WCP399

[1]

2, Western Villas, Abergavenny.

August 26th. 1883

My dear Fanny

Yesterday we made our long promised visit to Usk, and I will tell you what we saw. The town is I sh[oul]^d think very little altered near the Bridge. There are a few villas on the East side and on the South side of the river, but on our side from the Bridge to Llanbaddock Church there is no alteration¹ whatever. Our cottage remains just as it was, not a door or window altered, & the little stone-paved kitchen & shed & back yard with the rock close at the back exactly as I remember it. The garden is a little altered, a nice lawn being made in front & the trees & shrubs grown up high, but there is a low fence & gate into the meadow, & the little cottage just at [the] bottom of the garden, & then the rock which they blow up for the road mending [2] apparently very little altered though they have been working it ever since. I looked for the big stones in the river I remember standing on while you were all fishing, but found only one, the others have no doubt been broken up when the river was dry & taken away. Beyond is the little Inn & the Church, [illeg] which has been much repaired, — a new gate instead of the old stone styile², & inside new seats, pulpit, &c. new wooden ceiling, & tiled floor. We found the gravestone of Mary Anne & Emma in very fine preservation, only the grass grown a little over the edges. We asked permission to go into the house & saw the french-parlour, breakfast-room & kitchen, all unaltered, — & very damp at the back as I suppose it always was. The only alteration between the bridge & Llanbaddock is a low hedge on the road side next [to] the river which I think was not there in our time, but there are many [3] gaps in it so that there is a path inside it on the edge of the river bank. I was surprised to see so little alteration and to find everything so much like my memory of it. Afterwards we went to the Castle ruins & went on the tower top just as we used to. The top is grown over with a perfect hedge of ivy, thorn, & other bushes, so as to make it quite safe & pleasant on the top. Then we went on to Ragland[sic] Castle & saw that grand ruin, — the finest I ever saw. It is kept in beautiful order by a gentleman who lives in one of the towers & acts as guide, charging 6^d each person selling photographs &c.

Usk is a very pretty neighbourhood, far prettier than Abergavenny, but the mountains near here suit us. The Sugar loaf is just at back of this house, & up the valley towards Crickhowell there are [4] fine rocks and waterfalls to which we have had some nice excursions. Crickhowell is also a very pretty little town in a lovely neighbourhood but it is 6 ^{or 7} miles from the station & lodgings are probably difficult to get. The Usk Cottage must have been very cold in winter, as, being close under the hill to the South of it, it could not have got a bit of sun in winter, even at noon!

We leave here on Sept[embe]^r. 5th. & as soon afterwards as you like shall be glad to see you. We have had beautiful weather the last week, while Mr. Mitten & Rose have been with us.

Your affectionate Brother | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]