Category: Herefordshire

Grange Court and Willey

On By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Expect the unexpected! For moderately complex reasons, we found ourselves in Leominster yesterday afternoon. The roads through the old town centre are all being dug up, so we wandered slightly further afield and found Grange Court. Formerly the town’s market hall, it was dismantled in the middle of the 19th century and, a year or two later, re-erected on its present site. The ground floor, formerly open, has been enclosed to make this fine and unexpected (we certainly weren’t expecting it!) building.

That evening, home again and fed, we enjoyed our regular wander around the lanes at Willey. We weren’t expecting the yellow crops in the field – not rape in July, surely, though the plant looks similar – what is it? This morning, my dependable source on such matters informed me that it’s mustard. It will be harvested, or ploughed in as green manure, depending on how things go. Expect the unexpected! (Douglas Adams, of course)

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367515&Y=298310&A=Y&Z=120

High Vinnalls and Hanway Common

On By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Another blue sky Sunday! It would be good to take a picnic lunch and eat en route – let’s go to Mortimer Forest. We can walk up to High Vinnalls (there’s a bench for our picnic on the way), admire the view, then walk across the top of Hanway Common and drop down to Richard’s Castle.
The picnic place was perfect (only two other walkers passed), the view from High Vinnalls  was wonderful. The descent to Richard’s Castle was not on… There’s a herd of cows with young-looking calves in the field we must cross, and one of us had read, just a day ago, of the fate of two walkers trampled in such a field – one killed and the other paralysed. “No!” We’ll retrace our steps to an alternative. The descent of Hanway Common, was pleasant; the sheep and lambs entirely harmless…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=348520&Y=271415&A=Y&Z=120

By Climbing Jack Common…

On By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

…to Richard’s Castle.

Monday 5 June: we’re walking with an old (as in “we’ve known her many years”) friend, from Black Pool car park, through the forest and up the gentle slopes of the common to High Vinnals. The top (with a perfectly-placed bench) is a wonderful viewpoint, even on a hazy day, though it won’t be if the trees get much taller…
Descending now, we’re following a fairly straight route to the old part of Richard’s Castle – there’s very little left of the castle itself, but the redundant St Bartholomew’s church next door is worth a look – and provides some pleasant shade on this sunny afternoon.

Like the village of Richard’s Castle, this walk straddles the county border – we start and end in Shropshire, but much of the forest, including High Vinnals, is in Herefordshire, as are (by a matter of yards) the castle and church.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=348435&Y=271455&A=Y&Z=120

Croft Ambrey and Bircher

On By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, Photography, WalksLeave a comment

An old favourite… It does what favourites should – it’s a very enjoyable walk from start to finish. There’s woodland and open grassland, with wonderful views in most directions (though not all at the same time…). Below the hill fort at Croft Ambrey, the old Scots pines provide foreground interest to some of the most attractive scenery in this part of the world, where the Herefordshire hills meet the Welsh border country. To the south-west, the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons form a distant horizon, where Pen y Fan could be mistaken for a dormant volcano (it isn’t!). It’s another fine day too, the sunshine warm for a time. What more could one want?

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=345190&Y=266450&A=Y&Z=120

Hereford hills

On By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, Photography, WalksLeave a comment

We’re visiting Croft, in the north-western corner of Herefordshire, for a walk on its forested ridge, past the hill fort at Croft Ambrey and out to the furthest corner of Bircher Common. The ancient chestnuts (many of them dead or moribund) in the parkland are amazing; in the forest a number of live trees have been felled by February’s storms. The views from this moderately elevated country are tremendous – extensive to the east and wonderful to the west, where the Welsh border hills provide a most attractive skyline on this fine day.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=345035&Y=266540&A=Y&Z=120

Croft and Bircher

On By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, Photography, WalksLeave a comment

Herefordshire hill country, up towards the Shropshire border (and not far from Wales either)… Days like this are rare in November, so we’re off again, to walk a route we followed a couple of years ago, at the opposite end of the year. Then, we walked through abundant May blossom and bluebells; today there are toadstools and larch needles, and warm autumn shades against a cold blue sky.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=345000&Y=266346&A=Y&Z=120

Croft Ambrey and Bircher Common

On By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, NT and EH, Photography, WalksLeave a comment

We arrived at the Croft Castle car park at midday, to find it almost full, but once we were beyond the immediate surroundings of the house, we saw few other people. One or two were making their way up to Croft Ambrey, but we had the woodlands almost to ourselves when we chose a more roundabout route to the hill fort. Bircher Common is quiet too – just us and a few sheep. It’s very pleasant on a day like this – warm sunshine and a cooling breeze – on these Herefordshire hills.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=344730&Y=266330&A=Y&Z=120

Croft Ambrey

On By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, WalksLeave a comment

Great views and mud…

The sky was clear and blue, the air cold. The forecast suggested south might be best – it was certainly good. The views from up here are extensive; conditions underfoot are not always so great. There were lots of cars in the Croft Castle car park when we arrived at mid-day – a cross-country run was just ending. Hundreds of feet pounding the ground as the morning’s frost thawed – and of course their route was ours, as far as Croft Ambrey hill fort. It hadn’t been too bad across the field, past the old chestnuts, but it was getting rather sticky in the woods. When the runners’ tracks appeared to go over the fence to the hill fort, we kept straight on. Conditions underfoot seemed to improve – only to deteriorate to serious deep mud further on (only one photo from that stretch – it was all we could do, at times, to stay on our feet. One of us didn’t…).

The mud ends as the path enters the open grassland of Bircher Common. We took the long – and scenic – route around the common, down the delightful track between Oaker Coppice and Bircher Coppice, where the beech leaves glowed in the sunshine. The common’s western edge meets the woodland of Fishpool Valley, and a short walk through the trees back to the car.