DAY 6 Friday 10 June 2005

Black & White Villages

From Ironbridge, we drove southwest, through Much Wenlock to Craven Arms then south on the A49 to Leominster. This is the start of the Black & White Village Trail. We drove through Dilwyn, then stopped to walk through Weobley.

We visited the church with the detached bell tower then followed the Black & White Trail route, first to Weobley

Typical house in Weobley	Weobley house and shop	A building with strange angles
Houses on the main street	One of the pubs in Weobley	Crooked oak beam construction
The main street in Weobley	The church and spire	Weobley from a distance

View across rural countryside beyond Weobley, where we stopped on the roadside for a cup of tea

The Major Oak at Eardisley

We drove through Eardisley then turned off to find the Major Oak. This is a large, old oak reputed to be 900 years old. It is hollow and you could fit about 10 people inside it.

The Major Oak at Eardisley	Room for several people inside
The house beside the Oak	"Great Oak House" of course!

Pembridge

Pembridge has a small Visitor's Centre and a handy carpark (free) with toilets just off the main street. We stopped here, first for lunch and then to visit the Church with its octagonal bell tower. This visit the bell tower was locked but the church was open, the opposite of our visit in 2003.

The octagonal bell tower at Pembridge	Inside the church
The stained glass window at Pembridge	A house beside the church. This one was being restored in 2003. (See the construction photo here...)

Tintern Abbey

From the Black & White villages we drove south to Monmouth then turned onto the A466 that follows the meandering Wye River to Tintern Parva. Throughout the drive you catch glimpses of the Wye River through the trees, but like so much of England, there is absolutely nowhere to stop, pull over and admire the view. If you slow down to look, you immediately have 50 vehicles and trucks right behind you.

We reached Tintern in the late afternoon, giving us about 40 minutes to look through the old abbey.

Tintern Abbey

Outline plan of the Abbey

Sketch of the original Abbey

The Wye Valley Hotel

View across the River Wye at Dusk

Tintern Parva across the Wye

Tintern in the evening

I had booked a room at the Wye Valley Hotel over the Internet. Once again we were expected and shown to our room, a nice upstairs room and en-suite, then it was down to the bar for a beer at the outside table before retiring to the dining room for an excellent meal.

After dinner, with the sun recently set, we walked along the road back towards the Abbey with some nice views of the abbey and village mirrored in the calm waters of the Wye River.

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Last updated: 30/06/2017