After breakfast we said adieu but not goodbye to the Cotford Hotel. We will be back.
We headed off to Croft Castle stopping briefly at the Hop Pocket for me to purchase the other colour cardi that I loved from the day before. Mr C and mum stayrd in the car. As I was purchasing the cardi I had a lovely chat with the sales assistant about the type of cardigan and a special broach to wear with it that he said they used to sell them but for some reason they weren’t available anymore.
Croft Castle was a little sparse inside compared to our previous visit, however I enjoyed the explanation of the two dragon statues outside the house. I learned that one is a Wyvern, a Welsh Dragon (black dragon), that has only two legs.
Whilst there we looked inside the medieval church of St Michael and All Angels and the walled garden which was especially spectacular due to it being allowed to grow more naturally without over pruning.
The café looked very busy so we continued on our journey eventually stopping in Ludlow for a takeaway lunch. Mum and I were told to find a suitable bench for an outdoor picnic, which we did. Twenty minutes later neither Mr C or the sandwiches had emerged from the café. Mum and I were left wondering where he had got to. When he emerged with drinks but no food he informed us that the café was rather busy and they would get around to our order when they could which would take some time. After waiting a further twenty minutes Mr C arrived with some food, although his sandwich had not arrived. He told them to forget it, luckily the sandwiches, when they arrived were large and mum and I were quite happy to donate a triangle of sandwich each to him.
After our slightly stressful lunch we unwound in the local bookshop. Mum picked up a couple of non-book items and I purchased Places of Pilgrimage by Ian Scott Massie which has given me ideas for future adventures (and blog posts).
We took a leisurely drive home and later Mr C and I enjoyed ‘Fine Dining’ at Chez Nous, Jamie’s Breaded Chicken with Rocket which takes moments to prepare. A fitting conclusion to a lovely few days away.
Tags: Cherie's Place, Croft Castle, Fine Dining, Herefordshire, Ludlow, Malvern, Snowshill Manor, St Michael and All Angels Church, The Cotford Hotel, Welsh Dragon, Worcestershire, Wyvern, Yarpole
After breakfast we headed to Hereford to see the Cathedral, Mappa Mundi and chained library. The car park we chose wasn’t optimal and as we stepped out of the car it started to rain lightly. Mr C was striding out leaving mum and I to catch up with him every now and then when he briefly stopped. I found out that my shower proof coat was not up to the more persistent rain that developed as we were walking. Due to the quick pace there was no opportunity for me to rummage in my bag to get my umbrella out. By the time we arrived at the Cathedral I was absolutely soaked and my hair felt terrible clinging to my head.
The Cathedral has a special feel and I had forgotten how wonderful some of the stained glass windows are. I remembered to get my pilgrimage passport stamped and was presented with a lovely red stamp rather than the black and white footprint stickers I had received from other Cathedrals. When we had finished exploring the Cathedral it wasn’t quite lunch time so we stepped out into Hereford and visited the nearby Hereford Museum and Art Gallery. It had two interesting temporary exhibitions. The first was biographic display of Alfred Watkins who wrote the controversial book on Ley Lines ‘The Old Straight Track’. The second exhibition was entitled ‘Round the Year From Stonewall Hill. A journey in Time and Space’ featuring a 12 month panorama of paintings by Mary Rennell and a modern day response to her paintings by Richard Gilbert. Also featured are photographs by Brian Griffiths. I enjoyed the two individual exhibitions but found the exploration of Mary Rendell’s paintings more fulfilling because several artists portrayed the same landscape viewpoints from different perspectives.
Afterwards I persuaded Mr C that we should go back to the Cathedral for lunch. I had checked out the café options as we left the Cathedral and knew that there was something for all of us to enjoy. I chose a turkey bap with salad and mayo.
Amply replete, we strolled back through town in the direction of the car and along the way I spotted Boots where I made a detour to purchase a hairbrush. I hadn’t realised mum had followed me in rather than staying with Mr C. As I was leaving Boots with my purchase mum caught up with me all flustered because she couldn’t find Mr C. He wasn’t where she left him. I used my emergency purchase to sort my hair out (I felt so much) better and then I focused on the task of figuring out where Mr C had decided to hide himself in plain view, probably waving at us as we had our backs to him and wondering why we couldn’t see him…
All reunited we made our way to the car stopping off at Waterstones along the way. I couldn’t find a book I was looking for but I spotted ‘Walking the Great North Line: From Stonehenge to Lindisfarne to Discover the Mysteries of Our Ancient Past’. It had Stonehenge, Lindisfarne and walking all in one book so I just had to add it to my book collection. It was only later as I was browsing through it that I noticed early in the book it makes reference to Alfred Watkins. A strange coincidence.
Back at the car, we drove to the Hop Pocket shopping outlet where I enjoyed a lovely cake in the café and purchased a cardi. I was in a bit of a dilemma between two colour shades and which would match the outfits I had in mind. Eventually I plumped. Later I found it matched the skirt I had with me so my memory was correct. I also saw some lovely heart mats but they were slightly imperfect and the last ones so I chose to leave them as there was no discount forthcoming.
Our evening meal was at a local pub, The Nags Head, as recommended by the proprietress of the Cotford Hotel. I chose Fish and Chips followed by Lemon Sorbet, both were delicious. We returned to the hotel for a nightcap in the residents lounge which for the first time had other people sitting there. It was nice to chat with others for a change.
Tags: Alfred Watkins, Hereford, Hereford Cathedral, Herefordshire, Mary Rennell, Vacation, Walking the Great North Line
After breakfast we set off to Worcester to visit the Cathedral. The Three Choirs Festival was taking place so parts of the Cathedral were obscured by the temporary seating and stage area. We were however, treated to a wonderful practice session of Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The BBC were setting up for recording the performance for later in the day.
We walked back through the town to purchase some items we had seen on our walk to the Cathedral; Mr C purchased some items for the kitchen, mum picked bought a lovely Tilley hat that is just her style but sadly the Lilac Rohan jacket that I have had my eye on for a while (waiting for the sale) was completely sold out.
We decided to head towards Ledbury to explore it further and have lunch on the way. As we travelled I spotted a cafe and farm shop sign where we decided to stop. The Fold turned out to be a vegetarian café with an interesting and varied menu. Our timing was off, we arrived just after a large party of 10 people which meant we had to wait a while for our lunch to arrive. The waitress came with apologies from the chef for our wait. When it arrived the food was delicious, I had opted for apple and cinnamon cake, one of my favourites which is not often on the menu.
On arrival at Ledbury, we found a more suitable place to park the car than on the previous day’s visit. The town was much quieter and I was able to enjoy unobstructed views of the Market House. Mr C spotted a lovely cobbled street with great photo opportunities. Walking along the cobbled passageway was like stepping back in time and it led us to the delightful Church of St Michael and All Angels. As we left the church the sky had become heavy and dark, threatening thunder. We beat a hasty retreat to the car and as we made our way in the general direction of the hotel the roads were awash with floodwater after a torrential downpour.
Ironically the sun came out as we arrived back at the hotel so Mr C and I headed into Malvern to visit a second hand bookshop before freshening up for dinner and more ‘Fine Dining’ in the Cotford Hotel.
Tags: Elephant Parade, Ledbury, Market Square, Rohan, St Michaels and All Angels Church, The Cotford Hotel, The Fold Café, Three Choirs Festival, Tilley, Vacation, Worcester, Worcester Cathedral
Our cooked-to-order breakfast was excellent, setting us up for the day. Our destination was Eastnor Castle which opened at 10.30. We reached the Castle well before then so we went on a magical mystery tour around the local countryside until the Castle was open. At one point we encountered silly partridges (approximately 12) running around randomly and blocking the road.
Back at the Castle, we opted to do the lake walk in the cool morning air rather than in higher temperatures later in the day. We enjoyed a refreshing drink in the café before taking a tour of the house. The house itself was more interesting than I remembered on my previous visit from many years ago.
After the house tour, we had lunch in the café before heading to Tewkesbury for the afternoon. By this time the temperature had risen to uncomfortable levels and at mum’s suggestion we visited the Abbey, enjoying the cool temperature within. We then strolled into town with tea and cake in mind. By this time the temperature had risen even more and the atmosphere was quite humid. This proved too much for mum so we cut the exploration of the Tewkesbury banners short and took mum back to the hotel so she could chill out and recover.
Mr C and I then set off in search of tea and cake ending up in Ledbury where we found a delightful teashop, Choccotastic, which is tucked away up a side street. After misreading the one way system signs we correctly navigated our way through the chocolate shop’s Covid-secure one way system to place our order. My choice of lemon drizzle cake was accompanied by a heart shaped dish containing chocolate buttons. A lovely touch.
We walked along the street towards a bookshop that we had noticed on our way to the teashop. As we approached the market hall we noticed that someone had collapsed in the street, perhaps due to the heat. He was already being looked after so we didn’t need to stop and offer assistance. I hope he recovered. It was a lovely bookshop but on this occasion I wasn’t tempted to purchase a book.
We made our way back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner. The highlight of my evening meal was an assiette of desserts and a rather fine rose wine.
Tags: Choccotastic, Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire, Ledbury, Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury Abbey, Vacation, Worcestershire
We were a little bit late setting off and picking mum up for her holiday adventure. This led us to have lunch at Stokesay Castle tearoom before continuing our journey to Hampton Court Castle. We enjoyed lunch sitting outside with views over the fields and the occasional train passing by.
In addition to the gardens, the Hampton Court castle is now open on a self guided tour basis. To our delight the maze was also open. It had been closed on our between lockdowns visit last year. Mum was a little bit nonplussed by the maze and especially the delightful surprise exit into the sunken garden.
After our garden visit, we continued on our journey to the Cotford Hotel, booked in and chilled out in the room until it was time for a pre-dinner drink in the residents lounge. We enjoyed our evening meal, in my case Brie and Walnut Tart and then retired to the residents lounge for a nightcap.
Tags: Fine Dining, Hampton Court Castle, Malvern, Stokesay Castle, The Cotford Hotel, Vacation, Worcestershire
