After a busy morning taking my mum for a booster jab and to pick up some plants for her garden pots there was one last thing left to do, call in at the butchers for our weekly supply.  It was lunch time so we decided to have lunch in Kinch’s Bistro in the butcher’s before purchasing our meat. I loved the option of picking my own toastie fillings and chose turkey and apple sauce. The sandwich was delicious and to my delight my favourite tipple, Elderflower Presse was available.

In the afternoon we had reason for a brief visit to  Ironbridge.  Brief visit concluded, I had a small window of opportunity for a short walk before it was time to get ready for an 80th birthday celebration meal.

Before I set of on my walk I dusted off my ‘old’ Tilley for the sunny afternoon adventure. I have missed her.

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.