Ramblings

Thursday 3^rd April – Home – A busy few days sorting out things in the garden. The summerhouse is cleaned out, a very messy job as mud, leaves and bits and pieces from the shredder are scattered far and wide. The lawn has been given its first mow. The bird bath is repaired; the bolts attaching the bowl to the base had rusted and sheared. Drilling them out meant that the fixing, the bolts screwed into the base, could not be replaced. So new bolts had to be used which would not have been watertight. So everything is coated in sealant and when the bolts are screwed down, the heads are coated in a thick layer of varnish. This seems to work.

Unfortunately, my various jobs meant I took my eye off the greenhouse which got very hot. The two trays of lettuces dried out and are gone – most annoying. More are sown. The purple sprouting has suffered too but enough have survived to plant out. The meadow section looks wonderful – lots of primroses although some domesticated genes must have got in as the are various colours of yellow, pink and purple. A decent number of Snake’s Head Fritillaries are in flower. Buds are about to open on the Gladstone apple and Conference pear. Blossom is out on the greengage and damsons. Small Tortoiseshells and Brimstone butterflies are regulars and a Peacock which looks dull and slightly tatty, thus an over-wintering specimen. There is a loud altercation in the Holly on the mound. Although it is difficult to see, it appears to by a Collared Dove seeing off a marauding Grey Squirrel.

Friday 4^th April – Hope Bagot – This small, rather isolated, village is on the slopes which drop steadily from Clee towards the valley of the River Teme. It was held by either Robert Vici or Walter according to the Domesday Book. It became a manor held by Bagard under the Mortimers. The Bagards or Bagots built and endowed a chapel here.

I park at the village hall. A Flowering Cherry on the garden of the Mill Cottage is covered in pink blossom. A stream runs down beside the road. Above is a noisy rookery. Several Chiffchaffs are in good voice. Up steps and into the churchyard of S^t John the Baptist. Leaning gravestones line one side of the path, nearly all eroded to illegibility.

S^t John the Baptist church dates from the 12^th century although the arch to vestry, under the tower, has herringbone tiles which suggests an Anglo-Saxon date. Lancet windows are from various dates between the 12^th to 14^th centuries. The chancel arch is classically Norman with chevron carving on outer arch, saltire crosses on the abaci and an attached string course running across return walls. One stone has a faint carving of maybe two petals or possibly hare ears?

A wall tablet records:

The pulpit is Carolean. A Bible dated 1906 is on the lectern. The font is a featureless tub, probably Norman. The tower is believed to be late 13^th century. Two millstones have been used as corner stones. A record shows that in 1292 a millstone was the cause of death of a miller, Valentine, and declared Deodand, i.e. forfeited to the crown – Deodand, to be given to God. In 1911 the floors in the church were lowered and new choir-stalls, the lectern and a reading desk were bought. On the wall behind the pulpit is the inscription: “This Church was adorned anno Domini 1681, John Griffiths and William Unit, churchwardens.”

At the top of the graveyard, overlooking the road some way below is a Yew believed to be some 1600 years old. Primroses are scattered among the graves. At the top of the churchyard Cowslips are coming into flower. There is supposed to be a holy well somewhere but I fail to find it, (later I find out it is hidden behind a very large pile of logs and brush from the Yew). Across the fields is Hope Court, an early 19^th century three storey house.

Sunday 6^th April – Leominster – A clear blue sky with a little high cloud to the east and vapour trails. It is cool in the shade but out in the sunshine it quickly becomes warm. Blackbirds are in good voice and House Sparrows chirrup. Onto Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg continues to fall slowly. A Chiffchaff sings in the trees. The market is back in operation so I head along Easters Meadow. Fresh grass supplants the old faded stalks. More Chiffchaffs are singing either side of the meadow. Carrion Crows fly through the trees. A Song Thrush sings. Where are the usual artic trailers in Brightwells compound. A large part of the compound is full of building materials. Daffodils flower beside Cheaton Brook.

The market is large, busy and multicultural. Back over Ridgemoor Brook, which looks strange as it is completely devoid of vegetation. Blackbirds, Chiffchaffs and Wrens sing beside the River Lugg. Along Paradise Walk. The water level in the River Kenwater is low and the water clear. Gulls are noisy overhead. Sadly there is no sign of life on or in the river. Through the car park where a lone man stands with his suitcases by the coach pick up point.

Tuesday 8^th April – Leominster – The eastern sky is lightening into orange. The dawn chorus consists of Wood Pigeons, Jackdaws, a Robin, Blackbird, Wrens and Blue Tit. There is a hint of frost on the Grange. The Magnolia outside Grange Court is a glorious mass of blossom. A Magpie perches on the children’s climbing frames in the park. A diesel engine propelled south bound train pulls into the station.

Into the Millennium Park. A Blackcap and Chiffchaff are in song. A Song Thrush searches the grass in the churchyard. Sheaths and spikes are appearing on the Wild Arums. Back to the Grange where a pair of Jackdaws are busy collecting nesting material. Along Dukes Walk, created so the Duke of Norfolk could walk directly to church from his house, now a care home, rather than round the block. A Coal Tit is in the shrubbery. A Goldfinch sings from the top of a tree.

Wednesday 9^th April – Blackburn – The town is located where a Roman military road crossed the River Blakewater. There is a record of a “church of Blagbourne” in 596. The town was important during the Anglo-Saxon era when the Blackburnshire Hundred came into existence as a territorial division of the kingdom of Northumbria. Blackburn was held by Edward the Confessor. The town was recorded in Domesday Book as Blacheburne and Blacheburn. The patronage passed to the family of de Lacey, by whom it was presented in the 12^th Century to the Cistercian Abbey of Stanlaw in Cheshire. During the 12^th century, the town’s importance declined as Clitheroe became the regional centre. There has been a textile industry here since the 13^th century but by the mid 18^th century it was a major industry and until the mid 20^th century Blackburn was known as the “the weaving capital of the world”. It had attracted a large number of workers from the Sub-Indian continent. The trade however declined throughout the 20^th century.

My hotel is on the eastern side of the town in the area of large, modern industrial estates. I park up and catch a bus which goes via the hospital, a vast modern building with the old Victorian hospital some distance away. Then we drop down into the valley past rows of late Victorian terraces. Into the town which is a jumbled mixture of older and modern buildings. Clearly there has been large-scale clearances in some areas. Off the bus at the railway station. There has been a station on the current site since 1846 opened by the Blackburn and Preston Railway. The line was extended to Accrington in March 1848 and subsequently through to Burnley and Colne by February 1849. Various upgrades followed and it become part of the LMS in 1923. By 1970, the through links to Skipton and Liverpool had also gone, leaving only the Manchester via Bolton and Colne to Preston lines, along with a few seasonal trains between Leeds and Blackpool North via Hebden Bridge and the Copy Pit route to serve the station. The present station was built in 1886. The canopy outside has steel girders with red stars as bosses. Inside, modern fascias are fitted over the old pillars and girders. A large mural has the badge of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and a photo of 48773, with a plaque of Farewell to Rose Grove Steam. Rose Grove was the last mainline shed to have steam engines, just two, and they were retired on 4^th August 1968. 48773 was a Stanier 8F built in Glasgow in 1940. Following the Soviet Union’s entry into the War, the locomotive was requisitioned and by December 1941 had been sent to Iran as Iranian State Railways No 41.109. There it worked on the Trans-Iranian Railway, hauling double-headed 700 ton trains of supplies intended for the Soviet Union up steep gradients in the searing desert heat. On 19^th August 1942, the locomotive was famously derailed after colliding with a camel, and later in 1944 was converted to oil-burning. In 1946 the locomotive was sent to the British Army’s Middle East Forces in Egypt where, numbered WD 70307, it worked in the Suez Canal zone. For a while the locomotive was loaned to Egyptian State Railways, but by 1948 was in need of a new firebox and scheduled to be scrapped. However, the locomotive was not scrapped but repatriated to the UK and overhauled at Derby between 1952 and 1954, including conversion back to coal burning. The locomotive then adopted yet another identity as WD 500 at the Longmoor Military Railway. In 1957 the locomotive was bought by British Railways. It is now at the Severn Valley Railway but requires a lot of repairs.

Across the road is Cathedral Square. A bronze statue by Alan Wilson, installed in 1996,shows a woman with a child that is pulling away from her to pick up a dropped teddy. Across the square is another statue of former Blackburn MP Barbara Castle holding a document, the Equal Pay Act. It is by Sam Holland and was installed in 2021. Right round the building to the main entrance. There is a service in the cathedral so I will return later. A hall, formally a school, standing next to the cathedral is now commercial premises. There are very few graves left in the churchyard. Out of the front entrance of the churchyard. A nearby building was once the post office, now Wetherspoons. It is not easy to orientate oneself against the old maps as so much has changed. A modern building houses the BBC Radio Lancashire. Across the lane is a building with a rather odd copper capped tower with unusual decoration. I think it may have been Barclays Bank, although information is scant. Few buildings are listed hence the wholesale destruction of the place. The Old Bank is still a bank. In Lord Street, another large bank building is now a bar. Another bronze of a mother and child stands here. Northgate is a street of low end shops in three storey Victorian buildings.

At the end of Northgate is S^t Georges Hall, under repair. The hall was designed by architects Briggs, Wolstenholme & Thornely. Construction of the hall began in 1913, but was interrupted by the First World War and it was officially opened in October 1921. It was extensively renovated in 1994. The ground floor is an Indian restaurant. A statue of Gladstone looks across at the Hall. On along Northgate. A large building is a pub painted an unflattering black, The Blackburn Times, as one would expect, former newspaper offices. Next to it is the Central Library. Opposite are the Police Station and Session Courts by the same design team, built in 1912. Large statues representing war and peace are on the portico. Down Town Hall Street. A Victorian building has coloured glass Art Deco windows. It seems that the market hall and market square have all gone to be replaced by dubious modern buildings. The Town Hall is still standing. It was built in 1852 to the designs of J Patterson in Italianate style. A bronze statue of William Henry Hornby, 1805-1884, the first Mayor of Blackburn stands outside.

Opposite is a large ecclesiastical style building under refurbishment that the maps state was the Majestic then Essoldo cinema. However it was built in 1862 as the Cotton Exchange, designed by W H Brackspear in High Victorian Gothic style with mainly Perpendicular features. Up to Sudell Cross, a large junction with a modern installation. Back past S^t Georges Hall and along Blakey Lane. The Victoria Building, built in 1888, is completely shrouded in scaffolding and plastic. Beside it is the former Blakey Moor Secondary and Technical School. Along Barton Street. Past the modern cinema. A building stands on the site of a farmhouse, the early home of Sir Robert Peel. Another stands on the site of the Blackburn Union Offices. Into King Street. A very few late 18^th century buildings remain but most are modern. In Paradise Street, a Goldfinch sings in a pink blossom covered cherry. The Catholic church of S^t Anne is firmly closed. Nearby is the modern building of Blackburn Spiritualist Centre.

Down Freckleton Street. The tower of Chapel Street Congregational church is all that remains. It was founded in 1777 and closed in 1975. The first Chapel Street Church was built in a field called Ryecroft adjoining the Bull Meadow (now Freckleton St). In 1872 it was damaged by fire and had to be demolished and rebuilt. The Sunday School is boarded up. Past a disused but tidy graveyard, all that remains of S^t Peter’s church, built in 1821 and demolished in 1974. Warehouses around here have all been replaced by more modern buildings. Over the River Blakewater. In Canterbury Street, the Drill Hall of the Lancashire Rifle Volunteers is boarded up. Opposite is the modern Royal Mail premises. Rows of houses have been demolished to create Wainwright Way. Alfred Wainwright was born in Blackburn. On the far side is the community fire station with the old fire station tower still standing. A tubular steel suspension bridge carries Wainwright Way over the railway. On the far side are large retail outlets.

Along busy roads to Grimshaw Park, a multi-lane road descending the hill of Town Moor. More retail units stand where there were terraces of houses and large mills. The road comes to a bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Into a pub where there are no hand pumps and the beer is freezing.

Back down the hill past a modern Pentecostal Church. The road passes under a fine cast iron railway bridge of 1884. Along Darwen Street. A mixture of Georgian and Victorian houses with slightly later infill plus what could be rather older buildings. Slightly surprisingly, there is a large modern furniture shop. A burger shop has a large pink 1957 Chevrolet turned into a seat in the window. A pint in the Wetherspoons.

Back to the Cathedral Church of S^t Mary the Virgin with S^t Paul. A very airy but cavernous building. It is believed the first church here was founded in 596. A Norman church stood here. By 1818 the old church was in disrepair and it was decide to build a completely new building. John Palmer was asked to build the new church which was consecrated in 1826. That church forms the nave of the present cathedral. The church became a cathedral in 1926. A new design for the building was devised in 1933 but the Second World War intervened. When the plan was revisited in 1950, costs were excessive. In 1961 Laurence King was appointed architect to the Cathedral. It fell to him to adapt the design. He solved the problem by substituting the iconic Lantern Tower for the massive structure proposed by Forstyth, placing the Sanctuary directly beneath it in the central crossing. This meant that wherever people are seated the liturgy is visible. The Victorian windows were removed from the Nave and the floor of Derbyshire polished limestone, full of fossils, installed. The sanctuary furniture with the striking Corona, both a crown of suffering and a crown of glory, and the angel pendentives are by the artist John Hayward. A ring of coloured glass by Linda Walton at the top of the sanctuary casts colours over the walls. The design was completed in 1971. Modern art hangs on the walls of the nave. It seems the four-manual organ is being tuned, rather piercing. A statue of Virgin and Child is by Josephina de Vasconcellos. In the north transept are 15^th century misericords, probably from Whalley Abbey and a modern cathedra. On an outer wall is a sculpture by Mark Jalland, (The Healing of The Nations), an abstract steel and copper circular piece containing thousands of interwoven fibre optics that create ever-changing patterns of light at night.

Into Church Street where there are public artworks. One side are large buildings, many former banks, the other a modern edifice containing the market. The market is a disappointment. It is late in the day but it is clear there are many vacant stalls. Along to the bus station and back to my hotel.

Thursday 10^th April – Blackburn – An Oystercatcher flies over and a Willow Warbler sings behind a hedge by the hotel car park. It is cold, a thin veneer of wet ice on the windows of the car. A path runs down and behind the hotel. A thick hedge of Hawthorn and roses separates the path from Guide Reservoir built in 1847. A Great Tit calls, unusually just a single repeated note, and is joined by a Chiffchaff. Coltsfoot flowers at the bar of the hedge. The path leads to a substantial fence but several bars have been removed allowing, probably illegal, access. There are just a few Mallard and gulls present. Darwen Tower stands high on the moors in the distance.

Darwen – I park in Duckworth Street. Past a long row of local shops in Victorian and the occasional Georgian buildings. Along Union Street. The large New Mill has gone, replaced by a large residential block. The ambulance, fire and police stations are all here. Alum House Brook, called the River Darwen on the old maps, emerges from culverts under the town at a bridge with a large cast iron panel with the Arms of Darwen and William Sharpe E^sq JP Mayor. Opposite is the former Technical College, now the Art College. Up Knott Street. The public library is a Carnegie library which opened in 1908. It was designed by Raymond Harrison in the Edwardian Baroque style. It has a copper dome and finial over the cupola. It stands on a steep slope. The entrance is accessed by a bridge from street level, over a deep channel formed by a curved stone retaining wall along the junction of Knott Street and School Street, and the building is buttressed to the rear elevation. A van passes with a skeleton in the passenger seat!

Down School Street. The Central Premises of the Darwen Industrial Cooperative Society stood behind New Mill, now a supermarket. New Mill N^o 2 is the police station car park. Across the road is the market hall. The clock was a gift of the mayor in 1899. A great number of the stalls are empty. In front of the Market Hall is a large open space that used to contain the open market. Albert Buildings of 1888 end suddenly as it continued as Municipal Buildings, since demolished. Up the hill, the Railway Road Methodist church is now a Wetherspoons. The Heritage Centre is in the old Education Offices. Up Church Street is St Peter’s church, formerly dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It was built between 1827-9, designed by Rickman and Hutchinson in the Perpendicular style. It is locked. As in Blackburn, very few buildings have been listed.

Church Bank descends steeply. A large building of the Conservative Club has, aptly, been demolished. Borough Mews is a funeral directors. Opposite is the rear of the Palladium Cinema, now a pub. It is past 9:00 yet nowhere is open. Song Bridge Street and down Hardman Way, largely built over the Olympia Cinema. It is here the River Darwen disappears into the culvert. Along Foundry Street most of which is now a car park.

Across Bolton Road. Two small buildings were tram shelters of octagonal shape with a copper domed roof. A plaque says “Borough of Darwen Tramways Department, Erected 1902” Steam Tramways opened 1881, Electrical System Inaugurated 1900. Between them is a statue of a lion on a plinth in memory of those who died in the South African War 1899-1902. Up Belgrave Street is the Independent Meeting House, known as Belgrave Chapel, built in 1847, by Edward Walters but altered internally and now unoccupied. It is in the Early English style with strong vertical emphasis, everything is of considerable height. On the roof is a very prominent arcaded screen finished with three gablets and flanked by octagonal turrets terminating in pinnacles.

Behind the church stood the huge Belgrave Mill, apparently for “paper staining”. Nothing is left of it. Further up the Bolton Road, India Mills, which spun rayon, still stands with an impressive chimney, now an aerospace factory. Back to the town centre and through The Circus into Market Street which becomes Duckworth Street.

Friday 11^th April – Leominster – Another cloudless but cold morning. A yelping gull flies overhead. House Sparrows chatter around the back of The Chequers. Jackdaws chack and Wood Pigeons coo as usual. The large cherry trees have come into blossom. The Dubai to Toronto 787 flies over shining like a star. It is followed by the Frankfurt to Killeen 747 which leaves a large golden

vapour trail. However the Manchester to Djerba Airbus leaves no trail at all, the vagaries of the atmosphere. A diesel pulls a long southbound train into the station.

Onto Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has barely changed. A Great Tit sings its two tone song along with a Chaffinch, Wren, Chiffchaff,

Saturday 12^th April – Leominster – Yet another cold cloudless dawn, although change of promised. Gulls are noisy. Robins and Blackbirds sing. House Sparrows chatter, Wood Pigeons coo and Jackdaws chack. Into Pinsley Mill. Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Wren, Great and Blue Tits sing and call. Very thin high cloud is revealed as the sun, still below the horizon, lights them pink. A Wood Pigeon flies about, rising with a clack of wings then gliding.

Into the Millennium Orchard. A rabbit scuttles off. A Bird Cherry is in blossom. On Pinsley Mead, plum, greengage and pear are all in flower. The River Kenwater flows low and sedately. The tenacity of life is shown by leaves unfurling on one of the fallen beach trees on the edge of the churchyard. Overhead the Dubai to Washington Airbus is lit up by the sun, its vapour trail disappearing almost immediately. Also shiny in the sunlight is the golden cockerel on top of the Priory. A black head peers over a nest at the top of one of the large trees outside the Forbury, a Carrion Crow I assume. Thicker cloud is developing in the West. Market stores are being erected for the farmers’ market in Corn Square.

Home – Some of the tomatoes are potted on. Some are only guesses that they are indeterminates, as the labels faded. I order some troughs for the Red Bush tomatoes which go in front of the summerhouse. One of the home-made drains for the chicken run roof has come apart, so much for glue. It is re-stuck then sealed by pushing a plastic top from a can of spray which just happens to be the same diameter as the downpipe. Just a bit Heath Robinson, but it seems to work.

Sunday 13^th April – Leominster – Grey clouds drift eastwards. The air is still chilly. A Blackbird sings. A Wood Pigeon calls almost like a Cuckoo. There is the strangulated call of a Collared Dove. Jackdaws chatter. Into Pinsley Mill. A Chiffchaff and a Great Tit call, both two notes but very different. A Wren bursts into song from the topmost shoot of a bush. Into the churchyard fresh molehills are still appearing.

Back down the road a couple of hours later. The sky is now completely clouded over. A Blackbird is still in song and House Sparrows chirrup in a hedge. The apple tree in the yard beside the White Lion has come into blossom. Over the railway bridge. Wren, Chiffchaff, Robin and Blackcap are in song. Forget-me-nots are flowering by the path to Butts Bridge. A Dipper is on the Lugg downstream from the Bridge. On the far side of the bridge Yellow Archangel and Ground Ivy are in flower. Easters Meadow has been mown. On along the path. Lady’s Smock, also known as the Cuckoo Flower (because flowering is at the time the Cuckoos are first heard, although I should be so lucky), White Dead Nettle and Garlic Mustard are in flower. A large cherry is scattering white petals on the path. Rain is in the air.

The market is large and busy. A Blackcap sings on one side, a Chiffchaff on the other of the River Lugg at Ridgemoor Bridge. Along Mill Lane. Cleavers grow thickly beside the pavement. Along Paradise Walk. The River Kenwater is low. Through the town. Across Corn Square and into School Lane. It looks like a pair of Collared Doves are nesting in the shoe shop eaves, part of what is believed to be the oldest building in the town.

Home – Three hanging baskets are filled with compost and three what I hope are tumbling tomatoes are planted in each. The small beds used for courgettes and squashes have overgrown with grass and weeds during the winter. They should be dug and all the Couch Grass removed but I just turn it. It will be at least six weeks before the courgettes go in.

Tuesday 15^th April – Leominster – A cool morning with thick dark clouds overhead. Down to the river. A Grey Heron flies over high in the sky. The Manchester bound train leaves the station. Leaves are appearing on the Ash trees. Chiffchaffs and Wrens are in song. Back along the ginnel, collecting Dandelion leaves for the hens. Into Pinsley Mill. Song Thrush and Great Tit both have different repeated calls. The Milford Haven train approaches the station.

Into the Millennium Orchard. More blossom is on the apple trees. Several Chiffchaffs are calling, another bird with repeated notes. Marsh Marigolds flower in the old dried up pond. A Cuckoo Flower nearby is a delicate pale purple. The Kenwater is flowing much more slowly now. A Blackcap sings in bushes next to the River.

Home – Sadly yesterday I had to despatch one of the hens. She has been in a poor state for some time now and was looking really miserable, huddled up in a corner of the run.

I throw the bag of Dandelion leaves in for the three remaining hens. Returning to the house, I hear a strange noise on the patio. It turns out to be a female Blackbird having a bath in a yellow box we use for soaking plant containers. Bluebells seem to be coming into flower almost before ones eyes. Daffodils are fading fast now. Cowslips and Primroses are still flowering well. Apple and pear blossom is magnificent now.

Wednesday 16^th April – Leominster – Dark grey clouds and a stiff wind keep the temperature down. Through Eaton Close and on towards the High School. Enthusiastic singing comes from a nursery and exhortations to greater effort from the leisure centre. Into South Street and Hereford Road. Ornamental crab apples and cherry species are loaded with blossom. Up the path to Cockcroft Lane. A Skylark sings intermittently. It then rises again from behind a hedge and soars singing continuously. The fields are green with what I assume is a cereal crop. They are dotted with White Clover and rogue oilseed rape. The distant hills are misty. The wind is powerful up here.

Into the relative shelter of the path behind Ryelands. White Dead-nettles and Bluebells are in flower. A rasping Mistle Thrush flies into the trees. Down Ryelands Road. A Starling flies over. They seem to be a local rarity now, the winter flocks of 100 plus that used to roost or gather in the trees behind our house have not been seen for several years.

Good Friday 18^th April – Llandrindod Wells – Steady rain does not stop Blackbirds singing brightly. Carrion Crows chase through the trees. A dozen Mute Swans, number of Canada Geese, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Coot and Mallard are on the Lake. Chaffinch sings in the trees. A good number of Sand Martins and a few House Martins feed low over the water.

Up a hill. Yellow archangel and Dog Mercury is flowering under the hedge. I am soon puffing, a sad reflection of my lack of fitness. Past Llandrindod Hall, a two storey farmhouse rebuilt in 1818 and formerly known as the Great House farm. In the 18^th century there was a hotel on the site founded by William Grosvenor in 1749. This closed in 1787 and was burnt down around 1800. Further up, on a spur is the Old Parish Church, formerly The Holy Trinity. It stands above a valley from which the common rises up bright yellow with gorse. Two tombs overlook the road to the west very white marble with life size angels on them they look mid Victorian but in fact mid 20^th century. The first written reference to the church comes in 1291 but the building, rebuilt in 1894, stands on the foundations of a much earlier pre-Norman building.

Back down to the lake and up the hill on the other side. An “Any Old Iron” van comes down with the loud hailer. Past houses that seem to cover pretty much every period of the 20^th century. Opposite is a row of oak trees grown from Windsor Park acorns obtained in 1936 to mark the coronation of King George VI. Behind them is Lower Common Meadow. At the end of the Common is a construction on a tall pole, designed to attract Swifts to nest. A small Rookery is in a couple of oaks on the edge of the common. The old golf course ran right across this area. Down the hill again to the main road to Builth Wells at Ridgebourne.

A terrace of four storey late Victorian houses lines Temple Drive. On the junction is a strange stone built pyramidal building with two windows but no entrance. On the other side of the junction our three storey houses one dated 1907. Wellington Terrace is a row of pleasant two storey houses in yellow brick with red detail. Ridgebourne Inn is decidedly closed and seems to be in the process of conversion to residences.

The rain has stopped. Park Lane passes the old bakery and then under the railway line. A field with a few sheep contains the remains of eight well-preserved Roman practice camps, part of a large group to the south of Llandrindod Wells. The camps were constructed as part of a military training exercise by soldiers, probably stationed at Castell Collen, who paid particular attention to the corners and entrances, which were the most difficult elements to build. A path heads north. A Red Kite circles overhead. On along the path which is part of the Heart of Wales Line footpath. Blackthorn is still in blossom here. There is open ground with a few Birches, cherries and other young trees. A Willow Warbler sings. Some of the Blackthorn have branches festooned with lichen, probably Oakmoss, Evernia prunastri.

The path descends to Llandrindod Wells Spa. The waters have been regarded as curative since Roman times. The town sits on faulted Silurian Builth mudstones with Ordovician volcanic rocks to the east. The Springs were referred to in Roman writings as Balnes Siluria , (the baths of the Silurians). In 1670, the spring was known as “The Well of the Blacksmith’s Dingle” and in the 19^th century as Ffynnon Cwm-y-Gog, “The well in the Cuckoos Vale”.In 1754, a German, Dr Linden, visited and claimed to have been cured of various diseases by the waters. The Rock Park has several types of spring including saline, radium, sulphur, magnesium and chalybeate. On the late 19^th century the area by the chalybeate spring was paved and a bridge built over Arlais Bridge and a marble fountain installed. The park has been planted as an arboretum with Wellingtonia, Maples and others. The Spa buildings were erected in 1908. Over the stream and up the hill to emerge in the town centre.

The entrance to the park is beside the Gwalia hotel, designed by Swash and Bain, architects of Newport was opened in 1900 replacing the original hotel built in 1877 on the opposite corner. It is now occupied by Powys County Council and the library. Opposite is Cadwalader, the original Post Office with fine cast iron balcony. Into High Street which is on one side modern buildings, on the site of Christ Church (Congregational) and charity shops on the other.

Over the railway and one of the somewhat rare Heart of Wales Line trains leaves the station. Into Cilgant i’r de, South Crescent. Two large bank buildings are on the corner. One, now closed, is an early 20^th century Art Nouveau four storey brick and stone dressed building, the other, still a bank, was originally a branch of the North and South Wales Bank, known to have been in existence from 1900. The building was probably built by the well-known bank architects Woolfall and Eccles of Liverpool, who are also recorded as designing additions to this branch in 1924. The North and South Wales Bank amalgamated with Midland in 1908. Opposite is the park of the band stand. Into Middleton Street. A building is dated 1898, another has a plaque commemorating Victoria’s Golden Jubilee of 1897. Into the main road through the town, the A483. There are still some grand hotels, The Metropole and the Glen Usk, both with car iron and glass canopies. Past the War Memorial. A stone circle is reported to have stood opposite in the park. It is interesting that many buildings have retained their canopies and verandahs. On a junction is an Art Deco masterpiece in faience with 22 lions sedant on the edge of the roof. Begun in 1906 and initially completed in 1911. It was founded by Mr Tom Norton and formerly known as “The Palace of Sport”, becoming “The Automobile Palace Ltd.” in 1925. The Architect was R Wellings Thomas. It is now the National Cycle Museum and Job Centre. Into Princes Avenue which leads back to the lake. The rain is returning. Route

Easter Sunday 20^th April – Home – After a cool start the sun warms the air. Into the greenhouse. Bamboo stakes are tied to the tomato frame in the bed. String has been used over the past few years, but it tends to bow out and things get a bit confusing. Tomato plants are then placed at the foot of each stake. I think a good number are Black Opal, but the others are anyone’s guess. Aubergines and peppers are potted on. I water everything in but that is all I can manage as my hip and back seem to have taken considerable objection to Friday’s walk...

Apple blossom is now at its best. A decent number of bees are visiting them, possibly more than in recent years. Pear and damson blossom is now faded, hopefully well fertilised. Our local Chiffchaff is overhead in the Ash tree.

Tuesday 22^nd April – Home – Work in the garden proceeds apace. Slightly embarrassingly, I sow some sweet pepper seeds then realise there are some small plants happily growing in the bathroom. So they are potted on. More Purple Sprouting is sown; the first lot did not survive being planted out. Three pots of dwarf French beans – Magpie, Yugoslav and Purple King are sown. So are some cabbage, Green Express. A few Romano lettuces are planted out into the bed; the ones in the trough in the greenhouse are coming on steadily. A tray of leeks, Colossal, are sown. A guttering of peas is slid into a shallow trough in a bed. Some of the grass areas is mown. It is a piecemeal approach, avoiding the late Primroses and opening Bluebells.

Thursday 24^th April – Leominster – A cool overcast morning sky a mottled grey. The cherry trees are dropping white petals all over the pavements in the street. Into Pinsley Mill. Wood Pigeons coo, a few Jackdaws chack, a Wren blasts out its song across the tracks, a Greenfinch calls nasally and a Great Tit repeats its two note song in the distance. Carrion Crows are motionless in a tall Black Poplar by the river. They then start flying off and others noisily fly in. Two Blackbirds seem to be in dispute on the path. A blast of a diesel horn comes from the station. Then the engine note rises and 87617 pulls a long line of black coaches past. A pair of Canada Geese fly over. Into the Orchard where nearly all the apple trees are in full blossom. The Dabinett has only a few flowers open, as do the Herefordshire Beeflings. It is a really good year for Apple blossom. The Ransoms are in flower now and I gather a bag of leaves for the hens. Into the churchyard Carrion Crows are noisy overhead. This sets off a flock of Jackdaws which fly around chacking and yelping gulls pass higher overhead. Rabbits bound away. The magnolia at Grange Court is still beautiful with flowers, often frosts nip it shortly after they come into blossom. The great Horse Chestnut, covered in white candles, can be seen towering over the houses.

Home – Potatoes are coming through. Flowers are appearing on the broad beans. Raspberries, Red and Black Currants all have a very good quantity of flowers. A very young Blackbird fledgling wobbles down the path, bleating pitifully. It is slightly worrying as we have cat visitors quite frequently. Indeed, Kay finds a dead mouse on the path.

Sunday 27^th April – Leominster – A bright sunny morning. Horsetail clouds are bisected by vapour trails. Coltsfoot in the yard by the White Lion has already run the seed and there are Dandelion clocks down the ginnel. Gulls circle above the industrial estates. A Blackbird sings in a tree by the station platform. A rabbit bounces along the track. Wrens sing in the riverside woods. A Chiffchaff calls. Hawthorns by the footbridge are cloaked in masses of white blossom. A Dipper flies upstream from Butts Bridge. A Blackcap sings on the far side of the bridge. Dandelions create spots of yellow all across Easters Meadow. A Great Tit sings in the trees by the bypass. Red Campion, Ladies’ Smock and Garlic Mustard are in flower along with more Dandelions. White Dead-nettles flower and Cleavers are rising above the Stinging Nettles by Brightwells auction sheds. Herb Robert and Ground Ivy flower on the approach to the gate. Cheaton Brook bubbles under the bridge at Brightwells’ entrance.

A Skylark sings high above the large and busy market. The red Horse Chestnut is in flower by Ridgemoor Bridge. Along Paradise Way. A Swift is high above the Minster. A Mallard is on the River Kenwater which is flowing steadily. The campanologists in the Minster are not quite in unison today. Over Priory Bridge. I search the water for any sign of fish, but nothing.

Home – We are now down to two hens, another was getting old and decrepit. When I bought them, the vendor said the problem with Warrens is that they lay themselves to death, and they have produced an incredible amount of eggs over the past few years. Rows of carrots and parsnips are sown. The second row of broad beans is planted out. Climbing French beans are sown in pots. The small logs from the apple tree which had a large branch removed to allow the new chicken run roof to be installed are bundled and tied with wire to make an insect hotel.

Tuesday 29^th April – Home – A very warm day. Jackdaws and Collared Doves come down to the bird bath to drink. A pair of Robins consider the garden is too small for both of them. An altercation ensues. A young bird is chirping from the Yew tree. A Jackdaw goes to investigate. A Blackbird follows it. The Jackdaw reckons it may have found an easy meal and moves in. Suddenly, there is an explosion of noise as three Blackbirds chase the Jackdaw out of the tree. There is one Blackbird nest in the large laurel by the shed and there may be another across the garden around the Ivy clad trunk of a dead pear tree. There is also probably a Great Tit nest on the bird box on the summerhouse.

The local Chiffchaff and Blackcap have been singing strongly. A flight of screaming Swifts race over and off towards The Grange. Earlier today I took some greens out for the hens and put them in the run. One of the hens rushed out of the hen house and began digging into the greens. I went to the greenhouse to adjust the automatic window openers I fitted yesterday and when I got back to the run the hen had simply laid an egg in the middle of the run and continued chomping down the greens.