Herefordshire 2023 Visit 2 - Part 1: Hatfield

 

Thankfully and at long last the weather forecast looked better for last week so we went to Herefordshire on the Monday. It was raining when we left home but by the time we had reached Hatfield the sun had come out.  After unpacking and lunch we did the usual click and collect from Morrisons, Leominster.

The Herefordshire Oak showing signs of budburst - well almost!

I bought the gingerbread in Ludlow on the Tuesday - its always nice to try local produce I think.

I took the bat detector D bought me for my 70th birthday last December and a guide and a book on bats. We were lucky on the first evening as half an hour after sunset half a dozen bats were foraging around the caravans, along the hedge at the side of the caravan and the trees at the rear.  We set the bat detector as recommended at 45 kHz as that is within the range of quite a few bat species.  Bat species have a range of kHz that varies between species and there is usually a peak around a certain kHz.  We were getting clicks at 45 and right up to 95. Unfortunately I didn' get chance to try lower than 45 as the bats had moved on elsewhere.  It is possible there was more than one species as at one frequency one individual bat was not being heard.  If I can pick up sounds as low as 25 and up to 95 two possible species are Natterers or Brown Long-Eared Bat.

Unfortunately the bats then failed to appear (it was cold and very windy) again until the last evening when one appeared very briefly. But I am pleased with our first attempt and I was relieved to be able to hear the clicks as due to my poor hearing these days I can hear very few bird calls and songs for example. I am really looking forward to using the detector again as the weather gets warmer and we do occasionally get bat sightings at home too.  I have an idea for a country churchyard I could try as well.  

Timothy pleased to be back!

D bought me these lovely daffodils from Morrisons.

The book shelf :)  I am slowly building up a selection of books on Herefordshire and a few on Shropshire and Worcestershire plus I've taken from home some general wildlife guides. I have another 6 books elsewhere which I am yet to read so the box of condensed novels at the end of the shelf may have to be moved!

Trees at dusk

Another photo of the Herefordshire oak, plus a tree smothered in ivy which I really like and the final photo is a copse you can see from the dining table window.

On Tuesday D and I went to Ludlow to visit the castle and have a quick look round the town centre which I'll write about in the next two posts.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge. (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).

Recent Reading

 

We've had another break in Herefordshire mainly visiting castles but before I start the posts just a catch up on my latest reading (Note for Rosie - thanks so much for the offer and I've brought home the details about my paternal grandmother's family so I'll send you an email in a day or so if that is ok).

The book below was another bargain from Books Revisited and covers not just Georgian buildings in Coleshill but general topics such as different trades and jobs, crime and punishment, poverty, education, etc etc.

J M Dalgeish is a new author for me and I enjoyed this book immensely. Its good to read a series set in Norfolk and I've bought the next one.

I can't stop reading the Faith Martin books -  think it helps that I really like the chief character in the series ie DI Hillary Greene.

I enjoy these books more as the series is progressing although the ending was a bit far fetched again!

Another good book in this series although, unlike the Faith Martin books, I don't much like the main character in this set of books.

Another Cooper and Fry book and another good read.

Faith Martin again! I can't stop reading this series.

Another very interesting book by Logaston Press. It follows the life of Blanche Parry who was born in Herefordshire and served Queen Elizabeth I for many years as Blanche lived to the ripe old age of 82.  Blanche became Chief Gentle Woman of the Queen's Privy Chamber and the Keeper of her jewels. She was a presence in Queen Elizabeth's life for 56 years.  At some stage I must visit Bacton church in Herefordshire to see the memorial to Blanche which she designed herself and also the altar cloth which is believed to be a fragment of a dress worn by Queen Elizabeth I.

Posy of flowers for Easter picked from the garden.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

First Herefordshire Visit 2023 - Part 3: Burford House Gardens and Garden Centre

 

On the Tuesday instead of driving the usual route home through Bromyard and Worcester to the M5 we drove via Tenbury Wells and Droitwich so that we could stop off at Burford House Gardens near Tenbury.

There were Mallard ducklings on the pond at the front of Burford House.

There is a new rather gorgeous dragon sculpture.

One of the reasons I like these gardens so much is because my paternal grandmother lived in Burford as a child and young girl and as I have mentioned before her parents and brother are buried in Burford churchyard.  I do wish I knew where she lived but as I am not a member of a family history site it is difficult to find out but I did wonder on our last visit whether or not she had ever attended village fetes in these gardens.

So I've researched the house and its history.  The estate of Burford had belonged to the Cornwall family since the Middle Ages but it was sold in 1720 to William Bowles who owned the Vauxhall Glassworks in Lambeth London (the largest Glassworks in the country at the time) and who was MP for Bridport and later Bewdley.  He commissioned the building of the present house in 1728 and extended the garden and built a summer house.

From 1860 it was the house of George Rushout, 3rd Baron Northwick, a descendant of the Bowles family.  In 1954 the estate was brought by John Treasure who completely changed the gardens and opened them up to the public in 1958.  So even if my grandmother ever visited the gardens they would probably have looked different to how they do today.

The River Teme - no sign of a Kingfisher on this visit.

Sadly no cake as B and D are both on another diet :( but we did have a quick look round the garden centre next to the house and gardens.

I bought a teasel plant and D courgette and aubergine plants.

We finally arrived home at teatime - hopefully we will return soon and for longer!

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