This summer, we’ve loved travelling the UK by car. We packed our camping gear into the boot and headed in whichever direction took our fancy that week. With the freedom to change plans whenever we felt we’d explored enough of an area, we developed a system early on for planning our journeys at short notice.
Our main priorities were to discover areas we had not explored before, so finding places to visit and things to do was as much part of the research as picking the locations themselves.
We were travelling up from Poole, where Zoe had been hen-partying with some of her friends, and our goal was to explore the Forest of Dean for the first time.
Whilst on the road, we planned a large amount of the visit using the Geocaching map, which independently led us to some of the most loved spots in the area. We still had the problem of accommodation to sort before the day was up, so we headed to the centre of the forest, to a car park in Speech House, to give us time to clarify our thoughts. There were a few very highly rated geocaches here, which we discovered was part of the popular sculpture trail: a hilly two-hour walk, with plenty of impressive artworks to take in.
Around half way around the route, we turned off the path to find another beautiful clearing in the woods.
The whole way around the walk so far had been serenely peaceful. When we entered the woods, I stepped off the path towards a small ridge on the edge of a large bowl in the woodland. The light under the trees was shaded and the air was damp and cold. There were a number of birds singing a call and response in the trees above. I brushed up against a large holly tree, which scratched at my coat as I turned to face the clearing. There was with a fallen tree in the centre, which was bathed in the light from the vacant space it had created in the tree canopy.
These are the kind of locations that I love to find when exploring a new area for the first time, and the Forest of Dean was full of them. There was evidence of wild boars all over the forest floor, although sadly we didn’t see any ourselves.
At the end of the walk, we booked ourselves a campsite for the week, just outside the Wye Valley region. It was very quiet and we almost had the field to ourselves! By the middle of September, the nights were starting to draw in; the shorter days and cooler nights made camping a little less luxurious, but nevertheless we were out in nature and determined to stick it out instead of finding a hotel! For the most part, the temperature was comfortable and we were snug in our warm sleeping bags with the drawstrings pulled tight!
We were rewarded that evening with a beautiful sunset, which we watched unfold before us as we sat by our tent. The orangey pink sky got even more intense after sunset.
Over the coming days, we joined the dots between the locations we had earmarked on the various maps we had studied. This included another beautiful walk through the forest, exploring the town of Ross-on-Wye and road tripping down through the valley, stopping at The Kymin, Bigsweir Bridge, Llandogo, and Tintern before reaching Chepstow.
Another great gem of the geocaching map, which we took the time to explore, was the Wye Valley Greenway. This recently opened cycling and hiking route incorporates the Tidenham Tunnel. This old railway tunnel, over 1 kilometre long and dimly lit by wall mounted lights, is home to some rare species of bat, which nest here over the winter. The tunnel is closed between October and March to protect them, but the experience of walking through it is an exciting one! Curved at the start and finish, there is no light at the end of this tunnel… Don’t be fooled by the photo below, you can barely see anything while you’re in the tunnel.
On our last evening in the Wye Valley, the clouds parted for a few hours. We travelled to the peak of Symonds Yat to do some stargazing before moonlight filled the sky.
We wrapped up warm in our gloves and hats, and looked out over the railing to the river below, and could see the reflection of the stars in the still water. Sadly, I didn’t get many good night sky photos that evening, but it will be one we remember for a long time.
After watching the stars until the moonlight dominated the sky, we made our way back towards the campsite. We passed through the village of Ruardean as we had done many times during the week. It has a striking church atop the hill, of which I had been mentally composing a photograph each time. This time however, the moon had risen to the perfect angle to pass behind the church from the road we were driving. It was one of those lovely moments when something wonderfully unexpected aligns in your favour - there were so few places to photograph the church from it was just perfect timing. I couldn’t avoid telegraph poles and cables, but so pleased to also capture the star cluster known as The Seven Sisters or Pleiades rising behind the steeple.
As much as it was our intention to visit this area of the country because of its natural beauty and serenity, we really felt renewed by the regenerative power of spending time away from the computer and from social media. The feeling of sleeping on the earth under the stars and spending time in nature reiterated for me how important a regular digital detox can be for the mind and the body.
Despite the many miles in our legs through the week, it was exactly what we needed to feel fresh and ready for more adventures in the future.
You don’t have to travel to the other side of the country! Have a think about the area where you live, and where you might be able to go to clear your mind and forget about the digital world for a while… You’ll feel better for it - I promise!
See you next time!
Harry and Zoe x
Some stunning photos! Please keep them coming.....
The "Cathedral" what an amazing sight! Although I did find myself wondering what would happen in the great storm? Do they take it down for safety?