On my doorstep

This is Towan Head in Newquay. It's less than 3 miles from the place that was my home until I married at the age of 21. Yet I was 19 years old before I stood next to that old Coastguard lookout on the highest point of the headland and beheld the glorious view across Newquay Bay.  Why? Because I could go that at almost any time; today, tomorrow, next week, next year....

A couple of weeks ago I realized that I was in danger of making the same mistake in my present home town. Less than 3 miles from my home lie the remains of a Roman temple in Lydney Park; a place I've been promising myself to visit ever since we moved here, almost 6 years ago. Not that a visit is entirely straightforward, for the place only opens to the public on two days a week, from April to mid-June. If I didn't act soon, yet another year would pass.

To my untrained eye the ruins proved hard to interpret but there is an informative notice board on the site and since my visit I've been reading more about it. Indeed, armed with this knowledge, I really must return in 2019.

I've 'borrowed' the drawings above from humanitiesweb.org. I hope they don't mind. The drawing on the right is the temple at Caerwent and is typical of Roman temples. Lydney's is clearly very different and was dedicated to the god Nodens – a Celtic deity rather than the usual Roman variety and associated with healing and the sea. A Wikipedia article suggests that the site was probably chosen because it offered a clear view of the massive Severn Bore – but the bore only becomes visible further upriver from Lydney. Whoops!

Interestingly, the three shrines at the top (north) of the temple, and two side chapels, anticipate the design of early Christian churches. The information board calls it 'the ultimate achievement of one of the early lost rivals to Christianity.' A bold claim indeed for little Lydney!

Nearby lie the remains of Roman baths that were somewhat easier to interpret.

O what fun it would have been to bathe here. After running quickly through the frigidarium you would find me relaxing in the tepidarium (warmer) or the caldarium (much warmer), each with their under-floor heating. Lovely.

Actually, most people don't visit Lydney Park to see the Roman remains. For them the star attraction is the gardens, which burst into magnificent colour when the cherries, magnolias and rhododendrons flower in the Spring.

Lovely they undoubtedly are, but it's those Roman remains that hold my fascination. There are also traces up there of a Norman castle, whilst in the park museum is the Lydney Dog – an impressive piece of Romano-British sculpture.  O dear, I missed both of those. Roll on 2019!