2021 reviewed in 12 photographs, one from each month of the year.

For some of the months it was difficult to choose only one photograph.

The individual photos can be viewed by clicking on the links below.

1. Leegomery Pool, 2. Local Pathway, 3. All Saints Church, Wellington, 4. Hodnet Hall, 5. Ludlow Castle Walls, 6. Stonehenge, 7. Tasty Treats in Ledbury, 8. Roseway, Wellington, 9. View from Brough Castle, 10. Autumn, 11. Fountains Abbey, 12. The Swan Hotel, Hay-on-Wye

The Church has been at the heart of Ledbury life since Anglo-Saxon times but the bell tower was not built until the early 13th century.

Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills.

It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street. One of the most outstanding is the Market House,^[2] built in 1617, located in the town centre. Other notable buildings include the parish church of St. Michael and All Angels,^[3] the Painted Room^[4] (containing sixteenth-century frescoes), the Old Grammar School, the Barrett-Browning memorial clock tower^[5] (designed by Brightwen Binyon and opened in 1896 to house the library until 2015),

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.

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.