It is decades since I visited South Wales and Mrs O has never been there. This is a shame as it is only 3 hours drive away. We booked a weekend in Monmouth staying at a B & B above the Bistro Prego. I had expected tow ork a full Friday but since I am no longer working we were able to get away early.

We crossed the older Severn Bridge and then drove up the Wye Valley from Chepstow. This is all new for me and the trees on the east side of the valley were lit by the fading sun. When we got to Tintern, the sun was aready behind the hills to the west.

 Tintern Abbey

Nevertheless the abbey rin looked great with the backdrop of sunlit trees in their autumn glory.

Monmouth is at the junction of the Wye and the Monnow rivers. We made our way to Prego which is very close to the centre of town.

 Monmouth 081101

It is in the narrow street in the photo above which is for pedestrians only. The Prego B & B is small and reasonably priced with about £40 for single occupancy and £60 for double. The room was simple but comfortable. We headed out for a curry, which tasted good but the service was less than friendly. We decided we would try the Prego restaurant the following evening.

 Mennow bridge

At the foot of the main street there is the bridge over the Monnow. It was built in the 1270s and is the only surviving old bridge with a town gate on it. I have seen many pictures of bridges like this in history books but it was good to see one for real.

 Edwards of Monmouth

On the whole I thought that the town was very pleasant. The shopfront signs on the main street were noticably subdued compared with the typical high street. There were lots of buildings a few hundred years old with lovely high ceilings. A fair number of the older buildings had 4 storeys.

I knew nothing about the town until last weekend, but was pleasantly surprised and would not mind going there again.