Wye Valley, Forest of Dean Holiday July 2015 - page 2
Located near Ross on Wye in Herefordshire, Goodrich
Castle is a well-preserved English medieval castle built high on a
rocky outcrop overlooking the River Wye. And while still in
'castle mode' on our endearing Wye Valley cottage holiday in Penallt we
next headed to Monmouth Castle and Military Museum. Then
venturing into the Forest of Dean another day we went underground at
the enchanting Clearwell Caves, a former iron ore mine south of
Coleford in Gloucestershire.
This is page two of three.
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Valley Forest of Dean 1 | Wye
Valley Forest of Dean 2 | Wye
Valley Forest of Dean 3
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Goodrich Castle has been been in existence since 1101 and, like many
castles in the Welsh Marches, the circular towers encompass
square-based pyramids rising up against the walls. Inside, the...
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...castle features an early Norman square keep; look carefully at our
pic here and you should spot the famous 'Roaring Meg' mortar cannon
down there in the courtyard, a powerful weapon that...
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...destroyed Goodrich Castle in 1646. This 'Roaring Meg' is the
only surviving Civil War mortar now in existence. Behind the
courtyard...
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...is the solarium, one of a number of domestic buildings within
Goodrich Castle's bailey, others were the great hall, kitchen, buttery
and...
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...the 13th century chapel, sporting a splendid stained glass window...
well, it would look splendid if we (erm, Mike) hadn't grossly
over-exposed it!
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Goodrich Castle's semi-circular barbican was built at right angles to
invading forces; this helped protect the causeway leading to the
gatehouse.
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Above the castle's gatehouse is the portcullises well and its
interesting operation described on the board.
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We spent an absorbing morning exploring Goodrich Castle
which is classed as a Scheduled Monument and is a Grade I listed
building. Run by English Heritage, the £6.60 adult entrance cost
(at the time of our visit) included an audio guided tour and castle
exhibition. However, it doesn't include parking which cheekily
costs another £1! Overall though we found Goodrich Castle to be a
worthy visit, even for non-castle buffs like us.
Other facilities at the castle include a café, picnic
area, and, of course, a gift shop selling all kinds of castle related
stuff.
For more on Goodrich and Monmouth castles (coming up
next) and other Wye Valley and Forest of Dean tourist attractions
please see our large collection of UK tourism resources.
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We moved on to Monmouth Castle but there wasn't much to see, about all
that's left of it is the ruins of the Great Tower and Hall. Just
as well entry was free!
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Adjacent to Monmouth Castle is the Military Museum which relates the
story of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers regiment and their
involvement in...
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...the Militia and various conflicts. Run by volunteers, it
contained some fascinating exhibits, allow an hour or so. Entry
to the Military Museum was by donation.
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Do you guys out there want a peek at our holiday cottage? Well,
here it is! Located near Monmouth in the small village of Penallt
just inside Wales...
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...the self-catering cottage was equipped with a lovely spacious
kitchen. Belinda's knocking up the full works here - a full
English breakfast ahead of venturing into the Forest of Dean. Yum!
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For our first foray into the Forest of Dean we made for a historic
iron ore mine within the natural cave system at Clearwell Caves,
located just south of Coleford in Gloucestershire. Once inside...
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...we passed by these informative displays highlighting Clearwell's
mining heritage and learnt about the Freeminers right to dig for
minerals and the geology of the Forest of Dean. Visitors follow
the...
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...self-paced path underground through the nine huge caverns (called
Churns) with plenty more displays along the way. The Forest of
Dean was once a major mining area, with coal mined as well as iron.
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The mined iron ore was transported to the surface along these railway
tracks. Clearwell Caves cover some 600 acres including some
deeper level caves but the significant extra cost (£15/£26
semi-deep/deep) plus the teeming school trip kids...
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...populating them meant we gave them a miss. Apart from iron
ore, ochre pigment was also mined at Clearwell Caves and still is today
for artists. Well it sure was fascinating wandering along the
winding underground passageways and...
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...the clever lighting effects in the caverns (or Churns) made for a
very atmospheric underground experience. Can you spot Belinda in
the huge cavern above? One interesting fact is that the
temperature in the caves never varies from 10°C.. ..brrrr!
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Now no cave attraction would be complete without an attractively lit
underground lake and Clearwell didn't disappoint! Adult entry to
the main caves cost £6.50 and there's also a café and gift shop, both
of which were plagued by school party kids on our visit.
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Perhaps a downside of self-catering is arriving back at the holiday
cottage and having to prepare a meal after a hard day's touring, but
sharing the task means it's no great sweat. Overall we like the
complete freedom cottage holidays give - we're free to do as we wish
with...
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...no set meal times to return for. And some evenings we ate out,
supporting the local economy.
On our next page: more Forest of Dean attractions: Dean
Heritage Centre and the preserved Dean Forest Railway >>>
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Valley Forest of Dean 1 | Wye
Valley Forest of Dean 2 | Wye
Valley Forest of Dean 3
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