14 July 2015 - Hereford happenings

Drizzly grey day...I think we had summer a week ago and that was it!   We packed up and headed out on the A40 to Hereford.  The journey was drizzly but traffic was good and the Tom Tom guided us well.

My friend, Ed, who I met skiing nearly 30 years ago on an Oak Hall trip lives in Hereford.  He and his wife Ruth have visited Australia a couple of times so we were eager to catch up with them and meet their three daughters.  We had met their eldest daughter when she was 10 months old when they came to Australia and she is now 17!

Ruth and Ed

Monkton Court

 We arrived at Ruth and Ed's place: Monkton Court and WOW! What a spot!  Nestled down a country lane in Ocle Pychard, Hereford, their mostly renovated manor house is lovely.  Ed, who runs a gardening business, has done a champion job of creating an expanse of lawn boarded by a low stone wall looking out to the Welsh hills.  While he put the barbeque together, the rain stopped and the kids played croquet with Rebecca on the lawn! "In an English country garden..."

Setting up the BBQ

Ed: Croquet instructor!

Croquet on the lawn

 Their veggie patch is resplendent with raspberries and currants and peas in full fruit!  We helped ourselves to some produce!  Lunch eaten, we then headed off to Hereford city/town.

Hereford Bull outside Black and White House, Butchers' Row

 Rebecca, their youngest daughter, showed us around Hereford's sights.  The old black and white house in Butcher's Row is still standing 400 years after it was built!  Whilst the floors are sloping, the structure is sound and very lovely wattle and daub style.  We walked down a cute sort of "retro" alley and saw other wobbly buildings.  The history of this area, as in much of England, is amazing.

Pewter crockery set - hot water plate - 1600's

Fireplace in the old house

Fresco

Looking out upper window of Black and White House in Hereford

Well there you go..."Goodnight - Sleep Tight"

Short beds in those days

Market Hall

Signposts

Cute little lane

14th century building!

 We walked on to the Cathedral which is setting up for the Three Choirs festival.  Rebecca and her sister, Rachel, who is currently in Australia (!) go to the Cathedral school there. The Cathedral is massive and there are many tomb stones from 1600's  It also houses the Mappa Mundi, the 1285 version of the Magna Carta.

Hereford Cathedral

Good old King Ethelbert

Looking up at the pipe organ - one of three organs in the cathedral

Not sure who these people were as we couldn't read the inscription

Pipes of the organ

Beautiful stained glass windows of the cathedral.

Pigs running around the tomb?!

The Hereford Mappa Mundi is the largest medieval map known to still exist. It was nearly sold when the Diocese of Hereford  was struggling financially in 1988 but with large donations from various bodies enabled a new Library building to house it where it is permanently exhibited.

The Mappa Mundi is drawn on a single sheet of vellum and depicts 420 towns, 15 Biblical events, 33 animals and plants, 32 people and some classical mythoology all when the earth was believed to be spherical but really only the Northern hemisphere was recognised.

Mappa Mundi

We had a bit of a laugh with this inscription

"Sometimes Mayor"

Cathedral grounds - Rebecca goes to school in and around the Cathedral

Garden wall

Norman tower of the Cathedral

Part of the Cathedral school

Very wobbly building!

Imagine the slope on the floors!

 Then between Ruth's car and our car, we  drove to Ed's parents' place in Holme Lacy who live just down the road from their old farm.  They were formerly sheep farmers on their lovely property on the banks of the Wye River.  I have many great memories of their kindness to me when I lived in England and was eager to see them again. In their typical hospitable way, they bravely had us all for dinner, where Luke dominated the conversation, trying to be adult in an adult world!  It was lovely to see them again.

Looking out from our attic bedroom.

Socks looking in, hopefully.

Socks and Tim getting to know each other

Back at Monkton Court we climbed the stairs to their beautifully decorated attic accommodation which looks over the fields and onto Wales. It is lovely and so welcoming. While most of us chatted, Tim found a guitar to play and Luke found a cat, Socks,  and some toys and we enjoyed several cups of tea and sharing memories and photos.  It is so lovely to connect with friends while we travel.

Luke absolutely loving Socks, the cat