Newport

16 July

Belle Vue Park

Newport. The place name that sends a shiver down one’s spine when the thought of travelling on the M4 comes to mind. Traffic build ups that can double your journey time and speed limit zones that have done little to aid this. However, after leaving the dastardly motorway, Newport has its beauty spots, that is for sure. Going into this day trip I knew there were two different gorsedd stone circles in two locations, and so I found the one closest to the motorway first. This location was Belle Vue Park, a perfect area to spend a sunny afternoon. It was easy to get to as it was just off a street and luckily had a car park that was only £1 for 2 hours. I paid for the parking and walked down the hill a bit. There I found an informative sign that told me where things were within the park.

This was great as I was worried I would have had to walk around the entire park to find the stone circle, but, thankfully, it was depicted on the map so I knew where to go. Gaining in confidence of finding my first gorsedd stone circle with relative ease, I headed down the hill to the right slightly and came across it almost immediately. As can be seen in the picture, the stone circle, made of relatively small stones, is placed within a circle of trees, giving the impression that the stone circles are as natural as these trees.

The history of this park is palpable due to these trees and stones placement as these trees are quite tall, and by extension, old. It is recorded on the Newport government’s website that the Eisteddfod in 1897 is the reason for this stone circle being there, and would also explain why the circle of trees encircling it are so tall; they were planted over 100 years ago. This very much hit me as I walked around it and sat down on the centre stone to take some notes. You can feel the aim of the Gorsedd stone circles of evoking a sense of antiquity, just as Iolo envisioned. There are also some beautiful, old, redwood trees who’s pine needles give the park the iconic pine wood smell, floating across the fields, being enjoyed by a large family gathered on the grass for a picnic in the sun. After walking back up the slope I headed back to the car park and set off for the next stone circle. 

Tredegar House

Tredegar House was just as easy to get to after only a 10 minute drive, with the car park being the same price as the other. On arrival I paid for parking (a process made easier if you’re a National Trust trustee as it is a National Trust site) and went into the information centre to ask where the stone circle was, as I couldn’t see it on the map for the site. By the sounds of it, this was an unusual request, as they had to confer with each other to work out where it was. They gave me a map and circled where it was. You have to walk past the information centre, turn at the second left, walk through a courtyard where a shop for reusable household cleaning products is located, walk past the cafe, across another courtyard, and once at the building opposite, there is a gateway to the right that leads out into the grounds. Then you walk across the green in front of the house towards a line of trees. As you walk through this gap in the hedge, the stone circle becomes visible on the right.

This stone circle took my breath away as it was made of very large, sharply defined stones, with a very large, flat, centre stone. People were sitting in between the outer ring of stones and the centre stone, appreciating the shade the tall trees backing onto the circle gave in the heat. I then walked around the stone circle and followed a small opening in the bushes and found myself looking out over a beautiful lake with loads of wildlife. Ducks were floating here, there and everywhere, with swans dancing across the water, and some other rare birds were taking off into the azure sky.

I watched a small family feed some of the ducks and then turned around and walked back towards the manor house. One of my biggest regrets about my visit to this site was that by now it was quite late in the day, as I had travelled from my home in Oxfordshire (a two and a half hour journey) and spent time at the other site before arriving here and I missed out on going into the manor house by about half an hour.

I will absolutely be returning to this site as the attractions will keep anyone entertained for the entire day, especially those interested in listed buildings and their history. 

For more information on Tredegar House see: https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/place/tredegar-house