HUNDREDS of visitors to Brockweir were transported back in time to the villages notoriously rowdy heyday as the busiest quay on the River Wye on Saturday.

Among the events to be held during the day was a village walk led by the community in period costume, featuring sailors, pick pockets and ladies of ill repute.

Volunteers and people from the community helped to recreate history with a full day of theatrical activity, period costume, music, entertainment and a flotilla of boats.

In the evening, more than 240 filled Tintern Abbey for an atmospheric open-air concert of music, with performances from the Narth Singers, harpist, Charlotte Poulter and the Caldicot Male Voice Choir as well as storytelling, full of glorious music and ghostly goings-on.

The Wye Valley River Festival, which started in Hereford on May 3, took the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, several years to plan.

The ground-breaking event was held to celebrate nature, culture, landscape and the life along the River Wye and highlight the history and magic of the landscape and the issues that threaten it.

The festival attracted more than 15,000 spectators and brought together communities along the river to illuminate the history and magic of this landscape and the issues that threaten it.

A narrative developed by the festival’s artistic directors, Desperate Men, linked events together and told the story of Ratty the Water Vole, on the run from justice, who darted between flotillas, fire shows and festivities as he was pursued through riverside towns and villages to the final showdown in Chepstow.

The festival culminated in an afternoon of music from Lydbrook Band who performed on the Bandstand at the Riverside, Chepstow, before a spectacular night-time grand finale last night, featuring a flotilla, choir, brass bands and fire and flame illuminations on the Old Wye Bridge.

Andrew Blake, AONB officer, said: "Over the course of the day there were 1,000 visitors to Brockweir where there was a flotilla of boats, tours around the village led by locals in period costume and a re-creation of the old village shop. At Tintern we held recitals and readings in the Abbey in front of 240 people. It was a huge community effort and a wonderful event."