We’d never been to Wales, so we decided to take the short trip from Bristol over the River Severn into the land of the Welsh. Because we’re Doctor Who nerd fans (the reboot, not the original) we considered going to Cardiff. But in the interest of time, and on the advice of a good friend, we instead went to Chepstow, the easternmost town in Wales and the home of a fine medieval castle ruins.
To reach the town of Chepstow, you have to cross a second river, the Wye. The castle was built on the cliffs above the Wye as a natural defense.
Chepstow Castle is very old. It is considered the “oldest stone fortification” in Europe not built by the Romans. The original structure was erected in the 11th century.
In later centuries, the castle was expanded several times. It takes a good hour or more to wander around all the spaces.
The town of Chepstow is fairly small, with a population around 15,000. After touring the castle, we had a nice pub lunch in Chepstow, checked out the shops, and then drove back across the Severn bridge to continue our Bit of England journey.
Love all of your pictures, so please keep sharing. Enjoy and have a wonderful time!
Thanks for reading!
The Welsh have a way with language, especially theirs. One town we visited is simply called Llanfair. The actual name is so long all the signs are circles because rectangles would be too huge to hang on a street sign. It ends with “gogogoff.”
David had Welsh cousins who immigrated there when Eastern Europe was set on destroying the Jewish population during the 1890’s, for a change. Apparently, the Welsh were happy to take them and charge them all a tax, yearly, just for not being Church of England or Anglican Christians.
I was hoping to talk about the Welsh language in the blog, but I couldn’t find a single Welsh signpost with few enough letters to fit in a photograph! 😃
Stunning! I love the history and the pictures, especially the keyhole view. And the doors…. Ok, I just wish I was with you guys!!!
We need to get that ol’ traveling gang together again!
These are amazing pictures. I loved the view of the river from the window!
If you like a picture, George probaby took it. 😃