The historical backdrop of the River Wye stretches back to Neolithic times, with Hay on Wye native tribes building a long-barrow tomb alongside Wye the river, called Arthur's table, as the king was rumoured to have broken it.
The Romans used the river for transport, moving boatloads of stone, coal, wood, and iron. They built a scaffold of wood and stone upstream of present-day Chepstow, on the Wales-England border, some remaining parts of which were found in the stream bed during an archeological dive in 1911. The River Wye was used to ship coal from the Forest of Dean, fruit juice from Hereford, along with Italian wine, iron, stone, and lumber.
British tourism is said to have started in the 18th century, in Ross on Wye, and spread throughout the Wye Valley.
Today, the town of Hay on Wye, in the Wye Valley, is world-famous for its annual literary festival. The word 'hay' comes from the Norman word for fenced enclosure. It is also an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. https://kidadl.com/facts/the-river-wye-facts-one-of-britain-s-most-scenic-areas