Mystery in the valley

Walking is in fields and lanes along the River Wye: use stout footwear and outdoor clothes; beware of water and traffic hazards; follow the Country Code - and never swim in the river.

On leaving The AMAZING HEDGE PUZZLE car park, turn left and walk along the road towards the hairpin bend for 1 minute;

At the hairpin bend, turn left and walk down the lane towards St. Dubricius' Church for 3 minutes. You are welcome to enter the church, whatever your religion - look for the tulip-trees, the angel, and the tomb of a great grand-daughter of King Charles II, the strange memorial to Thomas Jennings, the legend of the patron saint, and the tapestry and kneelers. Please respect the tranquillity of this sacred place and the privacy of worshippers;

At the church car-park follow the public footpath (on your right as you face the church gate) down to the River Wye and walk downstream for 15 minutes. You'll pass a campsite and a place where you can get a cruise on the river, then pass into open countryside;

At Ye Olde Ferrie Inne, go up the lane which serves it, heading towards the road for 3 minutes;

Where the lane joins the road turn sharp-left, walking up the hill towards the gorge for 2 minutes, and look for steps on your right, on the opposite side of the road to a telegraph-pole: a rose-arch which was formerly over the garden-gate at the top of the steps was adorned with a small wrought-iron spiral labyrinth as recently as 1999, when it was removed by renovators.

This labyrinth was not noted until 1975, and the earliest possible date for it is 1908, when the cottage was built. Not all spirals are labyrinths: only the location reveals that this was intended as one - mazes were used to protect thresholds in many parts of the world, including in this valley. The tradition here was to place a maze at the threshold of newly-wed couples. In this case, there is no record of newly-weds moving in, so it is likely that the labyrinth was used to mark the building's first occupation, rather as the ancient Romans performed a labyrinth dance at the inauguration of new sections of city-walls.

(From here, you can return to The AMAZING HEDGE PUZZLE in 10 minutes by retracing your steps back to the junction, and then continue along the lane for a view of the river and a chance for refreshment at the Wye Knott Inn on the way back.)

At the labyrinth, continue uphill along the road for 10 minutes to the Riversdale Lodge Hotel, where you can enjoy a cream-tea and watch the canoeists on the rapids or the climbers on the pinnacle, or swim in their pool for a small fee;

From the Riversdale Lodge Hotel, walk down the hill along the lane for 3 minutes to find a pedestrian ferry on your right (which you can hail if you want to cross);

From the ferry, continue along the lane for 9 minutes to rejoin Ferrie Lane;

At Ferrie Lane walk uphill for 2 minutes to the junction and carry straight on along the road for 4 minutes to the Wye Knot Inn, and continue for 6 minutes to return to The AMAZING HEDGE PUZZLE.