Ok we are off to Caerleon . Our camper stop book tells us that there is a good night stop in the town so off we set . The drive back over the Severn was not the most brilliant . The rain picked up and splattered Gabbys windscreen . The metronomic rhythym of the wipers broke the silence . We had not expected to be driving even more miles today. More miles of stop and start . Things had not improved going the opposite direction . Nor had the lateness of the day improved it by one jot . We did though eventually get to the Severn crossing . The new bridge named after the Prince of Wales . An iconic bridge with a bit of a history . particularly wanted it named after an English prince who Ok went to university at Aberystwyth and did learn a bit of welsh but lives in England for most of his time and holidays in Scotland and Norfolk . A prince who does have a holiday home in Wales and pops over the border a few weeks a year to say hello to his subjects .
we had been over the bridge since the tolls were abolished . The Severn looked grey . The mud flats muddy . The Celtic Manor which housed golf tournaments and G7 conferences looked a bit forlorn. We were heading for the parking area on Camperstop opposite the ampitheatre in Caerleon . Amphitheatre Amphitheatre that sounds Roman to me shouted our quiet little friend in the back. Can he be quiet ? No definately not . Anything roman is bound to wake him up . He is always in search of things Roman and he and his best friend Woolly always try to hunt out Hadrian . I dont think he was going to find anything to do with Hadrian here . Hadrian was up north .
Caerleon looked a nice little place . Could we live here we wondered ? It looked pretty . There was infrastructure and life . It certainly has a lot of history . The romans were here , Arthurian legend is talked about .
We parked up . Next to the rugby pitch with views over the amphitheatre which was open . Some young girls arrived and went behind the
club . Boys arrived and followed . Could be interesting we thought . Due to Covid the museum was closed but the rest of the area was free to enter any time day or night . Plenty of parking but why were there no other motorhomers here on such a good spot? Away from town. Away from people not harming anyone . A few cars came in and parked up . The occupants whisked off in another car . We wondered why . Drug dealers . Pimps . Our minds were on overdrive . Some walkers braved the damp. An old farmhouse looked empty and rather forlorn . The smell of pigs or manure permeated the air . We walked over to the site . Dont think Coliseum in Rome or even amphitheatre in Chester. This one has been stripped of its stone but the circle and shape remain . You need a drone to see it properly or go up in an hot air balloon .
We walked across the field and into the circle . It was impressive even with so little remaining . A young girl sat around one edge with her mum and Billy the
dog . Billy barked and barked at us and wouldnt stop running towards us despite her cries for Billy back . Apart from her and her mum and Billy we had the place to ourselves.
Sion of course took up the narrative as sadly there were no information boards .Who needs a board when you are with a well read sheep It was built in 74 AD and was called Isca . It was built to subdue the Silurians he said . Ha Ha now that is how Usk called Usk after Isca
We set out to walk around the perimetre . It really was an interesting place . 60, 000 people could be seated here shouted the sheep. He told us that he would have liked to have sat there and watched the lions eating the audience . I had to gently explain that perhaps there were no high walls so there would not be wild animals . If there was a disappointment it was the litter . In a quiet corner where there probably once had been a shrine was the evidence of a party . Cans
left everywhere .
