Symond's Yat Rock

The second short walk we did on our holiday in the Forest of Dean was to talk up  from Symond's Yat East (after lunch at the Saracens Head) to Yat Rock, to take in the views of the Wye Valley and surrounding countryside.

The reason for coming to Symond's Yat was actually just that I thought it would make a nice spot for lunch following our morning exploration of Puzzlewood. We arrived at the Saracens Head just before midday - I had a hunch it we'd need to get in early, this being only the second day of pubs reopening. I was right, and I think we more or less secured the last available table, but the Saracens appears to be a well run ship and despite the sudden mass arrival of customers our food and drink arrived in reasonable time.

There's just one car park for Symond's Yat East, and the minimum time you can pay for is four hours, so we thought whilst there we might as well make the most of it and walk up to Yat Rock.

A couple of photos of the Wye from Symond's Yat East to illustrate what a pleasant spot it is - although oddly in these two pictures, one taken immediately after the other, the weather looks much nicer in one direction than it does in the other.

The walk up to Yat Rock is straightforward and well signposted, albeit a bit steep in places.

The girls seemed to have footwear issues and stopped a little way up to address them. I rather like this shot.

Although there is a bit of a climb, it's a pleasant walk up the wooded banks of the Wye Valley to get to Yat Rock.

I found a patch of wild garlic part way up and collected a few leaves to go with tomorrow night's dinner.

On the way there was also some floral interest (is that sweet violet?) and oddly a log with lots of coins stuck in it by the side of the path.

Spectacular views once we got up to Yat Rock. The Wye takes a very meandering course around here, and the rock is in the narrow part of a large horseshoe bend, so you can see different stretches of it in various directions. Perhaps the nicest view though - the photo at the top of this page - follows the river along the east side of the horseshoe, along Coppett Hill, with the spire of the church in Goodrich clearly visible, Ross on Wye beyond that, and the Malvern Hills (I think?) on the horizon.