Influence of The Rivers Severn and Wye on people's lifestyle (General)

by rookancestrybest , United Kingdom, Friday, September 17, 2010, 20:29 (5186 days ago)

I was in the Forest of Dean very recently.
I have been exploring the area and doing some family history but it was a flying visit. Though I have been before I seemed to see things differently this time, for a start I noticed how pink/red the soil/earth is and assume that is the high iron content showing. I also noticed how little many of the villages have changed and that even though my direct ancestors left in the 1870s I would expect many places would still be familiar to them, e.g Westbury on Severn, - more familiar to them than the city which they moved to which is ever changing.
But most of all I realised how deep and wide is the River Wye and how close The Forest of Dean is to the Severn. Are there any records of those who worked or lived by these rivers and if so are they available electronically? I am realising, more than ever before, too that though some of my ancestors were Welsh, if they could cross the Wye they were very close to where the English people they married were living. I visited Ross on Wye which is a lovely town and again I expect much of its centre is as it was over 130 years ago. Again though it is in Herefordshire it is still very easy to reach from the Forest of Dean.