250 years ago the Wye Valley was the place to go on holiday

It is more than a little ironic that the 250th year celebration of the birth of British tourism with the boat tour of the Wye taken by William Gilpin in 1770, is the year when global tourism has become an ex-industry (temporarily) in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result there was to be a raft of events to mark the significant mile stone in British cultural history under the umbrella of Gilpin 2020 Festival, launched by Prince Charles in Ross-on-Wye in November last year. As a result of Covid-19, Gilpin 2020 Festival (www.gilpin2020.org) events will be resurrected in 2021. The celebration is obviously a moveable feast. But the beauty of the lower reaches of the Wye is immovable, and can be enjoyed whenever social distancing becomes a bad memory.

So what did Gilpin do to start the firing gun on tourism in Britain? What he did was take the tour that his fellow Anglican cleric and rector from Ross-on-Wye had first taken in 1745. Dr John Egerton had commissioned a boat to be built specifically to take his guest on excursions down the Wye from Ross to Chepstow.

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In 1782 the account of this experience was published: Observations on the River Wye and Several Parts of South Wales which was a rather preachy guide on how to appreciate the views from the river in a ‘picturesque’ way.

This is because the school headmaster Gilpin was a painter, who loved and appreciated the drama of nature, but would often make it perfectly ‘picturesque’ with a bit more contrasting drama, or other techniques.

As an accomplished landscape artist, Gilpin had set out on a different path from the topographical – more photographic depiction – painter, and he wrote about his principles of the ‘picturesque’ in his popular Essay on Print and then applied the principles in detailed notes for his Observations on the River Wye. 

Sketching, painting and recording journals was the 18th century equivalent of the Instagram, showing everybody else what you are doing, and telling them in a way that encourages your followers to do exactly the same.

Gilpin was an influencer of historic proportions, and he wrote: “if you have never navigated the Wye, you have seen nothing.”

These words, and the rest of the sermons on how to view and form the picturesque from key points  along the banks of the Wye, propelled the likes of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Turner and other lesser mortals to be inspired to paint and write on what they saw.

And if they can see the beauty of the river and its surroundings, who are we not to appreciate them as well?

So from a standing start, and a vicar’s amusing diversion for guests, the Wye valley is suddenly a popular place for the leisured and rich who are looking for something to do in Britain as the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars have curtailed the practice of the European Tour of all the best places to see on the Continent.

And as anyone who has watched Blackadder and Baldrick direct the Prince Regent away from the latest fads, the Georgians were very keen on fashions of what to do and wear.

And so, very soon there at least eight boats plying a trade of tourism down the Wye from Ross down to Chepstow, taking in specific views from Wilton Castle, Goodrich Castle, Symonds Yat, Monmouth, Whitestone, Tintern Abbey, Piercefield Park, and Chepstow Castle.

By the time Nelson took the Wye Tour as part of his cunning plan to be alone with Lady Hamilton while pretending to look for suitable oaks for Royal Navy ships, he was greeted at Monmouth by a salute from guns set up at the Temple on the Kymin. If ever there was a gold-starred influencer in Georgian society, then it was little Lord Nelson.

Interestingly, even the heavily industrial ironworks at Tintern were picturesque, contrasting with the ruins of the monastery that the Duke of Beaufort had made more accessible to curious visitors.

The boats that these tourists travelled in, along with all their picturesque necessities of sketch pads, paints, journals, wine, special viewing glass, etc, were the Wye’s answer to the gondolas of Venice’s canals.

They had an awning, under which there was a table to be able to write, sketch and paint, padded seats to the rear to appreciate the wonders of wild nature on the meandering Wye,  and were pulled along handsomely by boatmen rowing them downstream. 

The heyday of the Wye Tour was from 1760 to the 1830s, but crowds were boosted by steam packet boats from Bristol started arriving at Chepstow, and subsequently by the opening of the Wye Valley Railway in the 1870s. And by the 1880s Gilpin’s picturesque moment of viewing the harvest moon rising through the East Window of Tintern Abbey was a bucket list event that attracted thousands.

So much for then.

Now, the traditional start point of the Wye Tour, the Hope and Anchor pub at Ross-on-Wye still has mud marks in its glasses above the bar courtesy of the recent floods, and it would have been forced to close to combat coronavirus anyway. 

But when restrictions are lifted, and you feel that you deserve something special, look to your doorstep and take the modern versions of the Wye Tour. 

If you are being traditional about it, take to the water with river boat cruises at Symonds Yat, or for a more energetic but genuine experience hire a canoe – with or without a guide.

For those who prefer to keep their feet dry, Celtic Trails (www.celtictrailswalkingholidays.co.uk) offer walking holidays, and the Wye Valley AONB have published a set of self-guided walking leaflets that can be downloaded  along with a wealth of other information from www.wyevalleyaonb.org.uk .

For the maybe less energetically inclined, a new Wye Tour gallery will be opening at Chepstow Museum at some point. Visitors will be able to sit in a reconstruction of a Wye Tour boat and virtually view the river scenery from Ross to Chepstow, as it is today interspersed with artists’ views of the same scenes from more than 200 years ago. 

The gallery will also display a wealth of original 18th and early 19th century watercolours, inspired by the sites on the Tour, which Chepstow Museum has been fortunate to be able to acquire through a National Lottery Heritage funded project in recent years. With the fragile nature of watercolours this will be a changing display – so visitors can return to find new treasures on display over the years. 

Definitely something for the diary post pandemic.