The River Wye Josephine Jeremiah Size: 246x185 Binding: Hardback Pages: 144 Number of Illustrations: 178 Published: 2004 ISBN: 978 1 86077 301 3 RRP: £14.99
	THE RIVER WYE has long been celebrated for its exceptional, ‘picturesque’ beauty. Though for centuries a busy ‘navigation’, with trows and barges trading up and downstream, not to mention the many who fished for salmon from their coracles of ancient design, no large towns grew up, nor heavy industry came to despoil its lovely landscape, market towns and villages. In 1782 William Gilpin’s illustrated book Observations on the Wye encouraged a rich flow of wealthy tourists to embark on ‘The Wye Tour’ ... an excursion, by boat, from Ross-on-Wye to Chepstow. That book was followed in 1797 by Picturesque Views on the Wye by Gilpin’s contemporary, the artist and author Samuel Ireland, who described the river from its source on Plynlimon down to Chepstow, near its confluence with the Severn. The mood of the moment was the ‘discovery’ of the beauty of wild nature and the ‘picturesque’ so the Wye quickly attracted poets and artists such as William Wordsworth and J.M.W. Turner, with their pens and paints. Indeed, even Admiral Lord Nelson came to take ‘The Wye Tour’, by boat, in 1802. During the 19th century many further guides to the Wye and its delights were published, including those by Thomas Roscoe, Leitch Ritchie, Lousia Anne Twamley and Mr and Mrs S.C. Hall. All were illustrated and our present author has made very skilful use of the best of these early aquatints and engravings, interwoven with early photographs of the landscape, to illustrate her brilliant account of the Wye. The author’s concise and very readable narrative account of the past of the Wye Valley is transformed by her pictures and their captions into a book of compelling interest to all the communities along the river’s banks, from villages and market towns to cathedral city - and to all the many visitors who come to wonder at its magnificent scenery, ancient castles, bridges, centuries-old churches and, not least, the many ancient inns that grace its banks. 'The author's prose is evocative, as well as informative, and she beautifully depicts the human faces of the times... Her words are every bit as pictorial as the many illustrations... highly recommended.' South Wales Argus 'the handsomest assemblage... high quality reproduction reveals details... with unusual clarity' Forest & Wye Valley Review Also by this author The Middle and Lower Thames, The Upper and Middle Thames, The Vale of Evesham, The River Avon, The River Wye, The River Severn, The River Nene and The River Great Ouse and the River Cam.