September 21, 2025
Driving to Cardiff from Birmingham, we drove down the Wye Valley National Landscape to Tintern, Wales, location of the Tintern Abbey. Crossing the Wye on an old railway bridge (1), we began a climb up the steep-sided valley. A short rocky stretch seemed a bit treacherous after last night's heavy rain. After about a mile climb, the trail swung southward near the top of the escarpment. The vista called Devil's pulpit was crowded, but a local hiker told us about another overlook further down the trail.
The view here was more open, and nobody else was around. We sat and enjoyed the view on this sunny, warm Welsh day. The local man (2) and his dog, Daisy, soon appeared. He was chatty, talking about American and British politics, and J.K. Rowling's upbringing in the next town down the valley, Chepstow.
After our descent, we enjoyed a pub lunch in Tintern, and Welsh Cream Tea, with Welsh cakes instead of scones. Total hike about 3 1/4 miles and a 750 foot elevation gain.
One Republic put on another good show in a smaller arena in Cardiff. Off the motorway Monday morning down a long series of narrow country lanes, we had a quick visit to Stonehenge before our late-day flight home to Boston.
(1) The Wye forms the border between England and Wales. We thus were back in England (Gloucestershire) for much of the hike. The Welsh tourism board, however, had put up a bilingual interpretive sign on the trail, because the views were back into Wales.
(2) Like many people near the Devil's Pulpit, his car was parked on the ridge-top road in England, about 1/2 mile behind the trail.
