Q What do you do in Monmouth in the rain? A Why feed the ducks of course!

Late in the afternoon of a very drizzly day (well...um...yesterday), me and my girls went out armed with a carrier bag of bread ready for the BIG quest.  This time we were going after Monmouth's top unofficial tourist attraction - wild ducks!  So huddled under the yellow umbrella we headed towards Monnow Bridge.  Bit late, and a few ducks had started to doze on the bank.  My eldest took aim at the water...throw!  throw!  throw!  went the bread.  And as it hit the water the ducks whooshed into life  and dive bombed the bread!
  In the first ten seconds she got ten birds.  In the next ten seconds my youngest got another six.
  Just then four more wild mallards flew over our heads, from the top of Monnow Bridge.  They were hungry for bread too.
  Throw!  Throw!  Throw!  Throw! went my kids.  And Gobble!  Gobble!  Gobble!  Gobble! went the ducks!
  Hey, this activity is totally awesome and can be prescribed for kids from 1 to 101!  Why not try for yourselves.  Here's a few photos of those totally awesome ducks.  (all photos copyright Roo 2013)

  What a day!  One of our best duck feeding adventures yet...but all was not over on this quest.  You can never ever ever end a duck feeding session on an empty stomach, it is totally an unstated law in our house that you have to finish up with the best chips on the planet from the Monnow Fish Bar.

  Truly marvellous Monmouth!
  Roo

How to spend a bank holiday in Monmouth - Timelord style!

Welcome back to Marvellous Monmouth.  How did I spend my bank holiday? - well, by following in the steps of a great timelord.  Yep guys, the awesome, timeless (great pun eh!) series Doctor Who has visited the marvellous Monmouth on not one, but on two occasions!  And on both times it's Christmas!  Making Monmouth the capital city of Christmas.  That's not even mentioning the Doctor's other appearances at Troy House on the outskirts of town and also nearby Skenfrith, both with Amy and Rory in tow.
  So let's go on the trail of the Doctor.  Right let's start with episode 'The Unquiet Dead', the Doctor's biggest visit from Christopher Eccleston in Series I.  When the Doctor lands in 1869 Cardiff, just before Christmas and meets up with Charles Dickens and they proceed with Rose to battle the undead Gelth invasion. 

• Let's start in Beaufort Arms Court Shopping Mews (where the totally yummy Pocket Bakery lives!)  And the corpse of Mrs Peace heads off to the theatre (let's hope it's not the Savoy!)  This was filmed back in 2004.
  

 

Roo Copyright 2013 The Building shown is Sneed, the undertakers.

Next shown is a close up of Sneeds, which is destroyed as the rift is closed.

• Back on the timelord's trail, walk back through the arch to reach the Shire Hall location.  Turning back to face the arch we have views from the Cyberfactory in 'The Next Doctor' (filmed 24 April 2008)
  
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• This time David Tennant is in the Tardis.  Here's a shot of the Shire Hall, used for 'The Next Doctor'
  
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-and also back to 'The Unquiet Dead'  the scene where Dickens looks at the Gelth and where the Doctor, Rose and Dickens watch Sneeds Undertakers burn down in the photo below

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• On the time trail walk past the Beaufort Arms and along into Church Street where you find the White Swan Shopping Court (just before the Savoy Theatre).  This shopping court is where the Tardis lands in 'The Unquiet Dead'
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  - and also leaves with Dickens watching.
  
  
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  Only one more Doctor Who location I know of in Monmouth is left on the time trail, so let's leave the Swan Shopping Court, and go back into Church Street and then continue up the road past the Savoy Theatre to the end of the road.  To the left is St Mary's Church (which I will explore on another day!) my path leads down the road on the right...St Mary's Road...and after a couple of mins you see this sight...DA DA...
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  Wham...bam...in a flicker of an eye we're back in time as Sneed and Gwyneth chase after Mrs Peace.  This is the same street, I believe that Dickens chases Sneed's carriage.  Look at the house on the right of the road.
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  See the writing on the wall, one interesting fact - the writing on the wall looks old, but don't be fooled it was actually stencilled by the production team to make the road look authentic!
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  And J Hillman is actually the house owner! (Cool or what!)
  
• Hey bloggers, wouldn't it be a marvellous plan to stroll down to Coffee#1 just in time as the Tardis materialised and out would pop the Doctor ready to enjoy his usual cup of tea and chat about the latest gossip from the Tardis - and maybe offer to take me and my girls on a quick trip to New New York with the promise that we'd be back in time for bed.  Now that would make Monmouth Marvellous!
 
 

 

What is this strange place called Monmouth!?!

Well now, I thought, A Marvellous Monmouth blog it shall be, but it must be honest or you bloggers will smell a rat!  The way to start it, I decided, would be to give an intro of what Monmouth is.  A few facts about Monmouth ( or its Welsh pseudo-name Trefynwy).  Splendid.  And let's start with a photo taken from the Trellech road out of town.

View of Monmouth (Roo copyright  2013)

 

You can see everything going on from up here.  Monmouth is a country town in Monmouthshire, Wales.  It is surrounded by fields of yellow, red and lush green at this time of year.  It lives where the River Monnow meet the River Wye.  And this itself attracts tons of tourists to the town ready to explore the waters in kayaks and such-like!  And believe me, there is no better place in the universe to be than standing on Monnow Bridge feeding the ducks, and then eating the best chips on the planet from Monnow Bridge Fish Bar.  Simply delicious!  But more about that in next week's blog! 
  Back to Monmouth, there is a lot of history I can explore here.  The town was the site of a small Roman fort, Blestium.  And the Norman's built a castle here after 1067, which really set-up Monmouth as a town.  One of the town's claims to fame is Henry V was born in the castle in 1387. 

Henry V Statue, Shire Hall, Monmouth (Roo Copyright 2013)





















Admiral Nelson visited the town in 1802 - they even built a naval temple in his honour on the nearby Kymin Hill.  Then there's Monmouth's connection to the Roll's family (of Rolls Royce fame).  In fact it was the statue of Charles Rolls I used to start off this blog last time!  The one below is a little different!

Charles Rolls Statue, Outside Shire Hall, Monmouth

(Roo Copyright 2013)

 

But there's more than this to Monmouth, much, much more, until our next encounters dear bloggers, when I think it'll be time for me to ghet down to the big explore... Roo

The Marvellous Plan 5/21/13

WARNING TO READERS: Do try to explore Marvellous Monmouth yourselves.  It could be fun.

The Marvellous Plan

'Hey, we're off to school,' my youngest said.  'So be a good mum and don't get up to mischief.'
  This was a very silly thing to say to a mum at any time.  It made me wonder what sort of mischief |I might get up to.  And In Monmouth too.  Oh, I'm Roo by the way, and we moved to Monmouth, Wales, last year - and I really love the place.  Oh, but I haven't really explored it, there's just so much to see and do and so little time when life takes over.
  And all of a sudden I had a ginormous urge to do something about it.  Something fabulous.  Something totally awesome.  A sort of explosion took place in my brain.  I wanted to blow away the mysteries of Monmouth.  I may be a mum of a seventeen and fourteen year old, but I could be brave when I wanted, well kinda.  I am ready to take the challenge on.  Very well then.  But...what should this challenge be?
  As I sat there, tea in hand, my eyes fell on my trusted camera and laptop.
  Ah-ha!  I thought suddenly.  I know exactly what I
'll do.  In shall make a blog on 'Marvellous Monmouth', one that gets me to explore this marvellous town.  It will either cure my lack of knowledge completely, or blow off the top of my head.  So join me on my quest and see if by the end of 2013 I still have the top of my head...