A visit to the Historic town of Monmouth

13 Wye Dean members were joined by 2 from Glavon for a really interesting, if cold(!) visit to Monmouth. We met up with town Ambassador Dave for what was an enlightening tour of the most notable, and some lesser known points of interest in the town. We began with a look at the world famous bridge & gatehouse, including a rare chance to go inside the gatehouse that spans the bridge, which was constructed in the latter part of the 13th century. We learnt about the wool trade, and the different houses built to show seniority of rank; cattle markets and abattoirs, the remains of which are still evident; the Roman occupation; the listed buildings on Drybridge Street that are embellished with what looks like pargetting, but are in fact wooden print blocks used in the manufacture of wall paper; the castle where King Henry V is thought to have been born; the Rolls family of Rolls Royce fame, and their contributions to the life & well-being of Monmouth; the Shire Hall and courthouse where the trial took place in the mid 1800s of the 3 men charged with treason as prominent members of the Chartist movement - and where briefly on November 26th 2017, Judge Carol Nichols held court!; a window on the Priory is known as the Geoffrey window, after Geoffrey of Monmouth who wrote the 'History of Kings of Britain', which was used as a source of information by none other than Shakespeare! (It has to be said that the window was constructed 300 years after the death of Geoffrey - things moved slowly then!) The Nelson museum houses - you guessed it, a large and much coveted collection of Nelson memorabilia amassed in large part by Lady Llangattock, who was a huge fan of Nelson - he passed through Monmouth briefly in 1802, and Monmouth has dined out on the event since!

Well, I could go on - I shouldn't forget the introduction by Dave to the famous 'Monmouth Cap', obtainable from the Museum - I suspect there'll be a run on the caps in the run up to Christmas. Dave can be seen describing the hat in one of the photos on the gallery. Perhaps the best thing is to visit Monmouth for yourself, and find out more of its fascinating History.

We rounded off the day with a very good meal at the Stonemill Restaurant at Rockfield................more famous connections in Rockfield - the recording studios there have been used by the great & good, including Queen.

Have a look at the Wye Dean gallery for some photos of the day.