Out and about before the rain in Hereford Tuesday 20th May

We had a bit of a quieter day today, and shared some great Bougainville stories, and now while Ken is serenading us on the organ!  Multi talented, they have their copy of Mr Pip and are eagerly waiting to watch it.  But over breakfast we had a visit from some frisky squirrils who ate all the seed from one of the bird feeders.

Into Hereford and a walk around the Cathedral area.  Some lovely old parks in the area, including a bridge named after Queen Victoria's Albert!  Then back over a Roman bridge into the old town,

where Nell Gwynne was born.  The river flooded and Margaret and Ken are standing next to the flood levy.

This boat was constructed for the Jubilee Celebrations on the Thames

Beautiful old oak trees

Prince Albert Bridge

Bulldog owned by a composer who lived there

Hereford Cathedral is another very spectacular building, and dates back to the times of some of my ancestors.  We weren't going to go through but did, and the organ was playing, again the sound was stunning.

The stained glass windows were designed by Pugul, who designed the churches in Oatlands. The cathedral had a very busy cafe, they all have excellent cafes to gain revenue.  Some are very expensive, some not so.

Margaret suggested we look at a display of the Chained Books,  well we had never heard of this, but also in the museum attached to the Cathedral, was a map of the world done in the 13th century!  And it was called Mappa Mundi!  And it was absolutely AMAZING! For once John hadn't even heard of it!

Unfortunately no photos but I did buy a book. So interesting, they saw the world as flat, and on the map there are 2000 names/drawings/sketches of what was known of different places in the world at that time.


Then they had a library of Chained Books, all the books are attached to a chain, which in turn is attached to an iron bar, and the books are held on a wooden table.  If you want a book then the librarian has to unlock the iron bar to release the chain, and then you can read the book.  Only not today, this was about 400 years ago.

I would recommend a google search!   Lunch was a two for one deal at the Grape a 1700 pub, and it was delicious.    

The buildings in Hereford are very interesting, and again it was an old market town.  

For the citizens, a Hereford Bull for the Queen's Jubilee Celebrations 

How the town looked in the past

We stopped at the Phone Shop where we worked out that my tablet top up might not have been recorded, and they might be why I was having some issues.  I asked the tech about my 19 photos that I cannot get to load, he told me he could find out for me, via  google, well I can do the same!  No help.  But now unable to take photos on the tablet.  Then we just made the car park with 3 minutes to spare before the time expired, and the attendant was writing out tickets.  We didn't think they took any notice of the car parks but obviously they do, and the fines are quite high.

Next stop was into the country that one of the UK's best Villages, Eardisland.

 Lovely setting, lovely houses, so quiet and peaceful, any wonder they won the awards.

See the mangles on the black post, they used to chain up the naughty children!

Onetoks from Bougainville! now grey grannies.

Tomorrow we are going to Coventry.  Literally, just working out now how to get the best from our drive! Almost in the Cotswolds, one of the prettiest places in the UK, again!  From what I can see there are numerous pretty places, especially in the country.