September Visit to Herefordshire - Part 3: Leominster and Monkland Cheese Dairy

 

On the Thursday we went into Leominster - below a photo of the super Roundabout Stationery Shop. A few purchases were made :)

There are a lot of antique shops in Leominster!

There is a lot of renovation work going on at the moment in Leominster Town Centre to renew and improve the High Street and Corn Square etc.

We had a look round Rossiters bookshop and I bought a few Christmas presents.  Then onto the Flower Gallery - I love the autumn wreaths hanging on the door but in the end we just bought a heather for the small garden at the caravan.

This is Corn Square  as it looks at the moment! - the post topper on the postbox made me smile!!

There is a good model shop in Leominster where we often buy jigsaws.

Telephone box topper

These knitted toys reminded me of my childhood - especially Bill and Ben!

We drove onto the village of Monkland and visited Monkland Dairy Cheese Shop - cheeses were bought :) and then we had a cup of tea and some of their delicious Herefordshire Apple Cake.  We enjoyed it that much that I bought a Monkland Cafe recipe book which has a recipe for this cake.

On the return journey I stopped off at All Saints Church, Monkland to have a look around as it is a church I haven't visited before and I'll write about that in the next post.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera.  (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks)

September Visit to Herefordshire - Part 2: A Walk along a Local Lane

 

Wednesday was the day of the re-arranged boiler service. This time the BG engineer turned up but it turned out he wasn't qualified to deal with LPG appliances which is what we have at the caravan!  So yet again the boiler service has had to be re-arranged. One can only hope that next time the engineer turns up he phones for access and is LPG qualified. When B rang to re-arrange the customer services assistant didn't seem to have a clue what LPG was!

After he'd departed D and I drove up the lane and parked by St Leonard's Church in the village to go for a walk.

St Leonard's, which I have visited many times, is the third oldest church in Herefordshire. The nave is C11th and may even be pre-Conquest. The church was extended in the C14th when the chancel was probably built.

The blocked North doorway is early Norman and the lintel has three large stones. The tympanum consists of Opus Reticulatum ie square stones set diagonally.

Last year D and I visited the church after the Harvest Festival to see the displays.  If I can I will try and go again this year.

The garden of the Old School (now converted into a house) next to the church has a garden full of flowers.  I love these Rudbeckia.

Just past the Old School there is a lane that only leads to the disused railway and a farm so it is usually traffic free and is ideal for a short walk.

The flowers on ivy were covered in bees and other insects and we did see one Red Admiral but it wouldn't settle for long enough for me to take a photo.

Bindweed is still flowering but

there were plenty of signs it was nearly autumn.

Hawthorn Berries and Rose Hips

D picked some blackberries and when we got home he made Apple and Blackberry crumble using the blackberries and apples from the tree at the caravan.

Necklaces of Black Bryony berries adorned the hedgerow.

On the Thursday we went into Leominster and then onto the Monklands  Dairy Shop and the church there but I'll write about that in the next couple of posts.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

September Visit to Herefordshire - Part 1: Hatfield

 

We spent a few days in Herefordshire last week arriving Tuesday lunchtime and doing the usual click and collect from Morrisons in Leominster in the afternoon. We were lucky with the weather as it was warm, dry and sunny most days and we were able to go out a couple of times.

A few photos of my favourite trees - no sign yet of autumnal tints.

The Herefordshire Oak

The Octopus Tree

The Constable Tree

We were able to watch the  Super Full Moon rising on the Tuesday evening.  I am not sure why but the camera never seems to pick up the details of features on the moon's surface.  

Timothy back on his shelf.

In the past I've shown you a photo of a print of a British Rail poster for Herefordshire that I have in the living room.  This is a photo of the other one I bought which features the lovely village of Weobley. Apparently Weobley has been transformed at the moment as they are filming scenes there for an adaptation of the Hamnet book by Maggie O'Farrell.

I've been reading a couple of books during my visits to the caravan.

The book above comes from a boxed set of Penguin Classics entitled British Journeys which I keep at the caravan. The books are condensed versions of the full books and are ideal for dipping into when I feel like something different to read.

One evening for tea D made a Beetroot, Red Pepper, Feta and Thyme Tart using beetroot grown in the garden at home. D had already eaten half by the time I took this photo!  

A record shot of a female Greenfinch using the bird bath.  We have only recently started to see this species there.  A Green Woodpecker we saw one day was a new "tick" for the site.

The resident House Martins seem to have departed from the site now although one day I did see a large flock of the species passing through presumably on migration.  The family of Pied Wagtails are still around and we saw buzzards at the site but on this visit we didn't see any Red Kites.  There are also Tawny Owls at the site which you can hear in the evening.  We watched bats and listened to them on the bat detector on several of the evenings. I keep hoping to see a Barn Owl as the habitat looks ideal for them but I've had no luck so far.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Guided Tour of Lunt Roman Fort, Baginton, near Coventry

On Saturday 14th September, we attended another Heritage Week event - a guided tour of Lunt Roman Fort at Baginton, near Coventry.  The tour lasted nearly two hours and was really very interesting.

The earliest evidence for Roman occupation at Lunt was around AD60-61 at  the time of Boudica and the Iceni's rebellion. Lunt is close to the junction of two important Roman roads - the Fosse Way and Watling Street. This area of England seems to have been a military zone with forts at Wall (Letocetum) which we have visited, Mancetter, Alcester and Metchley.  Tacitus who was a Roman historian and politician recorded that the army was kept ready for action during the winter to quell any remnants of the Boudica uprising.

The Fort at Lunt is on a high plateau with a steep wooded slope above the River Sowe and it was therefore an ideal location to site a fort having good natural defences and a crossing point on the river.  The river provide fresh water and the Forest of Arden provided a supply of timber for building.

Based on the number of barrack blocks it is estimated that there were about 480 foot soldiers and 120 cavalry soldiers at Lunt.

In AD64 the fort was reduced in size and towards the end of the AD70's the amount of barrack blocks at the fort was reduced perhaps because troops were needed more in South Wales where there was an uprising by the Silurian tribe.

In AD79 Agricola became Governor of Britain and soldiers moved North to try and conquer more of Britain. The fort was abandoned cAD80.

Six large postholes and a gap in the defensive ditches were the only surviving evidence of the Eastern Gateway.  Today the Gateway has been reconstructed based on Trajan's column in Rome.  Modern timbers have been placed in the original postholes and the gateway is exactly as it would have been during the Roman occupation.  Turf and timber ramparts on both sides of the gateway with ditches either side proved to be a formidable defence.  The ditches contained wooden stakes and spikes. The ramparts consisted of banks of earth covered in turf and possibly brambles and nettles.

During the tour you had a chance to climb up onto the Eastern Gateway and ramparts. The following photos were taken by D - I seem to be keeping the cellulitis at bay (just!) but over the last few months I have had problems with my knees so sadly I declined the opportunity to climb up the steps myself.

*D

D*

View towards the reconstructed gyrus - I will write about that later.

*D

The foundations of stone in front of the gyrus may have been for a hospital or a wash house. It is believed 3 pits were used for water storage.  This building was constructed at the same time as the Gyrus in AD 64.

The stone foundations in the right foreground of the photo below were for the Principia and Sacellum or HQ and Regimental Shrine.  The buildings probably housed armouries and offices. A hidden pit would have contained a pay chest.

The Gyrus in the background of the photo is one of Lunt's special features and is the only one found in Britain.  The ring is 34.06m in diameter with a flat sandy floor and a double gate.  Archaeological excavations have discovered items connected with cavalry which indicates that the gyrus was probably where soldiers trained horses for combat.  Although I think there are a few other theories concerning its possible use.

This is the Horreum or Granary which has been reconstructed and now houses a museum.  The granary was an important building in all Roman forts.  They contained grain to feed the troops and also stored valuable equipment.  Each fort was told to have a year's supply of food in case they came under siege.  Granaries were usually located at the centre of fort to keep them out of reach of attackers' fire arrows.  They were raised off the ground to keep out vermin and to allow air to circulate to keep grain damp free.  The granary at Lunt was built between A64 and AD78.

These are the remains of the Via Principalis and Via Praetoria (East/West and North/South roads)  The two roads provided access for soldiers, horses and carts to all parts of the fort.

After the guided tour ended we had a quick look round the museum.

This is the only piece of architectural stone found on the fort site and probably came for a colonnade in the commanding officer's house.

A wine amphora which came from the island of Rhodes.  It was found broken and discarded in a ditch at the fort.

I am really glad we made the effort to go and D particularly enjoyed the tour having studied the Romans in one of his final OU History Degree courses.

Reference:  Lunt Roman Fort website and various information panels around the Fort site.

Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera and those marked D* taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or one of my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).