The Ferryman

Late morning Mrs BB and I cycled from home to Monmouth town (South Wales, UK) alongside the River Wye. As we cycled through Symonds Yat, the ferryman outside the Old Ferrie Inn (1473AD) was pulling his punt as a kayak passed under his ropes. This is one of two 'hand ferries' that operate on the River Wye, the other being outside The Saracens Head a quarter of a mile downstream.

In 1800 there were 25 hand ferries between Ross on Wye and Chepstow. They were introduced in Roman times to link the forts of The Doward and The Yat and have served military, civilian, tourists and horse traffic over the centuries. Now this and the other mentioned are the only ones that remain, and do so under Royal Charter granted about 400 years ago!

The ferryman saw me taking a photo' and gave me the thumbs up!

We had a walk around Monmouth, enjoyed a cuppa sat alongside the river Monnow at Monnow Bridge before cycling back, when a neighbour popped in for coffee.

This evening we collected granddaughter Amelia from pre-school and are now her man servants until she deems it time to go to sleep!