"Yat" is celtic for "gate", I believe. This is the river Wye, which is the
border beween England and Wales. It meanders in a great loop here, similar to
the Greek letter Omega. Where the two end points almost touch is a great lump
of rock; Symonds Yat, from where this picture is taken. The RSPB have an
observation point here, watching the Peregrine's nesting in the cliffs on the
other side. Pity I didn't get any pictures.
Near the mouth of the river Wye, shortly before it flows into the river
Severn, is the town of Chepstow and being a border town, the Normans (William
Fitzosbern) built a castle here. This is one of the biggest castles in Britain
but, as ever, there is not much left of it. This picture was shot from the
English bank (the other side of the river is Wales) early one morning in order
to get some light on the castle. It was a bit misty that morning.
The old bridge across the Wye was built by John Rastrick and opened on
Wednesday, 24th July, 1816. It is 372 feet long with the centre span being 112
feet. Most traffic now uses a new road bridge (built 1988) along side of the
(1962) railway bridge which forms part of the Chepstow bypass. It's very
pleasant along the river bank when the tide is in as you can see. When the
tide is out, it is quite a steep drop down the muddy bank. The tidal range is
the second greatest in the world, caused by the funnelling effect of the
Bristol channel and river Severn. (The
greatest tide in the world is in the Bay of Fundy between Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick.)