All the way to Monmouth, where fish fall from the sky

A monthly round-up from Bridgend Ramblers, with Steve Townsley

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WHILE most of Bridgend Ramblers' walks cover the lovely countryside within 25 miles or so of Bridgend, from time to time we venture further afield.

A cloudy Saturday morning in early June found 30 of us joining a coach for a trip to Monmouth and a walk on the Wales-England border.

Monmouth sits at the junction of two rivers, the Monnow and the Wye, both of which form part of the border between England and Wales.

The Wye is by far the longest of the two. It stretches over 150 miles from its source in mid-Wales to its meeting with the sea in the Severn Estuary.

Although stocks have declined in recent years, it's famous for its fishing and still attracts anglers from across the country, as well as ramblers from Bridgend.

The town of Monmouth is one of those places which seem to have been there forever and to have become part of the landscape itself.

Every guidebook you pick up talks about it “nestling in tranquillity’ or something like that.

Personally, I've never really understood what a place has to do to nestle, rather than just to be, but I’m sure Monmouth does it perfectly. And as well as oodles of countryside to nestle in, it also has a lot of history to rest on.

Remnants of Bronze Age boats have been discovered nearby and the Romans built a fort, Blestium, there during their occupation of Britain.