Scenic Countryside

Today we drove through a pastoral region called the Cotswold Hills, where a number of small, quaint villages lie. We drove through Broadway, Cheltenham and Gloucester on our way to Wales. Wales is considered a different country from England, and of the four (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) it’s probably Wales that gets the least press. Quick, what do you know about Wales? What imagery does it conjure up for you? For most Americans, I can tell you what the answer is: if anything, it’s that Charles is the Prince of Wales. Beyond that, probably very few even have a clue. That’s too bad because Wales is a lovely area. We saw the with lush fields of the Wye Valley and the majestic ruins of Tintern Abbey.

Tintern Abbey was founded by Cistercian monks in 1131, far away from everything. It was the first Cistercian foudation in Wales, and only the second in Britain. It survived for just over 400 years, until Henry VIII dissolved the Catholic monestaries and, well, robbed them of their wealth in 1536. After that, it began to fall into disrepair. The roof collapsed, and farmers would take stones from the remains of the abbey to use in their building projects. Now it is maintained by Cadw, the Welsh preservation agency. Today all that remains is a ruin of quiet majesty and a reference in the title Wordsworth’s ponderous pastoral poem. (My high school English teacher loved it, but I didn't have the patience for it then or now!)

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After this, we rode back to England and on to the city of Bath. Bath is so named for the Roman baths. Apparently the Romans discovered a hot spring in western England and turned it into a resort town. They built up ornate buildings around the springs. When the Anglo-Saxons took over, they had no use for bathing(!) so the area fell into disuse. The area is sunk into the ground but has been pretty well excavated, and as you descend into the area where the springs are you can feel the heat radiating from the water. There is an impressive Abbey next to the entrance to the baths.