Woolly says – It was a glorious day with the sun shining brightly as we headed back over the border into Wales for what I hoped would be a fabulous day of discovery. We were still being cautious with Alfie the Dog and his leg so I had carefully checked for disabled access to ensure that he would enjoy the day as much as me, I just hoped that the pictures I had seen on google would be as good in person.

As we drove through the small town of Tintern we picked up the brown signs for the abbey and turned into the correct road, Jo spluttered in amazement ‘Oh my that is magnificent’ and proceeded to drive straight past the entrance for parking as she craned her neck to continue taking the incredible sight. Having reversed and finally sorted the car out, picked her chin up from the floor, the three of us stood looking in awe at the view before us.

Tintern Abbey is an ecclesiastical ruin in Monmouthshire, Wales, on the west bank of the River Wye. Founded for Cistercian monks in 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow, the Abbey was almost entirely rebuilt and enlarged between 1220 and 1287. The building was finally completed, except for minor additions, in the early 14th century.

It was the first Cistercian foundation in Wales, and only the second in Britain (after Waverley Abbey), sadly like so many others it fell into ruin after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. Its remains have been celebrated in poetry and painting from the 18th century onwards. In 1984, Cadw took over responsibility for managing the site and continue with the conservation work to keep it whole.

Although we were stood in the ruins of what had once been the Abbots House it was hard to focus on anything except the magnificence in front of us. Having taken a few pictures, we crossed the road and entered the Abbey itself.

Woolly says – It was huge, far bigger than I had realised and although eager to get inside the Abbey church I decided that we would look at the rest of the site first.

We started in the former Infirmary kitchen which would have catered for the elderly monks and those that were ill, the foundations showed a large space but little remained of the walls.

As I turned to Jo to comment on the broken lintel that had once sat above the fireplace, I realised that she was paying no heed to myself at all and was busy taking pictures of the church, we both stood looking at it’s incredible structure again before I kicked her gently to get us back on track.

The infirmary itself was a large space set in a cooler part of the grounds, it boasted an excellent water supply and drainage system which was open and I’m guessing would have smelt rather badly at the time. The cloister would have hopefully provided some respite from the stench as the old and infirm exercised.

We stepped through an archway and into the Monks Day room and dormitories, the ground floor would have provided recreation space while the sleeping quarters would have been housed in the now gone floor above.

Through a further archway we arrived in the former warming room, with its lovely arched ceilings this was the only place other than the kitchen where a fire would have been found. The central chimney would have allowed the monks to gain heat from 360 degrees although given its size it would have been a tight squeeze but then that would have kept them even warmer.

The main refectory was a large space, the monks would have eaten their one meal a day sat along benches, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t manage on one meal a day and wondered if they had snacks included to keep them going. An area to the side held a small lead sink and shelves where there eating utensils would have been stored, whilst a pantry would have kept everything cool and fresh.

The main kitchen had holes cut into the wall where food would have been passed through the passed through monks, only a single cupboard remained of the kitchen features and once the mutt had sniffed to his fill we wandered into the west range which had been added on in the 12^th and 13^th century and would have housed the worker monks who would have looked after those that had the much more important role of being in the choir, maybe I need to join a choir so that my importance in life is recognised more fully!

The cloister area for them would have made a pleasant place to wander and would have been planted with medicinal herbs and flowers, it would also have been the access route to the church itself.

Finally, we arrived in the church area, words failed me as I gazed around in compete awe at the magnificent building. Started in 1269 the Gothic structure was incredible, the arched windows and columns soared high above us, I tried to imagine the stained glass that would have once filled the empty frames, it must have been incredible.

My carer was equally impressed and seemed only to be able to mutter words like ‘incredible, spectacular and magnificent’ and to think that the church was never meant to be seen by anyone other than the monks.

Broken pieces of masonry showed us greater detail of the carvings and work that had gone into the construction.

I gave up trying to count the windows and suggested that we see more of the exterior, this fell on death ears for several minutes as Jo continued to take pictures and exclaim in wonder.

I really didn’t want to leave and with a last wishful look behind us we set off to see how far we could walk around the outside.

Woolly says – Sadly it wasn’t as far as we would have liked but it did give us a chance to marvel at the construction and size of the place for a while longer.

It was defiantly time for a sit down and some food, I had already found the perfect place a few miles away from the abbey. Tintern railway station served the village of Tintern on the Wye Valley Railway. It was opened in 1876 and closed for passengers in 1959 and freight in 1964, when the line was closed completely.

The station was opened on 1st November 1876 and was one of the four original stations along the line, bought by the local county council for £1,500 in the late 1960’s it was refurbished and opened as a visitor attraction. The old ticket office now served tasty sandwiches and cold drinks while,

we sat in the shade admiring the sculptures that had arrived in 2003, it was an interesting array with King Offa and King Arthur being the only two that I had heard off.

A single narrow-gauge track led us to a small turning area and a viewing platform where we stood for a while having a lovely conversation with a couple from Wick, Alfie took the opportunity to explore and see if he could be adopted by the owners of a dash hound that were passing by, they passed on his offer, so it was with full tummies and sore paws we climbed back into the car and setoff back to base. A trip that would be hard to beat in the splendour it had offered and one that would remain in our memories for years to come.