Tag: Hereford

River Wye at Hay-on-Wye

Another research trip recently found me tracing the course of the river Wye. For part of its length, the river marks the border between England and Wales, so it’s loaded with historical resonance. The tranquil scenes today belie events of times past.

I made this trip to do some final checks before the Temple Scroll goes live. Just as well I did. I came across a small but material change in the appearance of one scene – sorted it with an appropriate tweak once I got home.

Clearly, if something in the physical world changes after publication, that’s beyond anyone’s control, but it’s good to make sure things are as they should be at the outset.

I started at Hay-on-Wye. As a writer, it seemed an appropriate place to start. For this part of the trip, I think I had got my scheduling about right. The Hay Festival had finished a couple of weeks previously and the influx of summer visitors were yet to arrive in any great numbers. So it was perfect for wandering around and taking in the town.

Hay-on-Wye, quiet street

From Hay I moved downstream, taking in a range of locations. I spent a bit of time in Hereford, which gave me time for a visit to the Cider Museum, it’s the natural place to find a cider museum – Hereford’s the home of Bulmer’s Cider. Then, before crossing the river and continuing my journey south, I paid a visit to Hereford Cathedral, a building that has always impressed me – more about this on another occasion.

Hereford Cathedral

Once out of Hereford, I followed the Wye all the way downstream to Chepstow, where it joins the River Severn. I’m avoiding adding too much detail at this point since I don’t want to give anything away and spoil the story.

Chepstow Castle

Check out the riverbanks; the grey brown mud highlights the tidal range here, which is enormous. Of course, the Wye’s feeding into the Severn estuary, which is reputed to have the second highest tidal range in the world – way over forty feet. It’s very impressive.

Sufficient to say, things were as I had last seen them and after a day of nosing about, I happily moved on.

It was at Bristol where I found the item that necessitated an adjustment to the script. It was just a little thing, a minor difference in my understanding of the traffic routing – but it influenced how events played out in the Temple Scroll so I was pleased to catch the snag. And hats off to Bristol, they have managed to do a great job of revitalising the old docks. It’s a really vibrant place and a pleasure to visit day or night. Thanks too, to the guys at the London Camera Exchange in Baldwin Street – they sorted out my camera problem with the minimum fuss and maximum efficiency.

Then it was on to Bristol Airport, and home.