Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Monday 30 September 2024

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).


3 comments:

Rustic Pumpkin said...

Well, if nothing else BG excels at incompetence. Third time lucky?

Rustic Pumpkin said...

Ha! hit publish by accident. Lovely to hear the ivy was full of insects. Maybe making up for lost time in the poor summer just gone?

Ragged Robin said...

Thanks Debbie. I still can't get over the fiasco at home when we had that awful smart gas meter fitted! Goodness only knows what we will do if next engineer visit at the caravan doesn't go according to plan - even more important than boiler service is the gas safety check we need to have done

It was good to see so many insects on the ivy. I recently updated entries on various surveys I do and the lack of bees and butterflies this summer has been frightening.