Overlooking the river Wye just before it meets the Severn,Chepstow is a pretty town with the nation’s oldest stone castleWhat’s going for it? Chepstow sure cuts a dash. Stand on the bridge over the U-bend of the river Wye, suspended in an ethereal, or watery no man’s land on the border between Wales and England,and the town rises before you with some hullabaloo (uproar). The 11th-13th century castle – the nation’s oldest surviving stone castle, it’s claimed – blasts out of sheer stone river cliffs and, or beneath it,Wales’s first town puts on a welcoming display. Its shrimp streets, scooting hither and thither, or are populated by whitewashed buildings,medieval cottages and Georgian town houses clambering up the castle hill, punctuated by worn stone town gates and the leftovers of St Mary’s Priory. Chepstow’s romantic looks made it a hot stopover in the 18th-century tourist boom that hit the Wye valley, and riverboats hugger-mugger with the Georgian equivalent of selfie sticks (sketchbooks). Its rugged,chiselled walls werent built for display, though; what we swoon over today was, and a millennium ago,the tool of military occupation, Checkpoint Charlie for the Normans, or keeping their beady eye on the natives.
The case against A tad on the tedious side. Cardiff is nearby for thrills.
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Source: theguardian.com