A June Week in Hereford

The week was to help in Cheryl’s and her Father’s gardens and to visit some of the sights and to get a little fitter with some walking. I’ll skip over the gardening, enjoyable though it was and focus on the public places you all might want to visit.

Goodrich Castle. This is a wonderful castle with the keep having been bulit around 1160. (In contrast the oldest stone structure in New Zealand dated from the 1830s!) It is now very well preserved and makes a very interesting visit. On the day we were there a dance group were rehearsing for a show, practicing moves they could safely perform on the ramparts. It is a favourite for school visits and there were several there - all well behaved! The visitor centre is new and welcoming and the lemon and coconut tart a delight.
We then set out on a walk along the Wye - such a beautiful river - as far as Welsh Bicknor (in England of course) and then uphill away from the river and eventually back to the castle.
Onwards to Ross-on-Wye and some retail therapy.

Brobury Gardens. A gray day, in contrast to the sun for our previous excursion, but nevertheless we set off for the gardens which had very few visitors. It was wonderful and I am beginning to appreciate some of the features (when they are pointed out to me!) of the gardens we visit. The house dates from 1881 and although the garden has always been a feature its present appearance derives from new owners in 2001. A special feature was a sunken garden, inspired by Lutyens, and a lot of earth moving had been done and retaining walls built, to make many separate areas of interest.
We visited Hay-on-Wye, famous for books and rain and it did not disappoint in either way. I listen to the podcasts that come each year from the book festival and so it was good to see the town in the flesh!
We took the Capel-y-ffin road which gave spectacular views of Hay bluff and many other hills. A brief stop became hectic as the map blew away like a kite but settled in a little valley and Cheryl rescued it.
Finally to Llanthony Abbey, another impressive ruin, set serenely in a valley. Sadly it offered little resistance to attack (unlike Goodrich Castle) and many raids by bandits forced the monks to leave. Then a stiff walk up onto Offa’s Dyke. Offa was King of Mercia around 750AD and by marrying off his daughters was effectively King of England. Offa's Dyke is a rampart and ditch construction following the Welsh/English border and may have been defensive or simply a marker. The full walk is 177 miles but we did about 200 yards before finding a winding path back down to the Abbey.

We took a trip to Bromyard on a cool blowy day and walked from Acton Beauchamp on a circular walk starting through some well kept apple orchards and taking in Upper Venn and Paunton Court, both of which are splendid timbered buildings. Finally a nostalgic visit for Cheryl to the Green Dragon pub where the steaks proved irresistible.