Llanthony – the valley in the heart of Wales

a visit to ancient llanthony

The handsome ruins of Llanthony Abbey

The two miles to Llanthony took us a long time to walk, but eventually we could see the ruins of the famous abbey just below. The rain eased off, but we had become wary of its capricious moods and kept well covered up. I recalled Bruce Chatwin’s book, “On the Black Mountain” and think that he should have renamed it, “Beneath the Black Cloud”, such was our experience today.

Plans for the evening….

“Let’s have a great night out at the Abbey Hotel. I saw on their sign that they had a 12th century bar,” I suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Carol quickly agreed.
We put on our goretex coats and walked along the wet road to the Abbey Hotel. As luck would have it, the hotel was closed and our dreams of a luxurious dinner dissipated. We walked back to the Half Moon Hotel, realising that our remaining option was to have a meal there.