Devilish & divine
Walk in ancient border forests where monks prayed and demons preached from on high
Walk in ancient border forests.
THE ETERNAL BATTLE between good and evil, played out in one weekend on the banks of the River r Wye. One walk dances with the divine, starting from the picturesque ruins of the Cistercian abbey at Tintern, tern, and throwing a wide loop around Chapel Hill. The other ther crosses the river to truck with the Devil at his pulpit, an airy perch on the steep valley side where Beelzebub tried to lure the monks to join him. He picked himself a good spot for a view, looking down to those beautiful cloisters – later adored by poets and painters like Wordsworth and Turner – with the languid river looping past. It’s ethereal in winter when air is crystal, branches bare, and the ancient Wye woodlands rake down to the water in a sparkle of frosted bark. There’s a section of Offa’s Dyke too and this weekend could have been called the Welsh/English one, for the border runs down the riverbed and between your two walks.