Sadly 90% of the UK population cannot see the Milky Way from their homes, but the absence of light pollution in much of rural Wales has made Wales one of the world’s great destinations for stargazing. On a clear night in the Wye Valley National Landscape, look up and you can see dark skies and myriads of stars, along side iconic landmarks such as Harold’s Stones and Tintern Abbey. In the 1880s thousands of tourists flocked to Tintern on special rail excursions to view the harvest moon rising through the rose window of the abbey. Today, for the best dark skies viewing, head up to Beacon Hill, where there is minimal light pollution.
Beacon Hill Dark Skies Viewing Place
Beacon Hill, near Trellech, is an open area of heathland which has an expansive, almost 360 degree view of the night sky. A five minute walk from the car park will take you up a forestry track, over a cattle grid and out into a lovely clearing in the woods where, on a clear night, the stars are easy to spot, with low levels of light pollution. For the best expanse of sky keep walking until reaching the second crossroads of paths, where ‘Joan’s bench’ provides a welcome place to sit back and take in the wonders of the universe.
Beacon Hill is easy to access from Monmouth or Chepstow. Leave the B4293 at the Lion Inn in Trellech, signposted for The Narth. After 1.5km take the first turning on the right and very soon turn left into the NRW car parking area. From the car park take the right hand Forestry track uphill, across a cattle grid into the open heathland area. What3words: https://w3w.co/saturate.rankings.leopard . (Note – this is the car-park offering the easiest access to Beacon Hill in the dark, along an obvious gravel track, and not the main Beacon Hill View carpark described by Natural Resources Wales.)
This area is managed by Natural Resources Wales. Further info here.
Make sure to have suitable footwear, warm clothing and take a torch.
Astrophotography Podcast
Tintern Abbey – Lee Pullen
Top tips for Dark Skies Photography
Tune in to this podcast to pick up some super tips on how to photograph the beautiful dark skies found in the Wye Valley National Landscape and Forest of Dean. Astrophotographer Lee Pullin chats to Paul Williamson from the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean Tourism Association. Tim took the amazing photo of Tintern Abbey at the top of this page.
