Ripped Off in The Wye Valley

Thursday 4th November
A Day Out

We woke this morning to blue skies and sunshine, lots of sunshine, over breakfast we decided to take 'Vera' out for a spin, we checked English Heritage & National Trust sites but found most local places were closed so after a chat we decided to take a short road trip down to the Wye Valley and Symonds Yat.
We cruised down the M5 & M50 motorways and arrived in Symonds Yat West, now I don't know if it was the lack of research before we left but arriving found little more than a large caravan site and amusement park next to the river, we moved on and stopped at Whitchurch to check where to go, we took Izzy for a walk and were really impressed with the village clock tower erected in 1867


From Whitchurch we drove the couple of miles to Symonds Yat East, a lovely area right by the River Wye, we looked for a parking spot, there were two car parks with plenty of space however, they wanted £5.00 parking, which was for four hours but we only wanted a short walk, we were not prepared to pay that amount for 1/2 hour parking.
We moved on up to Symonds Yat rock, the road was very narrow and of course we met other traffic coming the other way but we didn't have any issues, arriving at the Forestry England car park we noticed it was pay and display, not an issue, checking the price board the wanted £2.00 for two hours, great but yet again there was a sting in the tale, £2.00 for cars £8.00 for campervans, MoHo and mini busses, are they having a laugh?
What a RipOff! We left without paying anything. I don't think we are tight or mean, I don't mind paying reasonable parking charges but I will not be RIPPED OFF. Vera fits in a standard width space and is not much longer than some modern estate cars or SUVs.
Moan Over..........


We took the short drive to The Kymin a National Trust Property a couple of miles away,  unfortunately it was closed today but we were able to take a walk around the grounds.


Once part of the Duke Of Beauforts Monmouthshire estate, The Kymin was originally a popular 18th century picnic spot, the round house was built in 1794. Our walk through the woods bought us to The Navel Temple, built in 1800 to celebrate some of the great British admirals and victories of the time.

Naval Temple

We walked some of nine acres of woods and parkland and took in the spectacular views from the Round House looking out over Monmouth and the Wye Valley towards the Black Mountains.

The Round House at The Kymin
 
Views over Monmouthshire to The Back Mountains

We chatted & laughed with some American visitors who were up from London for a while before returning to the van. 
Being early November the sun started to go down quite quickly and it was getting quite cold, we returned down the very narrow road back into Monmouth, topped up with fuel before setting off back up the M50 for home.
We have had a lovely day out with Vera, a pity we both felt that we were being totally ripped off with the car parking but it didn't spoil a lovely Autumnal day.

Trip Details:

Miles: 133.5
Ave MPG: 33.3 mpg 
Fuel Cost: £ 27.83 / £1.519 ltr
Car Parking: £ 0.00

Nights: 0
Camp Fees: £0.00
Camp Ave per night: £ 0.00 

* * *


We put our holiday photos in to small slideshows and videos which are uploaded on to our YouTube Channel, benivanadventures, they are not professionally produced but give a feeling of the area and places we visit - Click on the link below: 

Ripped Off in The Wye Valley

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Thank You for Watching
See You Again On Our benivanadventures



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