A brand new comprehensive guide to the heritage of the Wye Valley was launched in March at the Boots and Beds Conference at Chepstow Racecourse.

This long awaited guidebook to the heritage and important sites in the Wye Valley between Ross on Wye and Chepstow has been produced by the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership using a wealth of information produced by the recent Overlooking the Wye Heritage Lottery funded scheme.

The publication will make a perfect travel companion for tourists visiting the area or for local people who wish to understand and enjoy this historic landscape.

As one of the earliest areas to industrialise, the Wye Valley was at the cutting edge of Britain's industrial development over two hundred years before the industrial revolution.

The Wye Valley also saw the first tourism trips for visitors seeking the picturesque and the glorious Wye countryside.

This lavishly illustrated book opens the door for the reader into a fascinating historical past with stories, paintings, poetry and photographs and will inspire exploration of this internationally important landscape.

Priced at £7.50, copies can be obtained from local booksellers or from publishers Black Dwarf Lightmoor Publications Ltd or from the Wye Valley AONB offices.