Hill F View River Hidd o p C en rt o o s i I n n n t n s d e u c s t t i r o y n s Vie Hi Hidd wp ll F e o or n i t I n s n t s d u s t r y Hill Rive Fo r C rt o s n n e c t i o n s Hill Rive Fo r C rt o s n n Head for e c t i o n the Hillforts s A circular walk from Symonds Yat Rock to Little Doward 5-6 HOURS, 7 MILE WALK (or shorter sections) Follow in the footsteps of the Wye Tourists down to the Wye. Cross the river at the Biblins visiting Little Doward Hillfort, King Arthur’s Cave and New Weir Forge. Return on the hand ferry at Symonds Yat West. t s d u s t r y Discover the heritage of the Wye Valley through our four themes Hill Rive Fo Hillforts r C rt o s n The brooding presencen of e c t massive hillfortsi built by Iron o n Age tribes, commandings wide vistas high above the Wye, reinforces the feeling that this area has been border country for millennia. Butterflies and Birds Hid View de Hidden industry po n i I n n Look out for rare birds and butterflies along the walk. t s d With fiery furnaces belching out u Peregrine falcons can be seen at Yat Rock from early s t fumes and smoke the Wye Valley H r id y View de spring. The Forestry Commission work in partnership po n was one of the earliest places in i I n n with the RSPB staff and volunteers to help you get t s d the UK to industrialise. Today u the best views of these amazing birds of prey. s t the woodland and water which r Through the season they can be seen sitting on the y powered this industry provide a nest, returning with food and later teaching the young picturesque backdrop for this falcons to fly and hunt. Hill Rive hidden industrial heritage. Fo r C rt o s n In the 19th and early 20th centuries The Doward was n e c well known amongst butterfly collectors, who arrived t i Hil Riv o l F er n at Symonds Yat on special excursion trains. Local o Cs River connections rt o s n boys caught Purple Emperors and other rare n e c Think of the Wye as a watery butterflies and sold them to the visitors. In 1911 an t i o n highway linking the riverside alien species from Europe, the Map Butterfly, was s reported on The Doward. The great butterfly collector villages with the wider world Albert Brydges Farn decided to retire here. An expert and you’ll begin to understand in British insects and their delicate relationships with its importance in earlier times plants, he believed that no alien fauna or flora should when boatmen navigated trows be introduced to the British Isles. Secretly he laden with cargo between the destroyed the whole colony of alien invaders! Lindsay Wyeside wharves. Heyes who runs the Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo, (20) located in the shadow of The Doward, has a Hid View Viewpointsde continuing programme of research into the life of Farn po n i I n n t and his studies brought this intriguing story to light. s Tourists discoveredd the beauty u s t of the Wye in ther 18th century Today there are around 30 indigenous species of y when it became fashionable to butterfly on The Doward hills including colonies of take the Wye Tour and find Wood White, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Small Heath, inspiration in the picturesque Silver-washed Fritillary, Grizzled Skipper and Dingy viewpoints. The views have Skipper. The rare Purple Emperor Butterfly is found changed as woods and farmland very occasionally. Hill are managedRive differently today, but Fo r C rt o s you'll still find inspirationn here! n e n Peregrine falcon at Symonds Yat. (© Linda Wright) c t i o n s Hillforts above the Wye The commanding view and cliff top location which Symonds Yat Hillfort makes Symonds Yat such a popular tourist destination The Symonds Yat hillfort was defended on two sides was also valued by much earlier people. The hillfort by steep cliffs and on the third by five concentric here is one of at least nine prehistoric hilltop ramparts, each a substantial bank with a ditch enclosures dotted along the lower Wye Valley. alongside. It fell out of use around or before the time This walk links with the closest of these hillforts, the Romans invaded Britain – 50 BC to AD 43 – at across the Wye on the Little Doward. the end of the Iron Age. Constructed in the Iron Age (around 700BC-43AD) Little Doward Hillfort these dramatic earthwork monuments are one of the few remaining visible links to our prehistoric past The hillfort at Little Doward has two parts, now – an evocative reminder of the people who once divided by a sunken trackway running across the site. gathered here. A single massive rampart surrounds the upper enclosure. These banks and ditches survive as a Most Iron Age people lived in small farmsteads. prominent feature in the landscape today. The lower They also constructed hillforts which overlooked the enclosure does not have a rampart, but has steep river and were visible from the surrounding cliffs on three sides. Excavations here suggest that countryside. The size of the encircling banks and this smaller enclosure was the earliest. There is ditches, which define these sites, conjure up images evidence of metalworking, around 360BC. Finds from of warrior defenders and places of refuge during tribal the archaeological excavations include Iron Age unrest. Although the ramparts were defensive they pottery and large quantities of bone from cattle, sheep were also a statement about the prestige of the and pigs. The bone has survived particularly well here inhabitants. We may call them hillforts, but it is likely because the soil is very alkaline as a result of the they were much more than places to retreat to in underlying limestone. Burnt grain was also found times of trouble. They were probably the local focus showing that crops were cultivated and processed. for politics, religion and trade. z Front cover: The view to New Weir. (© Chepstow Museum) j Symonds Yat Hillfort n Little Doward Hillfort START Symonds Yat Rock Log Cabin OS Grid Reference: 564162 (Numbers in the text also appear on the map.) 1 The Log Cabin Did you notice the ramparts of the Iron Age Hillfort on either side of the footpath as you walked from the car park to the cabin? n The elegance of Edwardian Symonds Yat station. (© Dean Heritage Museum Trust) 2 ‘New Weir for Symonds Yat’ n The log cabin cafe, built by the Forestry Commission Railway Station in 1956. (© Dean Heritage Museum Trust) Can you hear the steam trains and smell the sooty smoke? This car park was a station on the Ross and Once you have taken in the views from Yat Rock, take the Monmouth Railway. Five passenger trains a day in steep footpath, near the cabin, down the steps, following each direction ran through here, plus summer excursion the Forest Footpath waymarkers through beech woods to traffic. In the 1930s a camping coach (a specially the car park beside the river. converted old coach) was installed for weekly hire. Much earlier, passengers alighting here were accosted This track was the old miners’ route to Symonds Yat, by a ‘mob of shirt-sleeved gondoliers’, who would take down which coal was carried by mules. In the 18th them by boat to their final destination! Before the century a boat tour down the Wye from Ross to railway most visitors arrived here by boat. Chepstow was the height of fashion. Special tour boats were constructed – commodious conveyances – with cushioned seats, a table at which to sketch, write and paint, and a canopy to protect the travellers from the sun or rain. These tourists left their boats below Coldwell Rocks and climbed up to the viewpoint at Yat Rock, before descending down this track to rejoin their boats at New Weir. n The railway line running towards the station and New Weir. (© Private collection) It is advisable to check that the hand ferry at the Saracens Head is running if you intend to use it later for your return. Alternatively you could take the ferry n View over the railway and river towards New Weir now, and follow the walk in reverse, returning via the and the old limestone quarry and kilns on the Doward. (© Dean Heritage Museum Trust) Biblins bridge across the river. n This detail from Samuel Ireland's picture of 1797 shows horses towing a trow into the lock on the left. 4 Route of Towpath and Railway The Forge is on the right. (© Chepstow Museum) It is only recently that the trees have been left to grow at the water's edge, now obscuring much of the view. Walk to your left through the car park and stay on the track The riverbank had to be unobstructed to allow the along the riverbank. The route follows the old railway line. trows to be hauled through the shallows by men called bow hauliers. They were attached to the boats 3 New Weir by a rope which they wore on a type of harness.