{"id":15023,"date":"2025-01-08T13:35:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T12:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15023"},"modified":"2025-01-08T13:52:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T12:52:49","slug":"wyndcliff-to-tintern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15023","title":{"rendered":"Wyndcliff to Tintern"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Wyndcliff to Tintern<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Wyndcliff to Tintern<\/p>\n

The Lower Wye valley, Blackcliff and Wyndcliff, form a Site of Special Scientific interest containing rare plants and an ancient semi-natural woodland (dating back to at least 1600). Unusually small leaved lime trees grow over yews and rare plants include Twayblade orchid, toothwort, Tintern spurge and herb paris. Rare species include greater and lesser horseshoe bats, common dormice and high brown and silver-washed fritillary butterflies. Deer are a pest, as they have no predators.<\/p>\n

A notice stated \u2018Rich in natural beauty and natural resources the Wye valley has attracted both artists and industrialists. Abundant charcoal, limestone, timber, iron and water meant the lower Wye valley once teemed with forges, quarries, kilns and mills. As the birthplace of British tourism, a tour of the Wye valley also drew painters and poets from Turner to Wordsworth.\u2019<\/p>\n

We made our way to Upper Wyndcliff, part of the Wye Valley Woodlands. This was designated an area of outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1971 and straddles the border between Wales and England for a stretch of fifty-eight miles. A notice declares \u2018Every season offers something special: bluebells in spring, lush summer leaves, fantastic autumn colour, and the beauty of winter tree silhouettes. Discover stately oak and beech trees as well as ash and cherry. We maintain the historic viewpoints by cutting back the trees. These offer spectacular views across the Wye gorge and river, across to the Bristol Channel and the old Severn bridge. You can enjoy these views all year round but especially in winter, when the leaves have fallen.\u2019<\/p>\n

And did we strike gold on our autumn walk. The ground and the trees were carpeted in golden beech and sweet chestnut leaves; it was a dull day, but the woodland glowed.<\/p>\n

We passed a sign advertising \u2018The Eagles Nest Trail\u2019 a difficult walk of 1 hour and 1.25miles long. Now the walk started in earnest taking us up 365 steps to the top of the gorge. There is something about climbing steps which appears easier than walking up a slope, especially in this case as the steps vary in size from shallow steps to those which are a struggle for people with shorter legs. One section of the climb has a slanting metal bridge with a deep drop below it, scary if you suffer with vertigo and difficult for the person who had to carry their dog! As we climbed, we saw fungi, moss covering surfaces and amazing intricate tree roots clinging to steep faces.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Trees stood majestic a around us, dominating beeches gradually giving way to sweet chestnuts and then suddenly there were yews \u2013 more than any of us had ever seen growing in one place. We began to descend and moved into open fields where we could look back across the gorge to the autumnal colour of the woodland on the other side. On a side path we found the Tintern Limekiln, with two arched openings, it was used from 1700s onwards, for making lime by heating limestone to 1,000 degrees C. The lime was used in building for mortar, plaster and limewash and industry.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Descending a short stretch of road past houses, we found ourselves looking at the skeleton of Tintern Abbey so beautiful in its architecture. It was close to lunchtime, but we knew we had another climb so ploughed onwards and upwards, along a paved pilgrimage route, to St Mary\u2019s church. The crumbling church is surrounded by fencing and warnings to keep away. It has been associated with Tintern Abbey since the 12thC, and the monks probably came here on retreat. Wine cooler, obelisk and pyramid graves are in the graveyard. Many commemorate the ironmasters who ran the wireworks along the Angidy, reflecting their wealth and power. A bright yellow glow came from a small gingko tree in the graveyard.<\/p>\n

Church Grove Cottages had a lovely surprise, etched astrological clocks of various kinds were hanging on the walls, beautiful and fascinating. At the top of the walk, we stopped in the woods for an extremely late lunch. Someone joked that we had taken a wrong turn, and I was so hungry I said \u2019I have no sense of humour at this point\u2019.<\/p>\n

We passed a lake with glamping pods, named after woodland animals (fox, hare etc.), as we descended. Colourful trees reflected in the mirror of the water. We walked across farmland with sheep and cattle and the view opened again so we could see the Severn estuary.<\/p>\n

We continued through Upper Wyndcliff once more to return to the cars at Lower Wyndcliff.<\/p>\n

A superb day in beautiful woodland, rounded off with refreshment in the local inn in St Arvan.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Walk 7m 1700ft. Map OL14<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wyndcliff to Tintern Wyndcliff to Tintern The Lower Wye valley, Blackcliff and Wyndcliff, form a Site of Special Scientific interest containing rare plants and an ancient semi-natural woodland (dating back to at least 1600). Unusually small leaved lime trees grow over yews and rare plants include Twayblade orchid, toothwort, Tintern spurge and herb paris. Rare species include greater and lesser […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3Uj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1100,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1100","url_meta":{"origin":15023,"position":0},"title":"Wye Valley \u2013 Tintern, Brockweir & Tidenham Chase.","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We parked at Tintern Abbey and started by walking across the bridge at Abbey Mill over a full river Wye. The Abbey Mill\u2019s old water wheel was made around 1870 and ran until 1951 when electricity replaced water power. The mill paid an important role in the industrial history of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12326,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12326","url_meta":{"origin":15023,"position":1},"title":"Tidenham","author":"Alan Williams","date":"11th October 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Tidenham We started at Tidenham Chase car park on A4228; the pedestrian wireworks bridge across the river Wye at Tintern is closed for repair for about 9 months from August 2022. So, the plan was to include the Tidenham tunnel in our walk, a clockwise route taking us south to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Picture5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1413,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1413","url_meta":{"origin":15023,"position":2},"title":"Offa’s Dyke","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"WHO WAS KING OFFA AND WHAT WAS HIS DYKE FOR? You have probably heard about Offa\u2019s Dyke \u2013 but do you know who King Offa was and why he had a dyke built? Well - Offa was the King of the Mercians, a warrior tribe from central England, from 747\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15702,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15702","url_meta":{"origin":15023,"position":3},"title":"Redbrook and Pontsticill","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th July 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Redbrook and Pontsticill Redbrook We parked at Redbrook and walked up the Wye valley, away from Monmouth, towards Bigsweir bridge. We entered Highbury wood, an example of ancient semi-natural woodland typical of the Wye valley. For centuries, until the 1950s, it was managed by coppicing, to provide wood for charcoal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Footsteps-July-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9769,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9769","url_meta":{"origin":15023,"position":4},"title":"Wye Valley","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st June 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Wye Valley At last, we have freedom to travel for our walks and to meet in increasing numbers. Four of us travelled to Goodrich Castle (English Heritage) in Herefordshire for a walk beside the river Wye. The beginning of the walk was along the road to Kerne bridge, a beautiful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/footsteps.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1102,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1102","url_meta":{"origin":15023,"position":5},"title":"Goodrich and the River Wye","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Another beautiful day, starting in Goodrich we passed the church and headed uphill via Coppett Hill common, a nature reserve to Coppett Hill. The views were clear for miles across a relatively flat landscape and the church and the ruins of Goodrich castle stood out. We walked south catching occasional\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15023"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15023"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15031,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15023\/revisions\/15031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}