ABC: Herefordshire: River: The River Wye

The River Wye seemed like a natural choice for exploring in Herefordshire, so I started looking for places to go along it. That’s when I stumbled across the Weir Garden. The Weir Garden is part of the National Trust. I considered using National Trust membership as one of my criteria for visits, but in the end, I decided not to—so I’ll likely come across a few NT properties along the way, and this is a perfect example.

The place was really interesting. It sits on a big bend of the River Wye, and its history stretches back to Roman times. The gardens are arranged around the back of the bend and offer beautiful views over the river. They’re not hyper-formal—quite informal and relaxed 

—with some lovely grottoes and a couple of great acers, which I love. Eventually, you wander down to the river itself, where there’s a large stone weir(?) on the side of the river. It’s not entirely clear why it was built or what its original purpose was, but the site has a long history of fishing, so maybe something to do with that?. There’s also a large mansion at the top of the gardens, which adds another layer of interest. It was a pretty magical place. 

While I was there, I bumped into an older couple from Norfolk. They told me they visit this area regularly, and we got chatting about my ABC tour. They were genuinely interested and shared all sorts of recommendations for places to visit in Norfolk—though, sadly, I can’t remember any of them now!

MAP