Chepstow

I had a few adventures of my own after returning from Oxford. My first was to see Chepstow Castle, the Wye river, and to hike up the river valley just a bit.

The train from Cardiff to Chepstow is a short one, just under 45 minutes. You do get out of the big city rather quickly, highlighted by the near abandoned character of Chepstow Depot compared to Cardiff Central Station. The weather was blustery but not too cold when I arrived around noon.

Chepstow, while not a small town, seems to grow once you enter its center. It is located on a steep slope going down to the Wye river. The grade breaks up your line of sight, and does make walking a bit harder depending on your direction. It had the effect of making things seem to be farther apart than they actually were. Signs for the castle were excellent though so before too long I had my bearings and had purchased entry to the castle.

Chepstow Castle guards the entrance to the Wye river valley, a major source of resources for the rest of the Kingdom, especially timber. All manner of products from the ocean also used to move through the area on land or water. The fortress is located on a rise over the river, and was surrounded by a customs wall (a wall more to control access than to provide defense). The castle had its own small dock so it could be supplied by water and land. The site was in use for years, so it has been expanded and reinforced several times as armament changed from arrows to cannon. Gun ports were added, notably a huge bunker built in to the wall facing the town. Now overgrown with ivy this port, as my later hike made obvious, is pointing straight at the easiest path down from the town towards the castle. The fortress had several separate baileys, a reinforced gatehouse (tower bases expanded to reduce dead spots and shore up foundations against mines and bombardment) with external works, and a small ravelin at its rear entrance. The castle curves slightly on the side facing town, which no doubt would have provided excellent fire coverage of the killing fields.

The castle was also a home, and featured marble columns and vaulted ceilings in the master's living quarters. The walls would have been painted and elaborately plastered too. Parts of the columns are still there along with some evidence of the vaults. The cellars of the castle are intact, and their huge vaulted ceilings suggest the glory of the past.

I had a small lunch along the castle's arcade and then wandered the walls for awhile, taking in the view and enjoying the quiet. The lazy wooded curves of the river stretched away in to the distance, disappearing quickly around a bend.

After lunch I hiked for awhile around the edge of the town, which is the embarkation point of the Wye Valley walk, a trail system stretching many kilometers from Chepstow, on up the valley. As time started to run short I returned to town and bought some post cards in a bookstore. I wasted time thumbing through their books until I had to go meet my train.