The Solitary Rambler
REDBROOK AND NEWLAND
Filmed 29th May 2018
Post-production completed 24th August 2018
Post-production completed 24th August 2018
Running time 20 minutes
Synopsis
Redbrook
was another village I mainly passed through en route to other places, but today I take some time to explore it more thoroughly before my walk for the day, which explores parts of both the
Wye Valley
and
Forest of Dean
. It includes a visit to the quiet village of
Newland
, with its impressive church known as the “Cathedral of the Forest”. As I make my way back towards Redbrook I pass through a secluded valley which, although I remember it from having walked through it many years before, I had forgotten just how beautiful it is…..
Locations
Filmed in the
Wye Valley
and
Forest of Dean
in the counties of
Monmouthshire
and
Gloucestershire
. Locations include
Redbrook
,
Newland
and the Valley Brook. This is part of the series of films in 2018 celebrating 25 years of “The Solitary Rambler”.
Background and production details
On the day after my second night at the
Premier Inn
in
Monmouth
I would be going back to visit Mum again, so I aimed to do another film before making the journey back to
Somerset
. I wanted to film in
Redbrook
which, like
Llandogo
, hadn’t featured in any of my early films, but it was in the
Wye Valley
and I wanted it to be part of the 25th anniversary celebrations. I looked at filming a walk I had done once or twice many years previously, which included visiting the nearby
Forest of Dean
village of
Newland
and the secluded valley known as Valley Brook leading back to Redbrook.
Leaving Monmouth on Tuesday 28th May 2018 I drove down the
A466
to Redbrook, parking in the local football club car park. I paid £1.00 for an all day parking ticket which, as I went to leave it on the dashboard in my car, was taken by the wind and blown so far down into the dashboard that I was unable to reach it, so I had to buy another ticket and made sure that one didn’t get blown away! So I now have a Redbrook car park ticket wedged in my dashboard that will probably remain there forever! Anyway I started filming and captured many shots around the village, including the
old railway bridge
across the
Wye
to the
Boat Inn
at
Penallt
. Crossing back I followed the road through Upper Redbrook as far as the mill pond, after which I turned off along a path eventually leading to Newland.
I spent quite some time filming around Newland to capture the beauty of the village including its great church, the almshouses and the Ostrich Inn. Unfortunately there were some workmen carrying out some building work outside the pub, so I tried my best to cover this up when I was taking my shots. As I left Newland I followed the route along Valley Brook, a really beautiful secluded valley leading back to Redbrook. When I eventually made it back to Redbrook I took a couple more shots of the village and the old railway bridge, but this time I really did enjoy a quick half in the Boat Inn over the bridge. Although in many of my films I say at the end “I’m off for a quick half”, more often than not I don’t actually do so, but in this case I did and found the pub to be a delightful place with its location beside the River Wye and the old bridge. After resting in the bar with a glass of Thatchers cider I walked back over the bridge and collected my car to drive back to North Somerset.
I worked on the post-production of “Redbrook and Newland” about three months after filming. There was no music in my mind for this particular film, neither was there any older themes I felt I could re-record for its soundtrack. However, whilst I was out on the day of shooting, a few bars of music did come into my head, so I developed that into my musical score for the film. The main theme consisted of piano, strings, horn and brass voices on my keyboard.
Next:
Monmouth and the Kymin
Previous:
Coleford, Dark Hill and Clearwell
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