- Golden Valley, Herefordshire
The Golden Valley is the name given to the valley of the
River Dore in westernHerefordshire ,England . The valley is a picturesque area of gently rolling countryside.The main villages are
Dorstone ,Peterchurch ,Abbey Dore andEwyas Harold .Origin of the Name
The name "Golden Valley" probably derives from a confusion of the name of the River Dore with the French "d'or", meaning 'of gold'. The
Normans confused the Welsh word "dŵr", meaning 'water' with their own word for gold, d'or.Historic Attractions
Arthur's Stone, Herefordshire [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/45960] , located just outside the village ofDorstone , is achamber tomb from theNeolithic Period, and dates from some time between 3700 and2700 BC . Arthur's Stone is Herefordshire's oldest man-made structure.The majestic
Dore Abbey [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/659541] , a formermediaeval Cistercian monastery , is a 'must' to visit in this area - and during the summer offers a programme of delightful musical concerts. It was built between1175 and1220 and restored in the1630s .The diaries of
Francis Kilvert extol the beauty of the local landscape of English river valleys sheltered by the Black Mountains betweenHay on Wye andHereford and it isBredwardine where he is buried. Kilvert was Rector at St Andrew's church, Bredwardine until his early death in1879 .Ewyas Harold Castle is an early Normanmotte and bailey castle and St Michael's church,Ewyas Harold contains a13th-century or14th-century effigy of a lady holding a heart in the palm of her hand.The last remaining
toll bridge in Herefordshire atWhitney-on-Wye leads toHay-on-Wye - the world-renowned second-hand book town. This delightful border town has a continental air with tiny streets and 30 bookshops shoulder to shoulder - individual, independent, idiosyncratic - with prices from 50p to £1,000+ for rare editions.Owain Glyndŵr is said to have spent his final years after his disappearance following the eventual failure of his rebellion against King Henry IV in hiding under an alternative identity with his daughter, Alys Scudamore, previously known asAlys ferch Owain Glyndŵr , and her husband, aHerefordshire Scudamore, namelySir John Scudamore in the Golden Valley.Recent Times
The Golden Valley featured in the 1993 film "
Shadowlands " in both a painting and as an actual location. C.S. Lewis, the film's protagonist, owned a painting of a valley which to him, as a child, appeared to be heaven.Pipeline
During the past year the Golden Valley has seen the construction of the National Grid’s 196 km natural gas pipeline from Felindre to Tirley. The construction of the pipeline is now mostly complete, with only small cosmetic jobs still ongoing.
External links
* [http://www.thegoldenvalley.co.uk/others.htm Things to do in the Golden Valley]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.