Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – Rain fell in the night but only dampened the soil. Heavy clouds still move across the sky but the sun has broken through. Down the track where Dog and Field Roses and Elder are coming into flower but the May blossom has finished. Tendrils of Old Man’s Beard reach out into the air trying to find purchase on another plant. Wayfaring Trees are about to blossom. Rosebay Willowherb, thistles and Teasels are all growing fast, already over three feet tall. A Coot stalks one of the small islands, on another a pair of Mute Swans with their cygnets partially hidden in the grass and on a third are several Mallard. Nearby Blackcap and Chiffchaff are calling. A Cormorant is on another island.
Round towards the meadow. A Kingfisher flashes across the corner of the lake. In the meadow the Common Spotted Orchids are coming into flower. A Song Thrush and a Rabbit retreat to the trees. A Common Blue Damselfly rests on a buttercup stem. More orchids are growing out in the centre of the meadow. A Dunnock sings from the electricity wires.
Into the hide. A Mute Swan is asleep on the scrape. A Moorhen and two chicks are feeding nearby, a third is across on a different part of the scrape. Three Mute Swans are on the shingle bar near the big island whilst fourteen more are in front of the southern hide with a few Greylags. Small groups of Canada Geese move slowly across various parts of the water. A Great Crested Grebe is with the Mute Swans at the end of the shingle bar. Several more Coot are on the water. A Reed Warbler is singing some way away. A Common Buzzard sits in a dead sapling near the Osprey platform. Yet again there is not a single hirundine, Swallows and Martins, in the sky. A single drake Tufted Duck appears. The Reed Warbler has moved to the bed at the bottom of the slope in front of the hide. A Dunnock sings from the undergrowth nearby.
Back to the meadow. A few bees are visiting the Red Clover and Field Buttercups but all too few. A Beautiful Demoiselle rests in a Blackthorn bush. A good number of Common Blue Damselflies move through the grass. A piping Pied Wagtail flies through the cider orchard. The pond in the dessert apple orchard, constructed several years ago at a probably not inconsiderable expense, is now completely dry.
Thursday – Kempley Green – A bright, sunny morning. We visit the old St Mary’s church at Kempley. As mentioned before, the village of Kempley moved slowly to higher ground at Kempley Green. St Mary’s became redundant and a new church, St Edward the Confessor, was built in 1904. It is beautiful and peaceful here. We move on to Kempley Green. The church is a wonderful example of the Arts and Crafts style, described by John Betjeman as “a mini-cathedral of the Arts and Crafts movement”. It was commissioned by the 7th Lord Beauchamp. The foundations were laid in 1902 and in 1903 Randall Wells, clerk of works at Brockhampton, was called in and the church was built by direct labour under his supervision. The walls of the church and the lychgate are in red sandstone from the Blakeney Quarry in the Forest of Dean. Originally the church and the lychgate were both roofed in local stone tiles but the church has had to be re-roofed with pantiles. The church has three sculpted stone reliefs designed by Randall Wells, above the entrance, Christ by Wells. Within the porch, Virgin and Child, and on the East wall, the Crucifixion, both by Walter James, a local carpenter. The west window is a diamond lattice, the leaded lights made by W Smith of London using Old Dutch glass. The rood was carved by David Gibb (the last ship’s figureheads carver in London) features carved, painted figures of Christ, St John and St Mary. The semi-octagonal pulpit reuses Jacobean panels. The ironwork is by George Smallman, the local blacksmith. The altar has a canopy. The lectern and candle-holders are wood with metal inset decoration, designed by Glimson and Ernest Barnsley and made by Peter van der Waals. The Lady Chapel is plain with friezes by Glimson and Barnsley.
Newent – We travel on to Newent and wander around the lake. A leftover from the fish ponds of medieval monks, it became part of the former Newent Court which was built around 1810 and used to occupy the land on the rise to the north of the lake. The last resident of the large manor house was Colonel Parkinson who employed a number of house staff plus four gardeners to maintain the estate. A major fire destroyed a large portion of the original building in 1942, leaving only a few smaller buildings, which were used by Ribston Hall School. The house was eventually demolished and the land developed for housing. Being a bank holiday for the Platinum Jubilee, the town is quiet.
Friday – Leominster-Ludlow – The sky is a mixture of cloud and blue. Through the town. The market is setting up, the butcher is laying out his window but there are a few people around. Down Broad Street and into Bridge Street. The antique shop at the foot of the Ludlow Road has put out a “God Bless Our King” King George VI banner. House Martins are flying around the street looking at the eaves of a row of Victorian cottages.
Over New Lugg Bridge. The brook from Cheese Bridge and Croward’s Mill joins the Lugg here. New Bridge, over the brook, is anything but new. A potato transport lorry from Scarborough heads into Broad Farm; another from the same company is already being loaded. McCain’s chips has a large factory near Scarborough that is most certainly where these potatoes are heading. It seems somewhat ironic that potatoes from here go to the east coast of Yorkshire to be brought back as frozen chips for sale in the local supermarkets. The wood chipping plant already working. Three Partridge take off from the entrance and fly out into a field of cereal. There are fresh holes on a dead tree by Spittal Bridge. A young great Spotted Woodpecker sticks its head out, a few minutes later the female adult arrives with food. A flock of Long-tailed Tits fly out of the trees.
Through The Broad and into Croft Lane. A Yellowhammer calls across the fields. A young Carrion Crow is on the road and struggles to get airborne to lift itself over the hedge. The travellers site seems to be empty. The lane climbs steadily and tops out beside a field above which Skylarks sing. Past the mature orchard and the farm house of Lydiatts Farm. Cleavers have climbed a hedgerow reaching near eight feet tall. The sun is now beating down and it is getting warm. Over the crossroads at Pool Cottage. A White-tailed Bee is visiting Red Campion flowers.
All along the lane are large Oak trees many with old broken branches. Farm buildings have been abandoned, built by F H Dale and Mifflin, both of Leominster. A singing Whitethroat flies up into Hawthorn. A number of houses are dotted around the lane, some modern, others older. A female Beautiful Demoiselle flits up the bank. The lane rises to Barrs Croft then drops down to the crossroads at Bicton. Right towards Yarpole. A Goldfinch watches from telephone wires. A Red Kite circles over fields to the north before being harassed by a Carrion Crow.
A new housing development is on the edge of the village. House Martins fly around a small pond. A canalised stream runs down the side of the road with bridges giving access to modern houses. The Wesleyan chapel was built in 1891 but is now a residence. Out of the village along the lane towards Bircher and then north along a narrow lane that starts opposite Pound House. An owl pellet with numerous black wing cases of small beetles lays on top of a gate. A field has neat rows of potatoes, green on red soil.
Across the Mortimer’s Cross Road and into Welshman’s Lane. A War Memorial stands on the junction. Young Starlings are on the telephone wires. The lane ends on Bircher Common. Round the bottom of the common. Foxgloves are in flower. Past the Old Chapel. The sun is now hot and a good number sheep are taking the advantage of the shadow cast by a large Horse Chestnut. Lambs drink from the pond. Views across the east of Herefordshire are hazy. A silent Cuckoo flies past. The common ends and a footpath heads north east to Leys Lane.
I chat to an old farmer at Woodend Farm on the end of the common. He bemoans that only one person runs sheep on the common, when he was first here there were fourteen, with grazers’ meetings regularly held. He comments that the year before last he bought fertiliser for £180 a bag, this year he was quoted nearly £1000! Across the fields and some pretty difficult stiles to a lane at Ashley Moor. Ashley Moor Hall was originally a three storey “gentleman’s residence”, which was partially destroyed by fire in the 1920’s, and rebuilt as a two storey house. A corrugated iron barn was erected by Alexander and Duncan Ltd of the Lion Works, Leominster. Through shady woodland past an old quarry. The lane continues towards Orleton Common. A short path cuts out of large u-bend in the road. Past the large Spout House. Another large house stands on the junction at Orleton Common. Through twists and turns and onto to the lane to The Goggin.
The lane climbs, not steeply but enough to make my tiring legs ache. In the distance is Titterstone Clee. Before that is the “new” church of All Saints at Richards Castle. The lane runs around High Cullis and climbs again. This lane joins another just after The Goggin. Up a steep rocky path then onto a level path towards Hanway Common. A cloud of Bluebottles rise from horse droppings. A Carrion Crow and a Red Kite joust. The crossing of Hanway Common is hard work, just slightly uphill the whole way through grass. Eventually the route enters the Mortimer Forest.
A lizard scurries into the long grass. A Dor Beetle freezes on the dry mud. The path finally reaches the top of Climbing Jack Common and starts to descend. The path joins the track down from High Vinnalls. Another path that would have cut off a corner has been lost in the clearing of trees and brush. The path crosses the Iron Age enclosure which is hidden under trees and bracken now. A Raven croaks overhead. Finally reach Black Pool car park and walk through Overton. A Grey Heron flying overhead. I have badly miscalculated the distance and have now passed the fourteen mile mark and am now grinding out every yard. Eventually, the road enters Ludgate and over the River Teme. The last climb is up the hill to the market square and into the Rose and Crown where Kay has been waiting nearly two hours for me. I am exhausted and it is clear I will never be able to undertake this walk again. Route
Sunday – Leominster – At last a decent amount of rain fell overnight. The air is still very damp this morning and there is a cool breeze. A Dunnock sings loudly from a television aerial. Jackdaws are flying around chacking noisily. A Wood Pigeon calls its imitation of a Cuckoo. A lone Swift glides over. A Lesser Black-backed Gull, one of the Baltic sub-species, yelps from a rooftop and is answered by another some distance away.
On to the railway bridge. A Song Thrush is still in full song down the track away. Another Dunnock is singing nearby. House Sparrows chatter around station buildings. Onto Butts Bridge. One of the resident Dippers is wading on the edge of the River Lugg. The water level has risen slightly. North alongside the river. A Carrion Crow flies off barking loudly. Bright pink Dog Roses brighten a dull green briar thicket. It has become difficult to see the confluence of the Rivers Kenwater and Lugg as the trees and undergrowth have thickened considerably over the last couple of years. Approaching Mill Street the air is scented by Elderflowers. Muddy brown water rushes down Cheaton Brook.
The wet weather has obviously dissuaded traders at the Sunday market and there are only half a dozen present. Back along Mill Street and into Paradise Walk. The River Kenwater is flowing slightly faster this week. Wrens sing loudly on either side of the river.
Monday – Bodenham Lake – More rain fell in the night. The morning is humid and grey. A Blackbird and Wren sing. Haws are appearing on the Hawthorns. Wayfaring Trees are now in blossom and there are large cream discs of Elderflower. Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallard are on the sailing lake. A Great Crested Grebe dives and another appears to be on a nest. The nesting bird lunges its head at a passing Carrion Crow, which is then chased further off by an Oystercatcher.
Into the hide. There are more than two dozen Mute Swans around the water. Reed Warbler is in song again in the reed bed at the bottom of the slope. A Coot swims across to the scrape. Several Greylags and a Cormorant are on the spit. A Common Buzzard is sitting on the Osprey platform camera. The Moorhen by the scrape is down to three chicks now. She chases the Coot off the scrape. Dunnocks are very active around this area. Numerous small water insects are creating arrow shaped bow-waves across the water. A piping Oystercatcher flies across the lake to the island in front of the southern hide, another joins it. Three tatty drake Mallard feed energetically in front of the scrape, they are clearly going into eclipse.
Back to the meadow. The first Meadow Brown butterfly I have seen this year is in the grasses. Unfortunately, it is pretty much the only insect around. A Goat Willow tree in the hedgerow has Mossy Willow Catkin Galls on its branches. The gall is an abnormally distorted catkin, and is probably caused by a virus or phytomplasma, but the precise causer has not yet been identified. Apples are appearing on the trees in the dessert orchard. A single Swallow flies over again the only one of the day.
Wednesday – Tetbury – A quintessential Cotswold’s town. It stands on high ground containing an Iron Age hill-fort, on which an Anglo Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. There is no access to the hill-fort. Close to it is the parish church of St Mary the Virgin and St Mary Magdalene. The building replaced a medieval church, which may have been on the site of a Saxon one, which was demolished in 1777. The new church was designed by Francis Hiorne and opened in 1781, built at a cost of £5,059 12s 0d. The 14th century tower and spire of the previous building was retained until it was rebuilt in 1891 by Waller using the same stones. It has a ring of eight bells most of which were cast in 1722 and all made by Rudhall of Gloucester. There are box pews which are accessed from a passageway around the church rather than the central aisle. Stained glass includes work by Clayton and Bell and William Wailes. Two large chandeliers dating from 1781 hang above the nave. Some remnants of medieval effigies from the original church in the north aisle passage. Numerous monuments are on the walls including those of the Saunders family of Upton Grove and the Paul family of Highgrove. The churchyard is full of fine chest tombs.
On up Church Street to the Market Place and Tetbury Market House, also known as Tetbury Town Hall, which was used both as a market house and as a town hall until the late 19th century. The building was commissioned by the local feoffees (meaning a trustee who holds a “fief”, an estate in land for the use of the beneficial owner) to replace a medieval market house: the new building was designed in the neoclassical style, built with a timber frame and a stucco finish and was completed in 1655. It has a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto the Market Place; arcaded on the ground floor, so that wool and yarn markets could be held, with an assembly room on the first floor. The majority of the shops are antique shops, tourist tat and small cafés. The buildings are superb, mainly Georgian rebuilds of 15th century ones. Down The Green to a bridge under which passes a stone culvert, almost dry, carrying the River Avon, Tetbury Branch and the closed Kemble to Tetbury railway line which opened in 1889 and closed in 1964.
Hawkesbury – South towards Bristol, we turn off the main road into Hawkesbury Upton, having seen a church sign. However, the church turns out to be a considerable distance away down narrow lanes. The building is a substantial one in a tiny hamlet. After the dissolution of the Abbey of Pershore in 1539 the medieval manor developed. The Manor House stood to the north of the church, in large part replacing the Monastic Grange. By 1779 however the Manor House is described as having been uninhabited for sometime and “gone to decay”, and was eventually pulled down in the early 19th century. The church of St Mary was built in the 12th century on the site of a Saxon church, using some of the stones. A priest at Hawkesbury in the 11th century was Wulfstan (c. 1008-20th January 1095), Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. He was the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop and made a saint. Parts of the Early English style building from the 13th century remain but the majority was built in the Perpendicular style of the 14th and 15th centuries. The tower was added in the 15th century. It underwent a Victorian restoration by W Wood Bethell between 1882 and 1885. Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827 has a memorial in the chancel, along with many members of the Jenkinson family who were the local lords of the manor. The pulpit is 15th century, restored, with trefoil head panels and enriched top carved with vine leaf ornament; the vase stem incorporates fragments of Saxon interlaced work. The font is 17th century, but possibly a remodelling of an earlier font, octagonal bowl decorated with lozenges, fluted stem. There is also a Norman font. There are 17th century box pews, cut down and remodelled by Wood Bethell. In the north window of the nave is reassembled mediaeval glass representing St Giles. A fine window in the channel is to Captain John Banks Jenkinson who was killed in the Battle of Aisne in September 1914. Steps lead up to the rood loft, but they are steep and in darkness. A sign reads “It is desired that all persons that come to this church would be careful to leave their dogs at home and the women would not walk in with their pattens on”, pattens being overshoes that often had metal soles. The churchyard is surrounded by yews. There are 170 marked graves which include 87 chest tombs.
On the hill above the hamlet, Hawkesbury Knoll is a Neolithic long barrow and Iron Age remains.
Bristol – We catch a bus into the city, to the Old Market. There are numerous fine buildings but many are looking run down. The Old Drill Hall, which is located on the site of a former sugar warehouse and refinery, was financed by George and Henry Wills as part of arrangements to provide alternative accommodation for organisations displaced by the construction of the Wills Memorial Building. The new drill hall was designed as the headquarters of the 4th (City of Bristol) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment. Kingsley Hall is dated 1706, restored in the late 19th century, now apartments. On the junction of Midland Street are Almshouses, now flats. Founded by John Barstaple in 1402, they were rebuilt between 1857-58 and 1883 by Foster and Wood. Much of Midland Road is being demolished and rebuilt. Into Barton Street where there is a Jewish cemetery, possibly the one mentioned by Latimer in 1759. Into the an area called The Dings and the Barley Mow – a fine hostelry!
Thursday – Bristol – Back on the bus into the city. We alight at Rupert Street and cross to Christmas Steps. The street was originally called Queene Street after the 1574 visit of Queen Elizabeth 1. They became Christmas Steps in the mid 19th century, probably because they were by Christmas Street, formerly known as Knyfesmyth Street, after the tradesmen there and Christmas simply being a corruption of Knife-Smith. After 1669, the steps are also believed to have been called Lunsford’s Stairs for a short period, in honour of a Cavalier officer Colonel Henry (Thomas in some sources) Lunsford who was shot through the heart in the street during the first siege of Bristol in 1643 during the English Civil War.
Lower Park Row climbs to Park Row and passes the Wills Memorial Building. A neo-Gothic building designed by Sir George Oatley and built as a memorial to Henry Overton Wills, a member of the wealthy Bristol tobacco manufacturing family of Wills which founded the firm of W. D. & H. O. Wills, by his sons George and Henry Wills. Begun in 1915 and not opened until 1925. It is the centrepiece building of the university precinct and is used by the university for degree ceremonies and examinations, which take place in the Great Hall.
Nearby is Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The museum was built on the site of the Salisbury Club which was offered for sale to the city. Sir William Henry Wills (1830–1911, later Lord Winterstoke) offered £10,000 to help buy the site and build a new City Art Gallery. The building was designed by Frederick Wills in an Edwardian Baroque style, work starting in 1901 and opening in February 1905. We have come to see Grayson Perry’s Art Club exhibition. It is a delight.
We leave and descend Jacob’s Well Road to the docks. Jacob’s Well is an early medieval structure within a building thought to be a Jewish ritual bath. A Royal Commission on the Health of Towns reported in 1845 that nearly all of the water laid into Bristol came from Jacob’s Wells. Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital is an independent day school founded in 1586 and is named after its original patron, Queen Elizabeth I. Known traditionally as “The City School”, it was founded by the will of affluent soap merchant John Carr in 1586. The large building is built of Brandon stone, designed by local architects Foster and Son and dates from 1847. In an alcove in a wall is sculpture showing a person wearing a hoodie with the hood up while holding their head in their hands. It is not possible to see the person’s face, but their posture seems to express unhappiness or even distress, explaining why they are being comforted by a teddy bear. The sculptor is unknown but it may mark World Suicide Prevention Day.
A quick visit to the docks. SS Great Britain Britain in the dock across the water. Through Broken Dock and a modern precinct and up to Bristol cathedral. Pevsner, described Bristol Cathedral as “superior to anything else built in England, and indeed Europe.” And, indeed it is quite a magnificent building. However, we both feel the magnificence of cathedrals does not have the same quiet ambience of village churches, which we prefer. There are the usual lines of tombs with marble and alabaster effigies of former church luminaries, acres of glass (although here, the north nave windows were destroyed by German bombs and there are now simple dedications to the civic defence personnel) and the extensive and expensive gilding, carved stone and wood and soaring architecture. One of the most interesting pieces is a superb Anglo Saxon carving of the Harrowing of Hell. The cathedral started as an Augustinian abbey under the patronage of the Berkeleys. In the 14th century a new presbytery was built with aisles as high as the choir forming a great hall church. The Norman nave was derelict and not rebuilt until the 19th century by G E Street. The western twin towers, designed by John Loughborough Pearson, were completed in 1888. The organ was originally built in 1685 by Renatus Harris at a cost of £500 and some of the original work, including the case and pipes, is incorporated into the present instrument, which was built by J. W. Walkers & Sons in 1907.
We head down the hill to Colston Avenue, after an unsuccessful search for a Banksy mural. The façade of Transit Shed E is extraordinarily decorative for a warehouse, built in 1894 by E Gabriel. We catch a bus back to Old Market and return to The Barley Mow.
Sunday – Humber – The second BTO Breeding Birds Survey of the year. I start early but there are plenty of birds about. Several singing Whitethroats are along the lane to Steens Bridge. Skylarks sing overhead. Wrens seem especially well represented this year with a good number on telephone wires, singing loudly. Linnets are also on the wires and Dunnocks on the road. Along the Roman road to Humber. A pair of Red-legged Partridge are in a field. Down the lane and across Humber Brook were the water level is low. Through the hamlet. As usual there are a good number of Jackdaws in the trees and around the church. The stile to the fields, which is always difficult, is covered by Stinging Nettles and Brambles so I decide I am not going to try it. Back to Stoke Prior school. Another Red-legged Partridge is perched on a fencepost.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – High clouds, seemingly very slowly dispersing vapour trails, are in a cobalt sky. It is getting warm and the forecast promises serious heat. A Wren sings and a few other tweets and chirps come from the woods but the intense chorus of spring is over. A Chiffchaff calls but even that sounds half hearted. Goat Willow leaves have yellow patches under them, a species of Tree Rust – Melampsora species. Biting Stonecrop flowers on the verge of the track.
Canada Geese, a few Tufted Duck and Mallard are on the boating lake. The Great Crested Grebe is still on the nest and its partner is nearby. At the eastern end of the lake is a Mute Swan with three cygnets and half a dozen Coot. More Tufted Duck are in the meadow bay. Into the meadow. A Blackcap sings in the lakeside willows. Several Garden Warblers are out in the open which is unusual.
Twenty five Mute Swans are at the western end of the lake with another gliding past the scrape. A loose flock of thirty Greylags drift by. A Reed Warbler is singing energetically from the eastern reed bed in front of the hide. An egret briefly flies out from behind the island then disappears back again; it seemed large for a Little Egret. Seven Cormorants are on the spit. A Grey Heron is paused mid step and motionless on the far side of the lake. A blue and green Emperor Dragonfly, Anax imperator, hawks the reed bed in front of the hide. Quivering reeds map the passage of a Mallard through reed bed. A young warbler is in a Gorse bush, then flies down to the willows by the reed bed, it is unclear which species it is. A skein of thirty Canada Geese fly in. Two young Moorhens emerge from the reed bed. An Oystercatcher appears on the spit.
Back to the meadow. Good numbers of Common Blue Damselflies are in the grass. A Common Carder Bee, Bombus pascuorum, feeds on clover. Birdsfoot trefoil and one of the Hawksweeds have replaced Field Buttercups as the yellow component of the meadow. A Song Thrush sings in the orchard hedge. Into the orchard. Black mosquito larvae twitch on the surface of the water in a cattle trough.
Friday – Checkley – Early high, wispy cloud has rapidly burnt away in the hot sun. A small car park is beside the road above Old Sufton. There is a cooling breeze up here. The lane continues around of the top of a dry valley and continues to climb. A Chiffchaff sings in mixed woodland. Another dry valley runs down beside the road. A panting female Blackbird sits on a broken twig. Past a small disused quarry. Lower Cockshoot is a farmhouse with an attached barn. An overgrown holloway runs beside the lane. Beyond the holloway is a large field that was Marsh Wood in the past. A brief yaffle from a Green Woodpecker comes from the trees. Two modern houses stand on the hillside above the lane. The holloway enters a large field where a small herd of cattle graze. Beyond the field are Timbridge and Bear’s (just Bear on the old maps and reputedly the where the last brown bear was killed in Herefordshire) Woods, initially deciduous trees then becoming a conifer plantation. Northwards above the lane is Backbury Hill. A house lays under the eaves of the wood. Clouds is a small group of houses. Clouds farmhouse is relatively small but extended by barns. The Cloud is a 17th century timber-framed house with a large old barn standing between the house and the road. A second seems to be a 19th century extension on an old rubble built house. Another had been rendered so disguising its age. Clouds House is a long timber-framed building. The air is scented by a Rambling Rector rose.
The lane descends. The northern bank has an extensive Field Rose in flower. Delicate pink Cranesbills flower by the lane; they are probably a French Cranesbill crossed with Pencilled Cranesbill, both from Europe and present in Britain as garden escapes. Down a bridleway. A Spotted Flycatcher sits on wires. A small bridge crosses Penteloe Brook on the edge of Limburies Wood. A path should head into the woods alongside the brook heading eastwards but it has disappeared. A short distance along the supposed path there should be a moat but that appears to be lost under trees, bracken and nettles. The Ancient Monuments listing states, “The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of the medieval moated site and adjacent pond 360m north of Joan’s Hill Farm, located at the foot of the hill between Limburies Wood and the Pentaloe Brook. The site is oriented east to west, with the Pentaloe Brook forming its northernmost boundary and consists of a moat 90m long by 45m wide and up to 2m deep and a pond 40m by 8m, both of which are waterlogged”. Back over the bridge and into a path leading towards the lane. A Common Buzzard flies out across the fields. Please fields are hay meadows full of umbellifers, Field Buttercups, Red Clover and Dandelions. A Red Kite appears from Backbury Hill and glides down the valley. A footbridge brings another footpath onto this one.
The path rejoins the road by Checkley Brook, a timber-framed house. Into Checkley, a scattered hamlet. An 18th century timber-framed house is listed as the post office and shop, but no longer. A large key hanging on a hook in the porch gives access to St Nicholas Church, a small, single cell building. It was a mission chapel built around 1890. A brick built bellcote tops the building. There are diamond lattice windows and a rather wonderful chair with curved strips of wood crossing under the seat. On the backrest is a carving of a sheep’s head and a hand holding a knife! Opposite is The Steps farmhouse, dating from the 17th century but modernised last century. On up the lane past several large houses. Rosebay Willowherb is coming into flower. Another old chapel is hidden behind trees and fences.
A footpath heads north-west towards Frith Wood. A timber-framed cottage, Swillgrove, (Swilgrove on old maps) stands on the hillside. The footpath crosses a field and then down a precarious drop down to a stream. There appears to be no easy way up the other side until I see the footbridge a short distance upstream. Feeling rather foolish I climb back up the bank to the aforesaid bridge. In my defence, it is well hidden from the field and some way off the footpath marked on the map.
Blue Tits work their way through an Oak tree. A Chiffchaff calls nearby. Through a patch of Gorse through which Ox-eye Daises and Common Milkwort flower. Here, out of the breeze, it is stiflingly hot. Over a stile and into the woods. None of the trees are particularly old. A dried up stream, possibly man-made, runs down the hill. On the other side is a conifer plantation. The path joins a track. The track joins a rough lane and swings west between Frith and Broomy Green Woods. The lane divides, one leg heading back down to Clouds, the other, my route, to Broomy Green. Blackcap, Wren and Chiffchaff are in song. The path climbs. Nuthatches call. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chips. A fence and Holly hedge runs along the path which is skirting Backbury hill-fort. Below are rough woodlands, small pastures and the occasional building, but the old maps show there were clearly defined fields all along the side of the hill. Ring-necked Pheasants run along the path. Crude shelters are built near the path, above houses on the hillside below, possibly for animals or log storage but have been abandoned to disintegrate in the undergrowth.
Just down the hill from Backbury Hill triangulation pillar, the path divides. I head back down again. A twittering flock of Long-tailed Tits flies though. The layers of Lower Ludlow Shales Group mudstone are exposed on the path. Thick sinuous stems of Ivy climb an Ash. The path joins the original lane near Cockshoot. A path bypasses the road back to the car park. Route
Sunday – Leominster – The garden received welcome rain throughout yesterday. This morning the sky is mainly covered by light cloud but the sun shines through. Yet again there are no signs of House Martins’ nests in Victoria Terrace, built in 1837. Along the ginnel to the railway bridge; flowering privet produces a cloying scent. Rabbits are on the track where the old third rail line ran. The water level in the River Lugg has risen a little and the water is clear. Some idiot has thrown a shopping trolley into the water downstream from Butts Bridge. A Dunnock hops along the bridge railing. The only birdsong are brief snatches by Wrens.
The grass overhanging the path through Easters Meadow is not as wet as I expected, so my legs remain relatively dry. A breeze creates a constant rustling of the Black Poplar leaves. Areas of meadow grass have been laid flat by the rain. Most of the police, ambulance and military vehicles have gone from Brightwells’ compound. Gulls circle high above. A sweet, slightly sickly scent hits me every time I pass a flowering Elder.
The market is much busier this week and it seems that people are buying although most of it looks like tat to me. Back to Mill Street. A Grey Squirrel races across the parapet of Ridgemoor Bridge. Into Paradise Walk. The bells of the Minster ring out. The water level in the River Kenwater is still very low.
Home – The rain has freshened the garden. A few weeds are pulled, made easier by the wet soil and the vines on the walls are given their near weekly chop to stop them wandering off. Tomatoes and cucumbers are tied up in the greenhouse. Peas and broad beans are now cropping well.
Monday – Credenhill – The sun shines brightly in a sky of fluffy white clouds. Up the wooded slope of Credenhill. A Chiffchaff calls. Tall Hogweeds are visited by flies and hoverflies. A Red Admiral butterfly flits past. The view from the hillside looks over the famous SAS camp. Round to the east are the towers of Hereford Cathedral and St Peter’s church. Hedge Woundwort flowers by the track. The Hogweeds stand over six feet high. A path I had previously taken up to the hill-fort looks worn and in a poor state, so I return to a track junction and find another. The soil is red with grey limestone inclusions – St Maughans interbedded sandstones formed approximately 393 to 419 million years ago in the Devonian with outcrops of Bishop’s Frome limestone. The clouds are thickening overhead and the sun is lost.
The track winds round and follows a massive ramparts of the hill-fort before passing through a relatively modern entrance. Before the entrance a path climbs up to the top of the main rampart. Another, smaller rampart can be seen down the hillside. Last time I was here the interior of the fort has been felled completely but it is now filled with Hazel, Sweet Chestnut and Field Maples. The path comes to the eastern gateway to the hill-fort. Honeysuckle flowers whilst climbing up a Hazel. Past the Yews, planted some 200 years ago. A Blackcap sings. Broom is covered in pea-like seed pods. A Speckled Wood butterfly rests on a Beech leaf. The main area of the fort is covered in Bracken. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chips. Bees visit the brambles but it is thin pickings as a majority of the flowers are yet to open. Self-heal flowers along the edge of the path. Perforate St John’s Wort is coming into flower. A Garden Warbler sings in young willows.
The path descends to steps that go down and then back up again past the western gate to the hill-fort. A Painted Lady butterfly flies strongly between brambles. A pair of Bullfinches disappear rapidly into a thicket of willows and Hazel. An area of boggy ground is covered in reeds although Himalayan Balsam is invading the edges. The ramparts run through thick woodland, conifers either side of the main rampart which is covered in Silver Birches and Ash. Steps to descend to another modern break in the rampart. More steps carry the path down into a deep cut, which leads into an old quarry. The path undulates, climbing up and down, still following the rampart.
The path eventually drops down to the track again. Walking around the ramparts gives one a sense of wonderment at the sheer size of this hill-fort (larger than Maiden Castle) and the enormous amount of work at Iron Age people using just picks and shovels undertook to build this incredible site. They did not just dig out the ditches and pile the soil up to form the ramparts. A base of timber and brush was laid down and red clay was added to form a core. A band of grey clay was then put on top and the soil built up on these foundations. Stones were then placed around the outer edge to reinforce it.
A Song Thrush flies up into the trees and stands on a branch wiping its bill. A downy juvenile joins it. A Chaffinch sings. An old holloway runs down the hill. The steps down it have almost eroded away. It bypasses a fair amount of the track. Another footpath again descend steeply taking me almost to the bottom of the hill.
Tuesday – Home – The summer solstice brings a day of bright sunshine with fluffy white clouds hardly moving. Our little patch of meadow is giving us a great deal of pleasure. The first Corn Flowers have appeared; Ox-eye Daisies and Orange Hawkweed are in flower; tall Cow Parsley has opened its broad white head and a good number of Yellow Rattle are in flower or setting seed. The grasses are wonderful, although identifying them is a challenge. I think there are False Oatgrass, Crested Dog’s Tail and possibly Cock’s Foot.
Juvenile Blue Tits and House Sparrows visit the feeders. A Blackbird flies up to the fat ball feeder, clings on with much flapping long enough to break a lump off then drops down to devour it. It flies up into one of the trees now and again to clean its beak on a branch.
Wednesday – Clyne Gardens, Swansea – The temperature steadily rises throughout the day. By the time we reach Clyne Gardens it is in the upper 20s Celsius. Richard Phillips, a Trustee of the Swansea Harbour Trust closely involved in the building of the first Mumbles Lighthouse, built a two storey, castellated mansion called “Woodlands” here in 1791. The house was remodelled several years later in the Gothic style by George Warde. It was sold to heiress Charlotte Hall, who married Jenkin Davies, in 1830 and they, finding the house too big demolished sixteen rooms. They moved to Monmouthshire in 1857, selling the house to the Vivien family who made their fortune smelting copper. William Graham Vivian lavished time and money on it to reflect his wealth. Three important trees planted by him can be found in front of the Castle; one Wellingtonia Sequiodendron giganteum and two Monterey Cypress Cupressus macrocarpa, one a fastigiate form which is also one of the tallest recorded in Britain. The estate passed to his nephew Algernon, “The Admiral”, in 1921 who owned it until his death in 1952. He had a distinguished naval career, retiring as an Admiral in 1927. He saw service in the Pacific, in the Boer War in South Africa, and off Gallipoli in the First World War. He was entrusted with a secret mission in 1915 to bring from South Africa 84 tons of gold bullion to finance the war effort. He had the greatest influence on the gardens, sponsoring plant collecting expeditions overseas, and many of Clyne’s rhododendrons still bear their original collector’s numbers. The oak woodland is a remnant of Clyne Forest, an important 11th century Norman landmark. The tallest recorded Magnolia in Britain Magnolia campbellii var. alba can be found here. Clyne Castle and its surrounding parkland of 76 acres was bought by the Borough Council for £17,500 or £480,000 in today’s money. The parkland was opened to the public in April 1954. The castle was sold to the University College of Wales, now Swansea University, in 1955 for £12,751. It became Neuadd Gilbertson, a hall of residence for the University, housing its first students in 1956. The University subsequently sold the castle and it is now private apartments.
We enter the parkland from the north and move down towards the sea. A large Indian Horse Chestnut stands by a pool. On the far side of the water is a large clump of huge Gunnera leaves. Common Blue Damselflies and Four-spotted Chasers, Libellula quadrimaculata hunt over the water. The pool drains down a waterfall under the Japanese Bridge, built by David Thomas in 1925. It was restored in 1973 and is listed. Up the hillside to the “castle”, then down again past the Italian Bridge. A small caravan selling drinks and cakes is prettily decorated with pots of flowers.
We leave the gardens and cross the busy coast road to the beach. It is very hot here. The area of dry sand by the coastal path hosts a good number of Sea Holly. The tide is a long way out. The blue Swansea Bay sweeps round from The Mumbles to Port Talbot. A statue is by the track, Musical Osprey – Leaving the Nest, designed by “Urban Strawberry Lunch” and unveiled in August 1998. Nearby, the lido is very popular. Here is the former electricity sub-station, built in 1927 by Ernest Morgan, architect, for the Swansea & Mumbles Railway. The building contained two 500kW rotary converters (now removed) which converted 6600V alternating current to 650V direct current to operate trams of the Swansea # Mumbles Railway by overhead wires. The building also served as Blackpill Station.
Back across the road. A former school, originally called Oystermouth Board School, Black-pill, it eventually became known as Blackpill School which opened in April 1879 and closed in 1959 and is now a residence. Next to it is the Vivian Hall, built in 1918 as the Blackpill Village Institute. On the edge of the gardens is Clyne Chapel, built in 1907 to designs by William Graham Vivian as an estate chapel. It has a nave with an aisle and a porch and a lower chancel. It is built in a simple Perpendicular style in snecked, rock-faced stone with lighter freestone dressings and a slate roof with gabled bellcote. The windows all differ in the tracery. Back into the park and up the western side. In the valley below the path are Tree Ferns and large patches of American Skunk Cabbage. It is a hot climb back to the top although the shade of the trees helps.
We pay a short visit to Oyestermouth where we get a delicious vanilla ice cream from Joes Ice Cream Parlour. Luigi Cascarini came from Abruzzi in Italy in 1898 and started a chain of cafés in Swansea. His son, Giueseppe (Joe) Cascarini opened this establishment in 1984.
Thursday – Castell Coch – This extraordinary building stands in a large Beech wood on a hillside to the north of Cardiff. A wooden motte castle was built here in the 11th century as the Normans fought to take control of South Wales. A stone tower was constructed in the 12th century which was added to with two more towers built by Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester and Lord of Glamorgan. The castle fell out of use after the Welsh rebellions of the early 14th century. In 1875, the 3rd Marquis of Bute decided to create a new fortress on the site of the ruins. He commissioned William Burges who had already worked on Cardiff Castle to undertake the project. Burges died suddenly in 1881 but his team were able to follow his plans in completing the building. It was only used intermittently by the Bute family and was more of an exotic folly than a place to live. In was taken over by the state in 1950 and is now run by CADW. The castle is approached up the hill and over a drawbridge. Through the main entrance and into a circular courtyard surrounded by the castle and a continuous balcony. Viewing the building requires climbing numerous stone spiral staircases, utterly impractical for day-to-day living. There is a large banqueting hall, drawing room, bedrooms, kitchen, all decorated in Burges’ exotic style. Below one tower is a wine cellar which kept some of the produce of an extensive vineyard planted by Lord Bute in 1875. The vineyards were grubbed up in the 1920s.
Friday – Leominster – The weather has turned cooler. Swifts sweep under grey skies. On to the railway bridge. The station is deserted below although trains are running today day unlike the previous few days where strike action has closed the line completely. As usual workers are resisting a diminution of their working conditions for a paltry pay rise which is a long way below the current rate of inflation. A Blackbird and Song Thrush are in song and House Sparrows chatter around the station. Onto Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen. A Dipper whirrs up stream.
Across the southern end of Easters Meadow. Dock, Hogweed, Cow Parsley, Stinging Nettles and Cleavers have all grown high. Under Mosaic Bridge. A Common Pond Skater, Gerris lacustris, sculls against the flow. Sadly across the river, the mosaic on the bridge wall has been badly damaged by vandals. On along the riverside path. Large Butterbur leaves are becoming perforated by insects, although not the little black and white chequered beetle crawling on the underside of a leaf. A stinging nettle wears a pair of Gean, Wild Cherry, berries from the tree above like an earring. It starts to rain so a strategic retreat is called.
Back to Pinsley Mill. Meadowsweet is coming into flower alongside the railway track. A Magpie chatters. Into the Millennium orchard. Meadow Cranesbills are in flower. A bright yellow track maintenance vehicle rumbles past. Into the Millennium Park where Black Knapweed grows alongside the Meadow Cranesbills. The latter have spread considerably over recent years there are large patches of purple all over the edges of the meadow. The rain remains a fine drizzle.
The water level in the River Kenwater is also very low and the flow sluggish. Through the churchyard and on to the Grange. It is good to see the café in the old cricket pavilion is open again.
Sunday – Leominster – Yesterday was windy with frequent showers followed by bright sunshine. There is still a breeze this morning and large clouds are in the sky but so far no rain. Onto the railway bridge. The wind is picking up and blowing gustily. Onto Butts Bridge. The River Lugg remains low. The two resident Dippers fly off off the stones at the foot of the bridge and upstream a short distance. Couple of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies flit about the Easters Meadow grass.
A Sunday market is larger than expected given the unreliable weather. As usual I find nothing to buy. The bells of the Minster are ringing out. Into Paradise Walk. The pure white trumpets of Hedge Bindweed flower on a hedge of Yew. The River Kenwater is very shallow. A large Rambling Rector rose tumbles over the garden wall above the river. Red Valerian grows out of the river wall. Opposite is a large clump of umbellifers, probably one of the Water Dropworts.
Home – Brassicas need planting out – cabbage, Cavolo Nero and Nigerian Callaloo. The patch needs weeding first and, as usual, numerous small stones are removed. A row of sugar snap peas also go in. They are beside another row that was badly damaged by Wood Pigeons but seems to be picking up. A potato plant has touches of blight, so I dig it out and get enough for a meal tonight. The old chard plants have bolted and are some six feet tall, so some are cut down and fed to chickens. They can have some more later in the week. The vines down the side walls are shooting in all directions again; they need pruning weekly. Kay picks several bowls of red currants and a few black currants. I clean the red currants and heat them gently to burst the skins. They are then passed through a sieve to remove the seeds. The resultant juice is divided into trays and into the freezer. Kay is also picking regular crops of strawberries and raspberries.
Monday – Kerry, Ceri – This village is a few miles from Newtown in Montgomeryshire. The car park is near a pristine bowling green. A blustery wind blows large clouds across the sky. A modern village hall stands opposite modern houses. A short terrace in Common Road of Victorian houses leads to the main road. On the junction is the Herbert Arms, built as a hostelry around 1790. Attached is the former malthouse. Directly opposite is the war memorial in rough hewn marble and church of St Michael and All Angels.
Kerry was the early centre of Christianity of the cwmwd of Ceri. The church was reputedly founded in the 7th or 8th century, possibly by Cadwgan, then within the diocese of Llanbadarn. The pre-Conquest collegiate, or “clas” church which is believed to have occupied the same site, was rebuilt and re-dedicated on a famous occasion in 1176 when archdeacon Giraldus de Barri (Cambrensis) forcibly claimed the church for the diocese of St David’s, excommunicating the rival Bishop of St Asaph at the church door. The nave is late 12th century. On the north side are four Norman arcades, the southern ones were removed in the 17th century. The nave and aisle have 15th century roofs, the chancel wagon roof was replaced in 1883. The chancel is 14th century, the very substantial tower at the west end is 12th or 13th century with a timber capping, housing three bells, one dated 1679, another inscribed “God Save the Church of England”! The church was restored by G E, and later, A E Street from 1881-3, with the tower further restored in 1924 by Harold Hughes. The pulpit is Victorian, with fragments from the 15th century screen. The chancel screen and lectern date from the restoration of 1883. The font is 15th century and there is a large Harrison organ installed in 1890. The stained-glass east window of the Resurrection is by Charles Eamer Kempe of 1871. There are a good number of monuments. In the North aisle there are two hatchments with the arms of the Herberts of Dolforgan Hall. The mechanism of a tower clock is preserved in the church, made by a local blacksmith around 1750.
Next to the entrance to the churchyard is the old schoolhouse. The first school in Kerry was established in 1714 funded by the will of Richard Jones of Black Hall. The present building was erected around 1810 and extended in 1817. Along the road towards Newtown. The houses are a mixture of 19th and 20th century, including the former smithy. A pair of Gothic lodges, built around 1800-18 by the Herbert family for their new access driveway to Dolforgan Hall. Lodges shown in this position on The Inclosure Award of 1807 may be the present buildings. Modern housing developments are still being erected. On the edge of the village are three buildings, the stables, piggeries and sawmill for Dolforgan Hall which is hidden down private drives and behind trees. The hall occupies the site of an earlier manor, the residence of the Fox family. After coming into the possession of the Herberts in the mid 17th century, it was largely rebuilt around 1790 for John Herbert of Park. It remained in Herbert possession until a successor married Walter Long the Younger of Wiltshire in 1846, but it was settled on his father after his untimely death, who passed it to Richard Penruddocke Long, High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1858. He sold the estate to James Walton in 1870 who sold it on to John William Willans, a distinguished engineer, in 1894. In the early 20th century the estate was in the hands of the Jones family in whose possession it remains.
Back along the main road past the Herbert Arms. Several terraces of Victorian houses leads to the Baptist church and The Kerry Lamb pub. Opposite is the former post office. The primary school, once the National School, built 1868 on glebe land by J W Poundley (1807-1872), County Surveyor, of Black Hall, Kerry, pupil of Thomas Penson of Oswestry, to replace the school by the church. It was extended in 1930-40 in a similar style, and with further buildings added the later 20th century. Opposite is the Reading Room, built in 1856 for John Naylor of Brynllywarch and Leighton Hall, to provide a reading room and community centre together with a dwelling, later the police station, for the village. The architect was probably also J W.Poundley. It became the Roman Catholic church of St Michael and St Brendan to serve the community of Italian prisoners-of-war, and was converted to a private house around 1980. Just beyond the end of the village is a field with two large tumuli in it. They are probably ice age deposits. Beyond them is the River Mule.
Back to Common Road. A water fountain, no longer functional, is beside the road. The plaque is very worn but may have the date 1840. Most the houses are modern with a few 19th century buildings, one with a plaque dated 1877. The road climbs past modern houses which back on to a field of wheat that is turning gold. A private lane off a junction leads to Brynllywarch Hall, now a special needs school. A hillside has been recently cleared of trees and is pink with Foxgloves. On up the hill. The roadside bank is full of more Foxgloves, Willowherb and Red Campion. Opposite is a hedge of Field Maple. The tithe barn had been converted into a residence. Opposite is The Moat, formerly the vicarage, built in 1810 for the Revd John Jenkins, under the influence of John Nash. Jenkins (1770-1829), known as Ifor Ceri (Ifor Hael o Geri), was a noted musicologist and antiquary and was an important member of Iolo Morganwg’s gorsedd in 1819, joint founder of the Cambrian Society, active in the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, and contributor to The Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1811). By the entrance to the driveway is another house, looking like an old chapel.
Behind The Moat is a wooded hill containing motte and bailey. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the lands in the Vale of Kerry were governed by the Welsh chieftains Madog ab Idnerth, who built a castle here, and Cadwallon ap Madog. However, in 1136, William Rufus gave the lands to Roger de Montgomery. This led to years of hostilities and in 1228 Henry III led a force from Ludlow and Montgomery castles and suppressed the uprisings of Llewelyn The Great in the Vale of Ceri.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – There was enough rain overnight to at least get the ground wet for a change. This morning is warm with bright sunshine but steadily moving clouds cross the sky in a stiff breeze. A Song Thrush and Chiffchaffs are still in good voice. Evening Primroses are in flower by the car park. Along the track is a large patch of Lady’s Bedstraw. Further on Himalayan Balsam is flowering. A saturated Robin is shaking its wings to dry off in the sun. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chips nearby and a Blackcap starts to sing. Dark Mullein has pale yellow flowers with a darker centre. A Teasel is over seven feet high.
Canada Geese, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Coot are in the water around the islands. The Great Crested Grebe is still on the nest. Oystercatchers are on the island. More Blackcaps are in song in the lakeside trees. Into the meadow where Meadow Brown and Ringlet butterflies are on the wing. Self-heal flowers in the grass. Common Blue Damselflies hover over the grasses.
Everywhere darkens as thick clouds build and cover the sun. The Greylag flock is on the scrape and seems to be increasing in number. A large number of Canada Geese are scattered across the water. Eighteen Mute Swans are on the spit with a similar number around the rest of the lake. A Little Egret is on the southern shore. Five Cormorants fly across. Several Great Crested Grebes are in different parts of the lake. A second Little Egret is among the Mute Swans on the spit.
Back out into the Alder plantation. A family group of Robins move through the trees. Into the meadow. At least four Blackcaps are holding territories. A single pink flowered Common Centaury is by the hedge.
Home – A short period of work in the garden interrupted by showers. A row of carrots is sown along with some radish. The rest of the garlic is dug up – not a bad crop this year. The side shoots are pinched out from the tomatoes in the greenhouse. Another couple of potato plants are dug, not a good crop but these were rather small plants. Purple mangetout peas are now cropping.
Heavy clouds still move across the sky but the sun has broken through. Down the track where Dog and Field Roses and Elder are coming into flower but the May blossom has finished. Tendrils of Old Man’s Beard reach out into the air trying to find purchase on another plant. Wayfaring Trees are about to blossom. Rosebay Willowherb, thistles and Teasels are all growing fast, already over three feet tall. A Coot stalks one of the small islands, on another a pair of Mute Swans with their cygnets partially hidden in the grass and on a third are several Mallard. Nearby Blackcap and Chiffchaff are calling. A Cormorant is on another island.
to Kempley Green. The church is a wonderful example of the Arts and Crafts style, described by John Betjeman as “a mini-cathedral of the Arts and Crafts movement”. It was commissioned by the 7th Lord Beauchamp. The foundations were laid in 1902 and in 1903 Randall Wells, clerk of works at Brockhampton, was called in and the church was built by direct labour under his 
supervision. The walls of the church and the lychgate are in red sandstone from the Blakeney Quarry in the Forest of Dean. Originally the church and the lychgate were both roofed in local stone tiles but the church has had to be re-roofed with pantiles. The church has three sculpted stone reliefs designed by Randall Wells, above the entrance, Christ by Wells. Within the porch, Virgin and Child, and on the East wall, the Crucifixion, both by Walter James, a local carpenter. The west window is a diamond lattice, the leaded lights made by W Smith of London using Old Dutch glass. The rood was carved by David Gibb (the last ship’s figureheads carver in London) features carved, painted figures of Christ, St John and St Mary. The semi-octagonal pulpit reuses Jacobean panels. The ironwork is by George Smallman, the local blacksmith. The altar has a canopy. The lectern and candle-holders are wood with metal inset decoration, designed by Glimson and Ernest Barnsley and made by Peter van der Waals. The Lady Chapel is plain with friezes by Glimson and Barnsley.
Scarborough that is most certainly where these potatoes are heading. It seems somewhat ironic that potatoes from here go to the east coast of Yorkshire to be brought back as frozen chips for sale in the local supermarkets. The wood chipping plant already working. Three Partridge take off from the entrance and fly out into a field of cereal. There are fresh holes on a dead tree by Spittal Bridge. A young great Spotted Woodpecker sticks its head out, a few minutes later the female adult arrives with food. A flock of Long-tailed Tits fly out of the trees.
over fields to the north before being harassed by a Carrion Crow.
grey. A Blackbird and Wren sing. Haws are appearing on the Hawthorns. Wayfaring Trees are now in blossom and there are large cream discs of Elderflower. Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallard are on the sailing lake. A Great Crested Grebe dives and another appears to be on a nest. The nesting bird lunges its head at a passing Carrion Crow, which is then chased further off by an Oystercatcher.
down to three chicks now. She chases the Coot off the scrape. Dunnocks are very active around this area. Numerous small water insects are creating arrow shaped bow-waves across the water. A piping Oystercatcher flies across the lake to the island in front of the southern hide, another joins it. Three tatty drake Mallard feed energetically in front of the scrape, they are clearly going into eclipse.
medieval church, which may have been on the site of a Saxon one, which was demolished in 1777. The new church was designed by Francis Hiorne and opened in 1781, built at a cost of £5,059 12s 0d. The 14th century tower and spire of the previous building was retained until it was rebuilt in 1891 by Waller using the same stones. It has a ring of eight bells most of which were cast in 1722 and all made by Rudhall of Gloucester. There are box pews which are accessed from a passageway around the church rather than the central aisle. Stained glass includes work by Clayton and Bell and William Wailes. Two large chandeliers dating from 1781 hang above the nave. Some 
remnants of medieval effigies from the original church in the north aisle passage. Numerous monuments are on the walls including those of the Saunders family of Upton Grove and the Paul family of Highgrove. The churchyard is full of fine chest tombs.
described as having been uninhabited for sometime and “gone to decay”, and was eventually pulled down in the early 19th century. The church of St Mary was built in the 12th century on the site of a Saxon church, using some of the stones. A priest at Hawkesbury in the 11th century was Wulfstan (c. 1008-20th January 1095), Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. He was the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop and made a saint. Parts of the Early English style building from the 13th century remain but the majority was built in the Perpendicular style of the 14th and 15th centuries. The tower was added in the 15th century. It underwent a Victorian 
restoration by W Wood Bethell between 1882 and 1885. Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827 has a memorial in the chancel, along with many members of the Jenkinson family who were the local lords of the manor. The pulpit is 15th century, restored, with trefoil head panels and enriched top carved with vine leaf ornament; the vase stem incorporates fragments of Saxon interlaced work. The font is 17th century, but possibly a remodelling of an earlier font, octagonal bowl decorated with lozenges, fluted stem. There is also a Norman font. There are 17th century box pews, cut down and remodelled by Wood Bethell. In the north window of the nave is reassembled mediaeval glass representing St Giles. A fine window in the channel is to Captain John Banks Jenkinson who was killed in the Battle of Aisne in September 1914. Steps lead up to the rood loft, but they are steep and in darkness. A sign reads “It is desired that all persons that come to this church would be careful to leave their dogs at home and the women would not walk in with their pattens on”, pattens being overshoes that often had metal soles. The churchyard is surrounded by yews. There are 170 marked graves which include 87 chest tombs.
– Melampsora species. Biting Stonecrop flowers on the verge of the track.
house lays under the eaves of the wood. Clouds is a small group of houses. Clouds farmhouse is relatively small but extended by barns. The Cloud is a 17th century timber-framed house with a large old barn standing between the house and the road. A second seems to be a 19th century extension on an old rubble built house. Another had been rendered so disguising its age. Clouds House is a long timber-framed building. The air is scented by a Rambling Rector rose.
towards the lane. A Common Buzzard flies out across the fields. Please fields are hay meadows full of umbellifers, Field Buttercups, Red Clover and Dandelions. A Red Kite appears from Backbury Hill and glides down the valley. A footbridge brings another footpath onto this one.
Woods. The lane divides, one leg heading back down to Clouds, the other, my route, to Broomy Green. Blackcap, Wren and Chiffchaff are in song. The path climbs. Nuthatches call. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chips. A fence and Holly hedge runs along the path which is skirting 
approximately 393 to 419 million years ago in the Devonian with outcrops of Bishop’s Frome limestone. The clouds are thickening overhead and the sun is lost.
a majority of the flowers are yet to open. Self-heal flowers along the edge of the path. Perforate St John’s Wort is coming into flower. A Garden Warbler sings in young willows.
years later in the Gothic style by George Warde. It was sold to heiress Charlotte Hall, who married Jenkin Davies, in 1830 and they, finding the house too big demolished sixteen rooms. They moved to Monmouthshire in 1857, selling the house to the Vivien family who made their fortune smelting copper. William Graham Vivian lavished time and money on it to reflect his wealth. Three important trees planted by him can be found in front of the Castle; one Wellingtonia Sequiodendron giganteum and two Monterey Cypress Cupressus macrocarpa, one a fastigiate form which is also one of the tallest recorded in Britain. The estate passed to his nephew Algernon, “The Admiral”, in 1921 who owned it until his death in 1952. He had a distinguished naval career, retiring as an Admiral in 1927. He saw service in the Pacific, in the Boer War in South Africa, and off Gallipoli in the First World War. He was entrusted with a secret mission in 1915 to bring from South Africa 84 tons of gold bullion to finance the war effort. He had the greatest influence on the gardens, sponsoring plant collecting expeditions overseas, and many of Clyne’s rhododendrons 
still bear their original collector’s numbers. The oak woodland is a remnant of Clyne Forest, an important 11th century Norman landmark. The tallest recorded Magnolia in Britain Magnolia campbellii var. alba can be found here. Clyne Castle and its surrounding parkland of 76 acres was bought by the Borough Council for £17,500 or £480,000 in today’s money. The parkland was opened to the public in April 1954. The castle was sold to the University College of Wales, now Swansea University, in 1955 for £12,751. It became Neuadd Gilbertson, a hall of residence for the University, housing its first students in 1956. The University subsequently sold the castle and it is now private apartments.
Up the hillside to the “castle”, then down again past the Italian Bridge. A small caravan selling drinks and cakes is prettily decorated with pots of flowers.
Holly. The tide is a long way out. The blue Swansea Bay sweeps round from The Mumbles to Port Talbot. A statue is by the track, Musical Osprey – Leaving the Nest, designed by “Urban Strawberry Lunch” and unveiled in August 1998. Nearby, the lido is very popular. Here is the former electricity sub-station, built in 1927 by Ernest Morgan, architect, for the Swansea & Mumbles Railway. The building contained two 500kW rotary converters (now removed) which converted 6600V alternating current to 650V direct current to operate trams of the Swansea # Mumbles Railway by overhead wires. The building also served as Blackpill Station.
the early 14th century. In 1875, the 3rd Marquis of Bute decided to create a new fortress on the site of the ruins. He commissioned William Burges who had already worked on Cardiff Castle to undertake the project. Burges died suddenly in 1881 but his team were able to follow his plans in completing the building. It was only used intermittently by the Bute family and was more of an exotic folly than a place to live. In was taken over by the state in 1950 and is now run by CADW. The castle is approached up the hill and over a drawbridge. Through the main entrance and into a circular courtyard surrounded by the castle and a continuous balcony. Viewing the building requires climbing numerous stone spiral staircases, utterly impractical for day-to-day living. There is a large banqueting hall, drawing room, bedrooms, kitchen, all decorated in Burges’ exotic style. Below one tower is a wine cellar which kept some of the produce of an extensive vineyard planted by Lord Bute in 1875. The vineyards were grubbed up in the 1920s.
inflation. A Blackbird and Song Thrush are in song and 
House Sparrows chatter around the station. Onto Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen. A Dipper whirrs up stream.
nave is late 12th century. On the north side are four Norman arcades, the southern ones were removed in the 17th century. The nave and aisle have 15th century roofs, the chancel wagon roof was replaced in 1883. The chancel is 14th century, the very substantial tower at the west end is 12th or 13th century with a timber capping, housing three bells, one dated 1679, another inscribed “God Save the Church of England”! The church was restored by G E, and later, A E Street from 1881-3, with the tower further restored in 1924 by Harold Hughes. The pulpit is Victorian, with fragments from the 15th century screen. The chancel screen and lectern date from the restoration of 1883. The font is 15th century and there is a large Harrison organ installed in 1890. The stained-glass east window of the Resurrection is by Charles Eamer Kempe of 1871. There are a good number of monuments. In the North aisle there are two hatchments with the arms of the Herberts of Dolforgan Hall. The mechanism of a tower clock is preserved in the church, made by a local blacksmith around 1750.
20th century, including the former smithy. A pair of Gothic lodges, built around 1800-18 by the Herbert family for their new access driveway to Dolforgan Hall. Lodges shown in this position on The Inclosure Award of 1807 may be the present buildings. Modern housing developments are still being erected. On the edge of the village are three buildings, the stables, piggeries and sawmill for Dolforgan Hall which is hidden down private drives and behind trees. The hall occupies the site of an earlier manor, the residence of the Fox family. After coming into the possession of the Herberts in the mid 17th century, it was largely rebuilt around 1790 for John Herbert of Park. It remained in Herbert possession until a successor married Walter Long the Younger of Wiltshire in 1846, but it was settled on his father after his untimely death, who passed it to Richard Penruddocke Long, High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1858. He sold the estate to James Walton in 1870 who sold it on to 
in whose possession it remains.
still in good voice. Evening Primroses are in flower by the car park. Along the track is a large patch of Lady’s Bedstraw. Further on Himalayan Balsam is flowering. A saturated Robin is shaking its wings to dry off in the sun. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chips nearby and a Blackcap starts to sing. Dark Mullein has pale yellow flowers with a darker centre. A Teasel is over seven feet high.
Geese are scattered across the water. Eighteen Mute Swans are on the spit with a similar number around the rest of the lake. A Little Egret is on the southern shore. Five Cormorants fly across. Several Great Crested Grebes are in different parts of the lake. A second Little Egret is among the Mute Swans on the spit.