these days, at around four miles. Easy underfoot and simple to navigate, starting from the campsite, we simply strolled by the launch point for canoe hire, passed the pub (duly noted for later) and continued along the river path as directed, to Biblins Bridge.
Industrial history Along the way, we encountered the old Symonds Yat Limekiln, used for around 150 years from the early 1700s to extract lime from limestone – an unhealthy profession, as lime dust on the skin causes burns, and in the lungs, cancer.
There is an old ironworks, again dating from the 1700s – further evidence of the area’s industrial past and the importance of the river for transport.
There is very little left to see today, other than a few stone walls and an information board marking the spot, but it offers an insight into the lives of local people all those centuries ago.
Finally, we walked through Biblins Youth Campsite, a craft and outdoor centre for youngsters, and the location of our first river crossing. This turned out to be a rather wobbly footbridge.
Originally built in the early 1900s as a winch-point for moving logs along the river, today it is a wire mesh suspension bridge.
Our pup, Willow, took some persuading to walk ac
