I spent a morning having a leisurely walk along the river Wye at Ross-on-Wye, a market town in Herefordshire. Ross-on-Wye is standing high on a tall sandstone cliff, overlooking a loop of river Wye, and the name “Ross” is Celtic or Welsh for promontory. The town has around 10,000 inhabitants. The most prominent landmark is the church, St Mary’s, which is more than 700 years old.
I started off my stroll at the Riverside Inn for a morning cappuccino before continuing along the river to a statue of three swans. It is made in metal by an internationally famous local artist from Herefordshire, Walenty Pytel. And looking back I had the spire of St Mary’s Church rising behind the swans flying in to land.
Further down my walk I came across the Wilton Bridge, built across the river Wye in 1599. It has a sundial erected about a hundred years later which has an inscription as follows:
Esteem they precious time
Which pass so swift away
Prepare thee for eternity
And do not make delay.
