New Year’s Day, – Home – Although the sky is overcast and grey clouds cross in a blustery wind, it is unseasonably warm, already 12.5ºC by 9 o’clock. Five Wood Pigeons rise noisily from the flowerbed, they are becoming a nuisance. A Greater Spotted Woodpecker chips from the top of the Ash tree.
Leominster – Across the Grange in what seems more like twilight than mid-morning. The skeletal trees add to the gloom but hope for brighter days is in the form of swelling furry, grey buds on a magnolia outside Grange Court. By the Court car park, the white balls of Snow Berries contrast with the dark green Laurel. Jackdaws squabble. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chips from the trees on the edge of the churchyard. A Robin sings nearby and two pairs of Magpies chatter quietly.
Into Church Street. Blackbirds watch each other on the wall of the Forbury house. It seems strange to see the town empty on a Saturday morning as all the shops are closed.
Sunday – Leominster – The sky is clearing after a night of heavy rain. It seems a little cooler although still warm for the time of year. A strong breeze blows. Jackdaws chack, House Sparrows chatter, Blue Tits chirp and alarms ring out from Blackbirds. Over the railway. A Mistle Thrush rasps and Wood Pigeons scatter from riverside trees. More House Sparrows keep up a constant conversation in the bushes by the station car park. A Song Thrush sings its repeated phrases tentatively.
The water level in the River Lugg has risen again and is coloured rusty red from the tons of topsoil being washed away. The water will also contain large amounts of damaging artificial fertilisers, phosphates which are of such concern. Into Pinsley Mill. A nascent dawn chorus is starting across the railway, Blackbirds, Robins, Dunnocks, Great Tits, a Song Thrush, Jackdaws and Blue Tits. A Cormorant flies upstream buffeted by the breeze.
Into the Millennium Park. All of the Ladies Finger apples have finally fallen. The Cormorant returns down stream. The River Kenwater is flowing fast but grey-green rather than red. A bright brass coloured sun rises above the hills colouring the clouds pink. The rays light up the Minster tower. A Common Buzzard flies low through the churchyard.
Monday – Leominster – Just a few patches of blue sky show through dark clouds. It is beginning to rain. Today is replacement bank holiday for New Year’s Day so the streets are very quiet. The Song Thrush is still singing behind the White Lion. A South Wales bound train rumbles into the station. The red colour has faded slightly from the River Lugg but the water is still opaque. The path to Mosaic Bridge is slick with mud. A Newcastle to Tenerife air plane flies over hidden by the clouds.
Along the river through Easter’s Wood. The path along the paddocks is horribly muddy and slippery. The few spots of precipitation has turned into persistent rain blown by a brisk breeze. Despite the rise in the river level, the large tent object is still trapped by Eaton Bridge. A good deal of the other rubbish in the river has been swept away. Along the Old Worcester Road several Robins and a Song Thrush are singing, albeit rather intermittently.
Up onto the old railway bridge. A non-stop train races through the station and under the bridge then the old GWR semaphore signal clanks back to danger. Along the Worcester Road to the Enterprise Park. Pale green buds are on the laurel that surrounds the sewage plant. There is little noise here as all the industrial units are closed for the bank holiday. Another Song Thrush sings in a tree by the brook that flows out of the industrial estate. An annoyingly piercing alarm is sounding from some control boxes opposite the police station. I call the emergency number stated on the gate which turns out to be Herefordshire council who simply say they will pass it on.
The rain has stopped. The sky to the north is now clear and blue. A Pied Wagtail bounces past, squeaking. A Rabbit dashes across the road into the trees surrounding the field at the southern end of the estate. Down the Hereford Road to Broadward Bridge. The water level in the River Arrow is still very high, maybe 18 inches below the apex of the main arch. However the flooding in the fields has receded. A Mistle Thrush and several small birds are annoyed by the presence of a Common Buzzard in the trees. Graffiti is carved into the coping stones of the bridge but unfortunately I can discern no dates. One very clear carving simply says “Gladstone died”, (1898). Another is the name “Basil”; not a common name for probably a century.
Back up the Hereford Road. New flower heads have developed on a rather short Hogweed. A loose flock of about 30 gulls heads south west. Back into a quiet town.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – A cold, clear night brings a light frost. More cloud builds as the dawn progresses. Along the track come various twitterings, whistles and the occasional bursts of song. The constant cackling of Canada Geese comes from the lake. A Song Thrush sits in the Lombardy Poplars. Chaffinches fly along the side of the path. Blue and Great Tits are in the bushes. A few Mallard and Canada Geese are around the boating lake.
A small flock of around fifteen Siskins are in the trees on the edge of the meadow. Into the hide. A flock of Long-tailed Tits bounce across between the saplings on the edge of the water. A couple of dozen Mandarin Ducks are at the west end of the lake. Mallard are scattered around. A Goldeneye is on the southern edge of the lake. Skeins of Canada Geese fly in. The sun blazes off the water making it difficult to see much of the southern and eastern sides of the lake. The noise level increases considerably as several large skeins of Canada Geese fly in. The water level in the lake has risen and the scrape has almost completely disappeared. A single Cormorant appears at the western end. Six Wigeon are asleep in the southern side. Two trains race past each other at the old Dinmore station. A Moorhen swims out of the reed bed. Surprisingly, the Canada Geese fall silent. The sun finally melts the frost on the hide roof and a thin stream of water falls in front of me. Of course, the silence from the Canada Geese does not last long.
Back to the meadow. Three Bullfinches are in the hedgerow where Hazels dangle bright yellow catkins. Similarly bright yellow are the flowers on Mistletoe. Redwings, Fieldfares, Blackbirds and Chaffinches feed on fallen cider apples.
Friday – Llanwarne-Hentland – The sky is almost cloudless but the temperature is several degrees above freezing and there is brisk breeze. A stream, The Gamber, runs beside the car park. Opposite on higher ground is Christ Church. Built in 1864 by Elmslie, Franey and Haddon at a cost of £2,550 to replace St John the Baptist Church which is nearby but was subject to flooding. The inside is rather austere with plain pale tan coloured walls. Beside the door is the benefactors board dated 1834 although this is a 1908 copy from the old church. The mid 19th century font and pulpit have painted designs. Across from the pulpit is a readers desk with a rose and Thistle decoration. The church has a cruciform layout in the Early English Decorated Style with south transept filled with an 1882 pipe organ by Eustace Ingram of London. The chancel is hexagonal with some good Victorian glass work. On the south side of the nave are two windows which contain a collection of 16th century stained glass round windows from the Netherlands which are understood to include scenes from the story of Sorgheloos, a late-medieval Dutch morality tale. At the rear of the church is a bell which hung in the Old Church until 1939 with the inscription Missi de Celis Habeo Nomen Gabrielis – “From Gabriel I take my name who messenger from heaven came”. There is also a 17th century font and a carved wooden chest of the same age. In the churchyard is the grave of the Revd Aubrey Baskerville Mynors, son of the Revd Walter Baskerville Mynors. A primrose is flowering on the grave. The village hall, formerly the school, stands next to to the church, a building of a similar age. Opposite is a lane leading to the typically large former rectory.
Llanwarne means “church of the alder swamp”. A church was recorded here in the Book of Llandaff present in 758. It was also recorded in the early Norman period when Bishop Herwald consecrated Llannguern. The ruins of St John the Baptist Church stand on the main road through the village. The building is roofless. The chancel and nave of St John’s were built in the 13th century. The church was owned by the monastery of Llanthony. Later alterations included rebuilding of the south aisle and a cross being built in the churchyard during the 14th century. A tower and columbarium and a lynch gate were added during the 15th century. The porch and doorway were built in the 17th century. Around frame of south door is a worn head on a plinth and some worn words now illegible apart from crossed bones. A couple of monuments remain on the walls, one completely eroded away but the other from 1608, contains four armorials. In the chancel is is the tomb of Watson Joseph Thornton the rector of Llanwarne, who died in 1855. The tower is still in reasonable condition. The Gamber flows along the southern boundary of the churchyard.
To the east of the church is the war memorial standing on a crossroads. On the opposite corner is a large house with a coach house, with a hay loft door, built into it. The stream flows under the road a short distance to the east. I take a lane heading south. A chap has a powerfully built rescue dog that takes exception to walking sticks but as soon as I hide mine it is quite happy. We inevitably talk dogs for a while. A large pond lies beyond the hedgerow. Beyond is Brom-y-Court. Beyond that are acres of polytunnels. On down the lane past pastures and fields of oil-seed rape. An old moss-covered bridge crosses another stream, Old Mill Race. Cloud is building and spots of rain fall. Half a dozen Fieldfares fly over.
The lane rises to a crossroads and down again past more polytunnels. A modern house stands opposite a lake. Another is on the opposite side of the road slightly further along. Up a gentle hill. The lane enters Pencoyd, the name deriving from the Celtic penn with coid, meaning “wood’s end”. Behind a tall hedge is the 17th century Old Manor House. Around the corner, on a junction, is the church of St Denys. The Llandaff Charters records “a tellus called Cil Hal (believed to be Pencoyd) was granted to Dyfrig by King Erb”. The later dedication was to St Denys, a 3rd century Italian who was the first bishop of Paris. The present church dates from the 14th century but was in a “forlorn and neglected state” according to Glynne in 1861. It was restored and the chancel rebuilt in 1877-8 by Thomas Nicholson. It was a very plain rebuild, Pevsner calls the church “uninteresting”. The font is 13th century having a plain cylindrical bowl and stem on a late 19th base. The benefactors board mostly worn away. The tower holds three bells.
To the west of the churchyard is a sandstone dovecote, possibly early 19th century, with a slate pyramidal roof, part of the 17th century Pencoed Court. A Jay flies away from the base of an ancient Oak; several more oaks are scattered across Pencoed Court parkland. Hereford cattle share a plantation of trees with Redwings. The lane joins the Orcop Road. Pencoyd Rise consists of several new and a number of older houses, one once a school. A house at Swaines Diggins has a stone ended low barn with a corrugated iron semi circular roof. The gardens are very overgrown and it is hard to see if the property is occupied. The hedgerows along the lane have been freshly flailed.
Across the busy A49. A racehorse is being exercised on a track bounded by white railings. A Goldcrest darts along the hedgerow and into Harewood End Wood. Either side of the lane are large fields. Good number of Blue Tits are feeding in the hedgerows and trees bordering the lane. The very large ornamental gardens of Kynaston Farm lead to a junction. A Victorian lodge house stands on the junction. My route lies down the lane through the former farm. A pond lies in what was probably a quarry where the stone for the extensive range of houses and barns was obtained. It appears that all buildings have now been converted into residences. Coniston Court, the former vicarage, has a very steep roof. Across the fields is Dason Court, another large farm.
The lane descends steeply between high banks. It is getting darker and colder as the cloud thickens. Past a stone built house and a fine blacksmithed gate. A Great Spotted Woodpecker is tapping at the top of a tree. A large house is mainly Victorian around an older core. Another dwelling is a bungalow seemingly timber-framed but probably early 20th century. This is Hentland and opposite is the church of St Dubricius. Hentland was the Collegiate Church or monastery of St Dyfrig (alias Dubricius), the 6th century Bishop of Glywysing who is supposed to have trained some 2,000 priests here over a period of seven years. Recent investigations have revealed that his monastic buildings probably stood in the now open field to the south of the church. It is said the ruins could still be seen in 1633. St Dubricius is also said to have crowned the victorious Arthur “King of the Britons”.
A large Yew stands in the churchyard according to records planted on Shrove Tuesday 13th February 1615. A preaching cross has square, gabled head with recessed ogeed panels to east and west and more narrow panels with two centred heads to north and south. Carved figures in the recesses are badly eroded, It is believed those in east recess to be Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John and in north, a bishop. A good number of 18th and 19th century chest tombs are in the graveyard, many in poor condition. Likewise many headstones are too eroded to be legible and often falling over. In a dingle below the churchyard is a holy well dedicated to St Dubricius. The well has two lips, one for humans and another for animals. The present church was built circa 1300, with late 14th and 15th century additions and restored by J P Seddon in 1853. The chancel has painted wall decoration devised by Seddon, with foliated designs around windows, ashlar lining in terracotta colour, to the left of east window a genealogical tree from Adam to Abraham. The east window has stained glass thought to have been inserted by Richard of Rotherham, Chancellor of the Dioceses, in the 15th century. The hand pumped organ in the chancel by J W Walker was installed in 1869. The octagonal font is perpendicular carved with a man and women’s heads. The pulpit is 17th century and a Jacobean chair sits by the altar. There is a simple 19th century screen. In a bequest by Lady Lucas Scudamore in 1570, cakes (small buns) and cider are given to the poor of the parish each year on Palm Sunday. This bequest, known as Pax Cakes, is made available to those who live in the parishes of Hentland, Kings Caple, and Sellack, and handed out as they leave the church after service.
Unfortunately I have to take the same route back as there is no sensible circular walk here. A large flock Redwings is in a field that leads towards Dason Court. A tree at Kynaston farm has growths of a bracket fungus, probably Varnished Polypore, Ganoderma lucidum. A flock of Rooks feeds in a field of green shoots. Back near Pencoyd, four Common Buzzards fly off, one carrying something in its beak. Rain arrives as I re-enter the village. Route
Sunday – Leominster – Another morning with a largely clear sky although pink clouds are moving in from the west. It is cool again, above freezing but frost is on the roofs and ice on the cars. A Starling whistles and chuckles from a rooftop somewhere. Two Wood Pigeons sit silently in the great Plane tree opposite The Chequers. Jackdaws sit on television aerials in Marlow’s Court, built in 1771, as a Manse, Chapel and almshouses. House Sparrows chatter in the hedge beside the entrance to Caswell Crescent. A Robin sings from a wire over the middle of the road, clearly agitated by another which is in a nearby garden. Clouds to the south east are now glowing bright yellow as the sun begins to rise.
Over the railway. The resident Song Thrush greets the rising sun mellifluously. A Blackbird chucks in the undergrowth. The water level in the River Lugg remains the same as last week. A Moorhen flies rapidly upstream seemingly in a panic dashing this way and that before diving into some undergrowth overhanging the bank. A Common Buzzard flies out of the ivy and mistletoe laden Black Poplar by the bridge and heads south. A Cormorant heads in the same direction.
Past the White Lion and into Pinsley Mill. The Cormorant is heading north again. A Carrion Crow watches from the top of a tree. Sixteen Blackbirds are feeding on the fallen Dabinett apples. Into the Peace Garden where, for some reason, someone has wrapped toilet paper all around an old much coppiced Hazel by the railway. The River Kenwater is still flowing swiftly.
Through the churchyard. A whirring beat overhead marks the passing of two Mute Swans. A Song Thrush sings loudly from a tree beside the Forbury Care Home. The Minster bells toll the hour followed by the compline bells.
Home – Some of the diggings from the chicken run are put on the rhubarb which has knobs of red and green appearing. The forcer is placed over one patch. The rhubarb will need dividing next year. The last beetroot are dug along with a few rather pathetic leeks.
Monday – Newcastle on Clun – A grey damp morning. I start from Newcastle on Clun community centre. A short lane passes the Millennium Green and enters Mill Road by the school. Ahead is a steep wooded hill, Fron, with a Red Kite soaring above it. Carrion Crows call from the trees. Along Church Road. In a junction of Newcastle Hall, a large stone farmhouse, built in the late 18th century with a late 19th century addition at the rear. On the southern side of the junction is a similarly aged barn and cow shed.
On to the Newtown road, westwards along the valley of the River Clun. A bridge crosses a tributary to the river, Folly Brook. A short distance on is a small motte of the castle surmounted by a single tree. It was an earth and timber fortification which has become known as Newcastle Crugyn and was probably raised in the late 11th or 12th century as an outstation of Clun Castle which was the caput of the region. The site may originally have been called Matefelun, in which case it was built in 1195 when William de Boterell was granted 10 marks to fortify his house there. A farmer is visiting various fields where he has his sheep. This is sheep country, the steep hills and wet lower pastures are little good for anything other than grass. There was a settlement high on the northern hillside. The Clun meanders down the valley, gurgling merrily.
There is bird song, Goldfinch and Robin and birds move between the Oaks and Alders but not settling. A Common Buzzard calls. Back to the village. The farmer has returned with his tractor and has picked up a black plastic-wrapped bale of hay and is unwrapping it to put in a hay ring. On the edge of the village the road heads down to the river. A mill race ran down the west side of the road. Many of the dwellings here are modern. A Great Spotted Woodpecker calls from a tree. The pub, the Crown Inn, has some age, large iron crosses on the wall hold rods that run through to the back walls of the building to stop the walls bowing. On the edge of the village is a set of stone buildings, the early 18th century former mill and nearby miller’s house. The land to the north of the mill and west of the house was the mill pool but is now a field.
A bridge with emerald green moss and delicate ferns, Maidenhair Spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes, crosses the river. Any exposed stone in the bridge is either white or pale green with lichen. A narrow lane leaves the Clun road and climbs into the hills. I climb a short distance before realising this is the wrong lane. Back down again. I decide against going on to find the correct lane and return to Newcastle. A Carrion Crow at the top of a tree bobs and throws out head back as it calls. Along West Road past a short row of stone cottages. The other houses are 20th century. Into Mill Road. A single storey house was the Methodist chapel built in 1891 and closed in 1984. Other houses are 18th or 19th century often much enlarged or modern.
Wednesday – Home – A sharp frost whitening the roofs. Cosmos 405 rocket body, launched from Plesetsk, Russia in 1971, passes over, shining brightly. Later, as the dawn sky lightens and the few scattered clouds turn pink, several Robins are in song.
Bodenham Lake – The sun shines brightly, but there is more cloud than at dawn. A Robin sings in the car park, others can be heard further away. The temperature did not fall enough or remain at freezing for long enough to freeze the track which is still muddy. Pools of water have just a hint of ice on their surface. Blackbirds fly along the hedgerow and up into the trees. A Mistle Thrush watches from a high branch. The lake water ripples faintly, reflecting sky. A Wigeon is alone in the middle of the lake spinning around slowly. A number of Mallard are near the islands. Blue Tits fly from tree to tree. A Mute Swan with arched wings glides in from the west. Several Fieldfares fly up to the top of a tree. A lone Cormorant stands on one of the islands.
On to the meadow when patches are extremely wet and muddy. Pair of Mute Swans slap the water loudly as they take off. Otherwise, the lake is very quiet, the Canada Geese are still feeding out on the fields. A Moorhen calls from beside the reed beds. Mandarin Duck gather in their usual spot at the west end. Another birder and I sit glumly looking at the empty water. He tells me the most excitement has been a flock of Cormorant taking off earlier and disappearing southwards. As I head back to the meadow the sound of cackling Canada Geese is heard.
A Green Woodpecker calls from the lakeside trees. Into the orchard Fieldfares and Redwings are still feeding on the rotting cider apples. A large double trailer timber lorry is in the car park and tree works are being carried out nearby.
Friday – Ross-on-Wye-Foy – Another bright cold morning. The temperature is below zero today and the frost harder. The drive to Ross is uncomfortable with a blazing sun shining through the windscreen for a long period. Into the Three Crosses area of the town. A Privet hedgerow is full of House Sparrows pecking at the leaves. North along Brampton Road through the 20th century former council housing estate. One house has a full-size prancing horse statue in the garden. Past the local school which, like apparently all educational establishments these days, must have a mission statement ridiculous as they seem. More House Sparrows and Blue Tits are in the hedgerows and Starlings chatter from the rooftops and Jackdaws peer down chimney pots.
Brampton Road crosses the dual carriageway of the busy A40, opened in 1985, via a modern bridge. To the east is a strip of woodland, a fields and beyond housing and industrial buildings, on the former site of Wallhouse Farm. To the west are houses from various decades of the 20th century. At a junction the Brampton Road swings east and a lane descends steeply. On the junction is a wood-clad bungalow with a decided 1930s look about it. At the foot of the hill large lakes run up the valley to both the east and west. A couple of Mallard can be made out through the mist. Past a large house called the Dingle. The lane rises to Netherton, meaning the Lower Farm. Brampton Lodge is a large Georgian house. It was once home of Revd Augustin Ley who with Revd William Purchas produced “A Flora of Herefordshire (2 Vols)”. Netherton farm appears to be mainly converted to residences. Bellamy’s is a large farm house once owned by a William Bellamy.
A track, part of the Hereford Trail, crosses wide open fields. Mist obscures any distant views. The soil here is a rusty brown, Brownstones Formation – Sandstone, Micaceous, sedimentary bedrock formed approximately 393 to 419 million years ago in the Devonian Period. Fieldfares fly off from the field. A good number of Blackbirds remain feeding. The track comes to the churchyard of St Michael’s in Brampton Abbott.
Brampton, called Bruntune in Domesday was given to Abbot Peter of Gloucester. Just inside the churchyard is an Art Deco stone coffin rest, by W D Caroe in memory of David Cooper dated 1931. The church is built of red sandstone with a wood shingles bellcote. It has a 12th century nave and chancel with 14th and 16th century alterations; west wall was repaired in 1686. It was restored in 1848 and 1857, the latter by Bodley and again during 1907/08 by Caroe, when bell turret largely rebuilt, north vestry added and south porch rebuilt. Frost white spiders’ webs span the gaps between gravestones. A tall late 19th century cross is mounted on a 14th century. The cross is surrounded by by nineteen 19th and 20th century chest tombs. The church is no longer regularly used and sadly locked. The lych gate is also by Caroe, dated 1931. Beyond the church is the former Public Elementary School of 1857.
The Hereford Trail crosses a pasture of sheep. Starlings sit on electricity wires. To the west is the former rectory. The original rectory was built by Revd Edward Stedman in the late 17th century. It was rebuilt around 1800 by Revd Robert Strong. A Common Buzzard lands in an old apple tree covered in Mistletoe causing great annoyance to a pair of Magpies. A pond in the pasture has little water in it. The path leaves the pasture and enters a road, on one side an extended cottage and opposite a number of brand new houses.
Past more 20th century housing and over a stile into a rough pasture of Dock and grasses all sparkling white with frost. Linnets fly up and off. Over another slippery stile and out into a huge prairie of a field where are Jackdaws, Carrion Crows and Black-headed Gulls fly around. Fieldfares fly out of a lone tree in a bank crossing the field. Beyond is a field of sprouting oilseed rape. Three Red-legged Partridge fly off. A triangle of woodland, seemingly once a pond, stands in the middle of the fields. The mist is thicker here and little can be seen. The cold nips at fingers and face. Out of the fields beside two large barns at the Hill of Eaton. This site has been suggested as a possible site of Eaton Tregoz Castle. It is also the suggested site of an Iron Age promontory fort and marked as such on a series of maps, but there is no evidence of any fort on the ground. The trail heads north east but my route takes a lane heading north.
A Carrion Crow calls from the ghostly outline of two trees. There is a deep dry valley below the line leading to a strip of trees. The lane descends steeply down Slade Pitch, past banks where are the layers of sedimentary rock are exposed. Past the much enlarged large Orchard Cottage, once called Slade Cottages, where the lane briefly joins the Wye Valley Trail. Seventeen Mute Swans are feeding in a field. The lane continues eastwards but I cross the River Wye via Foy footbridge. The river is wide here. The bridge was built in 1919 by David Rowell & Co. Unused stanchions suggest it replaced an older bridge. A few Mallard are motionless on the edges. Across a field is the tiny hamlet of Brick End. A footpath follows the river downstream. A rusting kissing gate stands useless as the hedge through which it passed has been grubbed out completely. Two Mute Swans progress regally upstream. Across the field is the garden wall of Carthage, an 18th century farmhouse, altered in the mid to late 19th century. The house was originally called The Hom or Homme, but its name was changed to Carthage in the second half of the 18th century.
The footpath leaves the river and crosses a field to the church of St Mary. Another abandoned rusting kissing gate stands several yards away from the present path. Foy is a parish in the union of Ross, partly in the hundred of Greytree, but chiefly in the Upper division of the hundred of Wormelow, A collection of Bronze Age axes suggests there was settlement here. It was part of Mercia and records from 866 mention the establishment of a monastery at Foy (Lann Timoi). Mailseru of Lann Timoi together with Concum, priest of Lann Suluc (Sellack) were witnesses of a gift of land to Bishop Nudd from Abraham. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, Bishop Herewald of Llandaff appointed Joseph son of Brein to the church here – Lanntiuoi. The hypocoristic ti was placed in front of the name of the saint here, Moi, to give the name Timoi. The ti has been lost and the name changed to Foi or Foy. In the early 15th century the Abrahall family appear as lords of the manor, their principal residence being at Ingestone, located at the tip of the Welsh Foy peninsula. Nine members of that family notably held the benefice successively (with only two interruptions) from 1642 until 1937, under the names of Abrahall, Jones, Aubrey and Wilton.
Into the churchyard. On a terrace on the south side of the church are a group of 18th century chest tombs and the remains of a well worn font and picina which it is reported came from an older church on the site. Opposite the south door porch is a sundial overlooking the Wye valley. It is 17thcentury and restored in the 20th. It has a metal sundial with inscription “Thomas Wright Fecit”. The church has a 13th century nave and chancel, a 14th century west tower and south porch. The east wall of chancel was rebuilt in 1673. It was restored in 1854 and 1863. The font is 14th century and the stalls in the chancel. A small 13th century defaced effigy lies in the nave altar recess. There are numerous monuments to the Abrahall family including the Abrahall memorial tablet of 1736 by Esau Osborn of Bristol, with the Abrahall arms commemorating John Abrahall of Ingeston, died 1702, Markey Abrahall 1715, John Abrahall 1734 and erected by Benedicta Abrahall (died 1742) in memory of the latter John Abrahall. There are two fine chairs in the sanctuary. The tower houses six bells and a sanctus. The sanctus was cast in the mid 17th century by John Finch of Hereford. William Evans of Chepstow cast all the other bells in 1738 with the exception of the tenor that was cast in 1765. The treble was later recast in London in 1882. The old roof line can be seen on tower. The base of a 15th century preaching cross is on edge of churchyard overlooking the garden of the former rectory. The late 18th century rectory, now called Foy Court seems unusually close to the church.
Back across to the river to the sound of cackling Canada Geese. Back over Foy Bridge and Orchard Cottage onto the Wye Valley Trail. The path runs along the edge of the floodplain under a hillside of conifers. A covey of partridges fly out of the wood and across the fields. Out of the wood and onto a long sheep pasture. Through a quagmire which fortunately is partially frozen and over a stile into another long sheep pasture. Into Monks Grove. A Common Buzzard mews and a woodpecker drums. In the grove there is the constant pitter-patter of melting frost. Along the side of a field. An abandoned quarry is overgrown inside the grove. Gunfire comes from over the hill and several fleeing partridge fly over and across the field. Beaters are up on the hillside and the guns are far too close for comfort I press on and pass them. The trail passes a large loop in the River Wye opposite Backney Common. A sheep that was lost in the field of gunfire has now moved into the same field I am proceeding along but still looks lost. A flock is in a field across a strip of rough ground but unfortunately there is an electric fence between the two fields. There is finally a gap and after I have passed the sheep heads for it. However, the flock are clearly a different breed to this one, so who knows what is going to happen.
The path reaches a former railway embankment. This was the GWR Hereford, Ross and Gloucester line, opening in 1853 and closing in 1965. A small stone arched passageway leads under the railway embankment, too small for human access and now blocked anyway. Up into the trackbed and down the track. The trees here are all less than 60 years old, so they have all grown since the line was closed. A large flock of Redwings rise from a fallow field. The route of the railway disappears into a large field called Blackfields. The trail comes down to the river and follows it around towards the town. The trail is muddy and extremely slippery. It crosses a stream which is lined with old willows. A path heads for Greytree housing estate. It is not official footpath but clearly well-used passing Ross rugby club. Because also very slippery putting pressure on tiring legs.
A road climbs pass the imaginatively named Sixth to First Avenues. The houses span the 20th century although a short terrace is older. The estate ends at Brompton Road. Back over the A40 and down to the car to the call of a Great Tit. Route
Saturday – Leominster – The annual Wassail. A decent crowd gathers in Corn Square and after a delay whilst the Jenny Pipes Morris await their musician, we set off across The Grange and on to the Millennium Orchard. There a tribute to the cider apple trees is read out, cider poured onto a tree’s roots and toast hung in the branches to attract Robins that guard the trees. The ceremony is rounded off with a sip of cider and a piece of apple cake.
Sunday – Leominster – The weather got warmer overnight and it rained. Pink clouds clear away to the east. The air is saturated so condensation pours out of central heating outlets. It is still cold enough the patches of ice to form on the footbridge over the railway. No birdsong rings out just the chattering of Blue Tits, the chacking of Jackdaws and the alarm calls of a Blackbird. Mist rises down the Lugg valley. The water level in the river has fallen a little. An angler climbs down the bank into the river and flicks his lure across and drifts it down under the opposite bank.
Round to Pinsley Mill. Great and Blue Tits and Dunnocks are in the trees across the railway all chattering and looking this way and that, presumably to check out rivals and see if anyone has found food. Cormorants fly upstream. Into the orchard nine Blackbirds feed on the Dabinett apples. Yesterday’s toast has all disappeared but I suspect Blackbirds and Jackdaws rather than Robins have taken it. A Robin sings in the Peace Garden. The River Kenwater flows steadily and quietly.
Into the churchyard. Fresh molehills have appeared and rabbits have been digging. The shoots of Snowdrops are pushing through the soil. The Minster bells ring out. Into Church Street. A yelping Lesser Black-backed Gull flies over. The sun is now blazing, lighting up the upper storeys of buildings facing south. There is, for some reason, a lot of police activity.
Monday – Tenbury Wells – The temperature overnight falls below zero and the frost returns. Oldwood Common is pale green but in bright sunshine. Just a couple of the houses around the common have any age. On the edge of the hamlet of Oldwood a bridleway heads east. Past couple of early 20th century houses then between hedgerows where Robins sing and Blue Tits chatter. A pair of Dunnocks fly along the hedge, a Great Tit calls tzip, tzip and flies off to trees across a field. Through a large gate and passed Spring Grove, a sizeable late Georgian farmhouse although all the outbuildings look abandoned. Through another gate and on across a field.
The bridleway crosses a footpath. Across a long very narrow field. Then across more fields. The churned up deep mud at each gate is fortunately still frozen enough to enable crossing without getting wet feet. Onto another bridleway which crosses this one beside a 20th century house probably built for farm workers. This bridleway is Terrills Lane. Over the field is Terrills farm. My route heads away from the farm down the lane. Passed a modern bungalow which has a large array of solar panels in the garden. The bridleway comes to a junction with Saltbox Lane and becomes a tarmac road itself.
Ahead across the valley is Kyrewood House with two large hopkilns with grey metal ventilators on top. Beyond is the long slope leading up to the top of Titterstone Clee. Across a field between here and Kyrewood is a large late Georgian or early Victorian house, Newcourt. Between this house and Splash Bridge is an area once called The Bolands. Late 20th century bungalows have been built down the lane now in an area called The Briary. One on on a piece of higher ground set back from the road is called Good Shelter and is much older than the rest. A brickworks stood around here. Terrills Lane terminates at Bromyard Road. Modern housing surrounds the junction with the exception of one large late Victorian house, Cross in Hands.
The road heads in towards Tenbury Wells. One side housing is early to mid 20th century, on the other late 20th century. The former have long gardens stretching up the hill, the latter virtually no garden at all. The modern houses are interrupted by a row of 1930s semis. Past a garage and Co-op. There are now several very large Victorian houses one with a Wellingtonia in the garden. These continue steadily getting higher above the road. More House is an extraordinary looking, almost ecclesiastical, building. It is the former National School of 1855 by James Cranston, extended in 1892 by JT Meredith, and again in the 20th century, built in the Gothic Revival style. Opposite is the modern primary school.
Bromyard Road ends at Oldwood Road which is the route back to Leominster. On one side of the junction is a timber framed cottage, Mount Lodge or Cottage. It was originally the lodge to the house called The Mount, and possibly once served as a tollhouse. On the other side is a former farmhouse, built in the early 17th century and sold with adjoining land in 1687 by Thomas Sabery to Pembroke College, Oxford, receipts from the property being used for the benefit of the fellows. It became a cider house selling particularly potent rough cider made in Tenbury. In the 1930s its preference switched to beer. Up the road back to Oldwood. The road climbs path large modern housing developments, more still under construction. Past Tenbury High which is of course an academy not a school any longer. The road enters St Michaels of which Oldwood is a part. This area is known as Callows Grave. Callow was a great hunter of myth. A short distance up the road is the Fountain Inn. The building was a 17th century farmhouse and orchard which became a beer or cider house in 1855 and was originally known as The Hippodrome meaning race track after the horse racing which took place on Oldwood Common. It is said that the pub has the ghost of Mr Thombs who died while saving his two dogs from a fire in the pub in 1958. Next to the pub is a short terrace of Victorian cottages with an unsightly extension on the end. More modern housing leads back to Oldwood Common. A small flock of Linnets is feeding in the grass. Route
Down to the tree nursery at Upper Berrington where I buy an apple sapling – Jumbo – to replace the Worcester Pearmain that died. It is a Red Charles Ross x Tetraploid Jonathan cross.
Friday – Broseley-Ironbridge – From a modern housing estate on the south east edge of Broseley into Coalport Road, and towards town centre. Sky is grey and it is cold. Past a primary school, a vets and a modernist 60s building which is the telephone exchange. The road comes to a junction. Opposite is Church Street, heading north is Ironbridge Road. The history of the town was recorded when we visited in June 2017.
On the junction is the Lady Forester Centre it was formerly the Forester Cottage Hospital established when Dowager Lady Mary Anne Forester died in 1893 leaving over £250,000 to charity. The hospital opened in 1907 designed by Edward Blakeway i’Anson and built by Milliken & Co of Wolverhampton. During the First World War it was known as the Lady Forester Auxiliary Hospital. It closed in 1989 and has reopened as a centre for elderly residents. On the opposite corner is the Foresters Arms, dating from 1859. On the third corner, the fourth being modern, is a very large Edwardian house called The Deanery.
Church Street continues towards the town centre. Past All Saints church and Broseley Hall. Bells ring the hour. I follow the same route we took back in 2017 to the High Street. Through the town centre into Barber Street. Houses here around the modern or extensively modernised older properties. On the junction of Duke Street, Barbers Street and Fox Lane is a much extended large house which seems to have been the Lord Hill public house. Next to it is Sparrow Hall. The dwellings continue to range from the late 18th century through to the 20th. On the junction of Fox Lane and Cockshutt (formerly Cockshot) Lane is the modern Methodist church.
A path leads up onto the large wooded hillock of Cockshutt mound, a large coal mine waste heap. The mine was to the east of the mound that is now park. The air is alive with birdsong, mainly Robins. Just a few trees on the edge of the mound are more than 50 years old. Back down to the lane then off through an industrial estate, on Wilkinson Avenue. The large industrial building to the north stands on a number of pit shafts and part of Fishhouse Mound. The track meets the gates of two large houses one stated to be on the site of Fish House farm, although there is no sign of a farm on the old maps, just collieries. Footpath continues past the wooded Stocking Mound to one side and Barnets Leasow Mound to the other. Blue and Great Tits chatter in the woods. Green, cream and purple variegated leaves line the path, possibly Sage. A large hairy cat stares at me from the fencing around the mound.
The path joins Balls Lane. It crosses the lane but the map shows that it does not continue into Lady Wood (as it did once) but returns to Ball Lane to the west. So I take Balls Lane eastwards. A Common Buzzard alights momentarily on a fence posts and flies back off across the fields. Jays are screeching in the woods. The lane runs around the side of a steep valley carved by a small stream flowing towards Jackfield. The lane drops steadily. A ruined glasshouse stands below a steep slope with a rusting chimney sticking out of the top. Balls Lane joins the B4373 at Coalford. A badly water-damaged path descends to a footbridge which crosses the former railway line now the Severn Way footpath. The Severn Valley line was opened on 1st February 1862 by the West Midland Railway which was absorbed into the Great Western Railway (GWR) on 1st August 1863. It was closed one hundred years later in 1963.
On down the hill to Jackfield Free Bridge. This bridge was built in the 1990s, by Alfred McAlpine, to replace the original free bridge or Haynes Memorial Bridge, the first toll-free crossing of the gorge. That bridge was built in 1909 by the Liverpool company, Hennebique to an open spandrel art design by LG Mouchel and Partners. A piece of the original concrete stanchion has been preserved. Over the bridge, three Goosander fly upstream. On to Waterloo Street. The Robin Hood pub has some age. The Bird In Hand pub dated 1774 is closed and seems to be being converted into a residence. The remains of iron furnaces are along the road. Bedlam furnaces originally built by the Madeley Wood Furnace Company between 1757 and 1759 they were the among the first to be specifically designed to use coke instead of charcoal. One of the most iconic images of the Industrial Revolution: “Coalbrookdale by Night” by Philip James de Loutherbourg, painted in 1801 shows a night sky lit by flames pouring out of Bedlam furnaces. They ceased operation in 1843. A large canopy has been constructed over the site to protect it.
On along the road past a pair of cottages from the 18th century, one a few years older than the other. Modern housing lines the road now. A marble water fountain stands high above a car park erected in 1862 to the memory of the Revd John Bartlett. In getting up the steps to the fountain I trip and re-tear my calf muscle which makes further progress slow. Further up the slope the steps reach the Madeley Road. Opposite is a terraced Victorian houses and the Parochial Infant school of 1851. It is now the parish rooms.
Up Church Hill passing the former forge. St Luke’s Church was completed in 1837, designed by Thomas Smith of Madeley and built by Samuel Smith & Son of Madeley Wood. The building has a tower, nave, side aisles and a small sanctuary. The three dial clock was placed there by public subscription the 1838 and made by W Davies of Shifnal. Unusually, the sanctuary is at the west end and the tower at the east because the land at the west end was found to be unable to carry the weight of a tower. The churchyard directly overlooks Abraham Darby’s Ironbridge. The building is locked.
A narrow lane leads to a series of ginnels that cross the hillside back down to the High Street. Houses seem crammed in across the slope. Over the Ironbridge and up the road through Benthall Edge Wood. Bridge House is an early 19th century three storey building with a basement overlooking the south end of the bridge. Nearby is a mid 19th century Station Masters’ house and Station Hotel. The road climbs the hill past Mill Cottages. A brick mill, built in the late 18th century and dismantled in 1935, stands in ruins beneath a very steep section of hill which has been cut into narrow terraces held by low stone walls to prevent collapse. Water from Benthall Brook is heard pouring down somewhere, but cannot be seen.
The lane enters Benthall. Housing here is modern. Up a narrow lane, Quarry Road, that turns into a footpath. A signs point to Gittings Jitty and Carters Jitty, narrow passages. The word “Jitty” is derived from Low German twiete (alley), historic usage in Sussex as twitten. The Jitties were home to the miners and labourers but by 1831 the coal had run out and the Jitties, “contained the parishes’ filthiest and most dilapidated houses”. The path becomes Quarry Road again. Past the old Post Office and a sign pointing to Jews Jitty. Next are Balls Jitty and Ferny Bank. Finally at Lloyds Jitty, Quarry Road reaches the top of the hill and enters King Street.
Kings Head House suggest a former pub, confirmed by the old OS map. The former Broseley Wood Infants School, built in 1891, stands at the top of Legges Hill, now home to the Army Cadets. Elizabeth Crescent leads into a former council estate. A Georgian house has a coach house attached with haylofts. Next to it is an even larger Georgian house also with the stable. A short row of shops have all been converted into residences. Into Duke Street. A building between King Street and Duke Street was built in the late 18th century as a cotton manufactory and by 1840 was a house offices and warehouse. It was converted into a pipe factory by Roland Smitheman. It was the last clay pipe factory in Broseley and closed in the late 1950s. It is now now Broseley Pipeworks Museum. Short distance on a stone plaque in a wall depicts a hanging tree, a mere or boundary tree used to designate ownership of land of the useful in terms of dispute. A badly worn inscription says “The tree has gone but here a stone”.
Past Broseley tennis club. Queen Street runs between Duke Street and King Street and has a fine collection of older buildings. Hurstlea is dated 1709, the Cumberland Hotel of a similar date is closed. King Street becomes Cape Street. On the junction is the Burnt House, a Georgian property that was partially destroyed by fire in June 1863. It was used as a social club by the Liberal and Labour parties in the early 20th century. Cape Street enters the junction of High Street and Barratt’s Hill. Opposite are a range of fine Georgian properties. Back down the High Street and back to the car. By the time I reach home, my calf has swollen up like a balloon! Route
Thursday – Home – A Robin clearly thinks it is well time to establish and hold his territory. He is singing dawn to dusk and beyond, preferring an extended branch on the old pear tree or a short distance away on the Ash. All over the garden, the tips of the green shoots of snowdrops are turning white. Plenty of other plants are pushing through green shoots, especially the daffodils. My garlic also has fine strong shoots. Jackdaws sit in pairs in the Ash. A Magpie flies out of the garden. A Blackbird is in panic in the fruit cage, despite the door being wide open. We encourage the birds in during the winter to find any invertebrates in the fruit bushes. The fruit trees need pruning but that is beyond me at present.
I have no idea how long I am going to be stuck at home. My leg is badly swollen and turning yellow with a large purple patch behind the knee. I can barely walk. A doctor has looked at it and merely commented the muscle is torn and recovery is going to take a long time.
Sunday – Home – Storm Malik, named by the Danish Meteorological Service, has wreaked havoc on the east coast of Scotland but exhausted itself by the time it reached here. Now Storm Corrie is moving in from the other side of the country, moving down from Iceland. Here is is a bright day with a lot of high cloud, not cold enough for too much frost. It is the RSPB Garden Bird watch.
Three Goldfinches and several Blue Tits are at the top of the Ash tree, seemingly bathing in the sun. I settle in the summerhouse. A Blue Tit visits every opening in the seed feeder but but does not seem to find what it is looking for. The bird count is slow but a few species. A Song Thrush slips quietly through the bushes and down into the ferns and ground plants. Blackbirds are kicking leaf litter everywhere and three Dunnock are also in the leaf litter. Jackdaws are chacking all around and several Carrion Crows and a good number of Wood Pigeons fly over. Eighteen Jackdaws fly up into the Ash tree along with a single Magpie. There seem to be only three Blue Tits and possibly just a single Great Tit. Counting is always difficult when birds are dashing in and out of view – are they the same bird or not? A couple of cock House Sparrows turn up and then move on followed by a couple of hens. A wary pair of birds are hard to see, often silhouetted in the trees. Finally a good enough view identifies a pair of female Linnets.
After an hour, I am well chilled and my list is rather sparse, so I hobble back into the house to get warm again.
Monday – Home – The wind howls through the darkness and Storm Corrie moves through. By morning its centre is moving towards Germany. Clouds still pass over heading north to south in quick succession.
The Robin is singing just the other side of the garden wall in one of the saplings. Snowdrops are flowering in the lawn and will soon be out all over the garden. They have many names, including Candlemas Bells and Fair Maids of February. John Keats called them, “A hope beyond the shadow of a dream.”
Sparrows keep up a constant conversation in the bushes by the station car park. A Song Thrush sings its repeated phrases tentatively.
emergency number stated on the gate which turns out to be Herefordshire council who simply say they will pass it on.
Ducks are at the west end of the lake. Mallard are scattered around. A Goldeneye is on the southern edge of the lake. Skeins of Canada Geese fly in. The sun blazes off the water making it difficult to see much of the southern and eastern 
sides of the lake. The noise level increases considerably as several large skeins of Canada Geese fly in. The water level in the lake has risen and the scrape has almost completely disappeared. A single Cormorant appears at the western end. Six Wigeon are asleep in the southern side. Two trains race past each other at the old Dinmore station. A Moorhen swims out of the reed bed. Surprisingly, the Canada Geese fall silent. The sun finally melts the frost on the hide roof and a thin stream of water falls in front of me. Of course, the silence from the Canada Geese does not last long.
the old church. The mid 19th century font and pulpit have painted designs. Across from the pulpit is a readers desk with a rose and Thistle decoration. The church has a cruciform layout in the Early English Decorated Style with south transept filled with an 1882 pipe organ by Eustace Ingram of London. The chancel is hexagonal with some good Victorian glass work. On the south side of the nave are two windows which contain a collection of 16th century stained glass round windows from the Netherlands which are understood to include scenes from the story of Sorgheloos, a late-medieval Dutch morality tale. At the rear of the church is a bell which hung in the Old Church until 1939 with the inscription Missi de Celis Habeo Nomen Gabrielis – “From Gabriel I take my name who messenger from heaven came”. There is also a 17th century font and a carved wooden chest of the same age. In the churchyard is the grave of the Revd Aubrey Baskerville Mynors, son of the Revd Walter Baskerville Mynors. A primrose is flowering on the grave. The village hall, formerly the school, stands next to to the church, a building of a similar age. Opposite is a lane leading to the typically large former rectory.
stand on the main road through the village. The building is roofless. The chancel and nave of St John’s were built in the 13th century. The church was owned by the monastery of Llanthony. Later alterations included rebuilding of the south aisle and a cross being built in the churchyard during the 14th century. A tower and columbarium and a lynch gate were added during the 15th century. The porch and doorway were built in the 17th century. Around frame of south door is a worn head on a plinth and some worn words now illegible apart from crossed bones. A couple of monuments remain on the walls, one completely eroded away but the other from 1608, contains four armorials. In the chancel is is the tomb of Watson Joseph Thornton the rector of Llanwarne, who died in 1855. The tower is still in reasonable condition. The Gamber flows along the southern boundary of the churchyard.
gentle hill. The lane enters Pencoyd, the name deriving from the Celtic penn with coid, meaning “wood’s end”. Behind a tall hedge is the 17th century Old Manor House. Around the corner, on a junction, is the church of St Denys. The Llandaff Charters records “a tellus called Cil Hal (believed to be Pencoyd) was granted to Dyfrig by King Erb”. The later dedication was to St Denys, a 3rd century Italian who was the first bishop of Paris. The present church dates from the 14th century but was in a “forlorn and neglected state” according to Glynne in 1861. It was restored and the chancel rebuilt in 1877-8 by Thomas Nicholson. It was a very plain rebuild, Pevsner calls the church “uninteresting”. The font is 13th century having a plain cylindrical bowl and stem on a late 19th base. The benefactors board mostly worn away. The tower holds three bells.
be Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John and in north, a bishop. A good number of 18th and 19th century chest tombs are in the graveyard, many in poor condition. Likewise many headstones are too eroded to be legible and often falling over. In a dingle below the churchyard is a holy well dedicated to St Dubricius. The well has two lips, one for humans and another for animals. The present church was built circa 1300, with late 14th and 15th century additions and restored by J P Seddon in 1853. The chancel has painted wall decoration devised by Seddon, with foliated designs around windows, ashlar lining in terracotta colour, to the left of east window a genealogical tree from Adam to Abraham. The east window has 
stained glass thought to have been inserted by Richard of Rotherham, Chancellor of the Dioceses, in the 15th century. The hand pumped organ in the chancel by J W Walker was installed in 1869. The octagonal font is perpendicular carved with a man and women’s heads. The pulpit is 17th century and a Jacobean chair sits by the altar. There is a simple 19th century screen. In a bequest by Lady Lucas Scudamore in 1570, cakes (small buns) and cider are given to the poor of the parish each year on Palm Sunday. This bequest, known as Pax Cakes, is made available to those who live in the parishes of Hentland, Kings Caple, and Sellack, and handed out as they leave the church after service.
18th century with a late 19th century addition at the rear. On the southern side of the junction is a similarly aged barn and cow shed.
plastic-wrapped bale of hay and is unwrapping it to put in a hay ring. On the edge of the village the road heads down to the river. A mill race ran down the west side of the road. Many of the dwellings here are modern. A Great Spotted Woodpecker calls from a tree. The pub, the Crown Inn, has some age, large iron crosses on the wall hold rods that run through to the back walls of the building to stop the walls bowing. On the edge of the 
village is a set of stone buildings, the early 18th century former mill and nearby miller’s house. The land to the north of the mill and west of the house was the mill pool but is now a field.
remain feeding. The track comes to the churchyard of St Michael’s in Brampton Abbott.
stands in the middle of the fields. The mist is thicker here and little can be seen. The cold nips at fingers and face. Out of the fields beside two large barns at the Hill of Eaton. This site has been suggested as a possible site of Eaton Tregoz Castle. It is also the suggested site of an Iron Age promontory fort and marked as such on a series of maps, but there is no evidence of any fort on the ground. The trail heads north east but my route takes a lane heading north.
tiny hamlet of Brick End. A footpath follows the river downstream. A rusting kissing gate stands useless as the hedge through which it passed has been grubbed out completely. Two Mute Swans progress regally upstream. Across the field is the garden wall of Carthage, an 18th century farmhouse, altered in the mid to late 19th century. The house was originally called The Hom or Homme, but its name was changed to Carthage in the second half of the 18th century.
the saint here, Moi, to give the name Timoi. The ti has been lost and the name changed to Foi or Foy. In the early 15th century the Abrahall family appear as lords of the manor, their principal residence being at Ingestone, located at the tip of the Welsh Foy peninsula. Nine members of that family notably held the benefice successively (with only two interruptions) from 1642 until 1937, under the names of Abrahall, Jones, Aubrey and Wilton.
century and restored in the 20th. It has a metal sundial with inscription “Thomas Wright Fecit”. The church has a 13th century nave and chancel, a 14th century west tower and south porch. The east wall of chancel was rebuilt in 1673. It was restored in 1854 and 1863. The font is 14th century and the stalls in the chancel. A small 13th century defaced effigy lies in the nave altar recess. There are numerous monuments to the Abrahall family including the Abrahall memorial tablet of 1736 by Esau Osborn of Bristol, with the Abrahall arms commemorating John Abrahall of Ingeston, died 1702, Markey Abrahall 1715, John Abrahall 1734 and erected by Benedicta Abrahall (died 1742) in memory of the latter John Abrahall. There are two fine chairs in the sanctuary. The tower houses six bells and a sanctus. The sanctus was cast in the mid 17th century by John Finch of Hereford. William Evans of Chepstow cast all the other bells in 1738 with the exception of the tenor that was cast in 1765. The treble was later recast in London in 1882. The old roof line can be seen on tower. The base of a 15th century preaching cross is on edge of churchyard overlooking the garden of the former rectory. The late 18th century rectory, now called Foy Court seems unusually close to the church.
ends at Brompton Road. Back over the A40 and down to the car to the call of a Great Tit. 
water level in the river has fallen a little. An angler climbs down the bank into the river and flicks his lure across and drifts it down under the opposite bank.
with birdsong, mainly Robins. Just a few trees on the edge of the mound are more than 50 years old. Back down to the lane then off through an industrial estate, on Wilkinson Avenue. The large industrial building to the north stands on a number of pit shafts and part of Fishhouse Mound. The track meets the gates of two large houses one stated to be on the site of Fish House farm, although there is no sign of a farm on the old maps, just collieries. Footpath continues past the wooded Stocking Mound to one side and Barnets Leasow Mound to the other. Blue and Great Tits chatter in the woods. Green, cream and purple variegated leaves line the path, possibly Sage. A large hairy cat stares at me from the fencing around the mound.
Great Western Railway (GWR) on 1st August 1863. It was closed one hundred years later in 1963.
concrete stanchion has been preserved. Over the bridge, three Goosander fly upstream. On to Waterloo Street. The Robin Hood pub has some age. The Bird In Hand pub dated 1774 is closed and seems to be being converted into a residence. The remains of iron furnaces are along the road. Bedlam furnaces originally built by the Madeley Wood Furnace Company between 1757 and 1759 they were the among the first to be specifically designed to use coke instead of charcoal. One of the most iconic images of the Industrial Revolution: “Coalbrookdale by Night” by Philip James de Loutherbourg, painted in 1801 shows a night sky lit by flames pouring out of Bedlam furnaces. They ceased operation in 1843. A large canopy has been constructed over the site to protect it.
the hill and enters King Street.