Return to Herefordshire - Part One: Pool, Bodenham and St Michael and All Angels

 

We returned to Herefordshire for a few days last week as the weather forecast looked dry! 

We arrived mid afternoon on Wednesday and went for a walk to the pool at tea-time. Autumn colours are certainly now appearing.

There are still Fly Agaric - some about ten inches in diameter - creating a little "fairyland".

Timothy was not happy and insisted on sitting near the radiator as I had forgotten to bring his jumper and scarf!

There are faint signs of colour appearing on the tree I am watching.

We saw many flocks of "winter thrushes" flying over.  There are a lot of hawthorn berries on the site and on one occasion when thrushes alighted in a tree we managed to get the telescope on them to confirm they were Redwings.  I also saw my first bats at dusk on two evenings flittering over the hedge/trees at the rear of the caravan.

Thursday was dry with sunshine and B suggested we returned to Bodenham Lakes.

When we got to Bodenham the car park was closed - we later discovered parts of the reserve were closed as they were doing habitat work - creating islands.  We parked by the church and decided on a walk round the village.

There was a little sign saying that these are rare examples of an elevated cobbled pavement.

Stump of village cross said to be connected to a weekly market granted in 1378 to Sir Walter Devereux.

War Memorial

Cross Well - a strange, big, solid, stone cylinder dated 1876.

We then went to the church in the hope we could access the reserve from the churchyard as there is a public footpath across to the lakes.

At least I had an opportunity to get closer to the church than on the last visit and to have a look at the exterior and churchyard.

The church of St Michael and All Angels is near the River Lugg. The West Tower was started in the late 13th century and completed in the 14th. It has a pyramidal roof set over the stump of an incomplete recessed spire. Most of the church is 14th century but extensive use of tufa suggests a Norman origin.  The doorways have ballflower decorations.

I am spotting a lot of mounting blocks outside churches in Herefordshire.

I wouldn't fancy being up there doing repair work with ladders!

We went a short walk to see if we could find a way onto the reserve and the parts that were open.

River Lugg

We did find ourselves on the reserve and we did see a couple of people but to be honest after five minutes I didn't feel comfortable or know if we should be there so we left rapidly!

We did stop off at Queenswood Arboretum and Country Park on the way back as the car park looked quieter.  But we had no change and B had problems paying over the phone with Ringo - both the car registration number and debit card details were out of date so you can tell how long it is since we used that system!  Anyway all updated now online which will make it easier in future and we will definitely be exploring some of the trails at the Arboretum.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera.

Another Trip to Herefordshire - Part 4: St Mary's Burford, Shropshire

 

After leaving Tenbury Wells I persuaded B to drive a further few miles into Shropshire to have a quick look at St Mary's, Burford.

When I was little we used to visit this church every Easter as my paternal grandmother had been born in Burford and she used to leave flowers on family graves in the churchyard.  I have been once before to look for the graves many years ago but without success.  I didn't find any this time either partly because many of the older gravestones are weathered and you can't read the inscriptions, time was limited as B was sitting in the car! and also I got totally distracted by some rather wonderful grotesques/corbels round the church.

On the short journey we managed to miss the turn but did spot the Tenbury Wells Millennium Orchard which I believe you can walk round so that is something to do in the future.  Near the church are Burford House Gardens and Garden Centre - something else that will be worth visiting when life hopefully at some stage becomes "normal".

St Mary's is a large church which is Grade 1 Listed.  The chancel is Norman in origin and the church was extended in the 14th century.  The church was restored 1889/90 by Sir Aston Webb and the work was paid for by the Hon. Georgina Rushout of Burford House. Webb's contributions, according to Pevsner, are Decorated and Perpendicular in a free Arts and Craft style using red Bromsgrove Sandstone.

The West Tower is 15th century but I think it was partly rebuilt by Webb.

This is the part of the churchyard to the rear of the church that I remember visiting.  

South Porch

At this stage I spotted the line of corbels, grotesques and gargoyles - such a wonderful selection.  I haven't been able to date them for certain but I think they may only date back to the Webb restoration?

I am not sure if the above photo shows a Green Man but I certainly found four other examples which made my day if not my month! 

There was also a wonderful array of medieval beasts and mythical creatures - sorry for all the photos but I just adore these carvings. 😁

There were many more including some with letters of the alphabet and heraldry devices but at that stage I decided I had left B bored in the car for too long so I gave up taking photos.

Elaborate rainwater heads

The interesting churchyard cross has four late medieval octagonal steps with a restored shaft and head presumably by Webb. Sorry photos not brilliant as the sun was in the wrong place!

Late 12th century door (Priest's door?) on the south side of the church.

The door to the church was propped open (there was a lady cleaning in the chancel) so I popped in briefly to see if I could find a more recent guidebook than my 35 year old one! but I couldn't see any. I did buy some cooking apples and jars of marmalade and chutney.  The area for prayer was confined to the area round the font (no picture as it was surrounded by tables selling produce!) and there was a barrier stopping any further exploration of the church which was a shame as there are some interesting monuments in the church.

I will return though probably next year either on my own or if B comes he could visit the garden centre if this pandemic ever disappears. Like me, he is not keen on going inside shops etc.

I did check a website called FindMyGrave but couldn't find any records with my grandmother's family on the site although I am not sure if they list all graves and as mentioned you couldn't read many of the older gravestones. I may contact the church in the hope they have a list of burials.   

We came home the next day as it was yet again pouring with rain! 

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera