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Tag: Landscapes

The Sky Indoors.

The Sky Indoors.

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Recently we drove to Bromfield with the intention of walking to Ludlow and discovered that Bromfield had a few surprises up its sleeve.

We first went to see the church and the entrance to the churchyard is through a delightful Lych Gate.

This was a priory church rebuilt in the 12th century. We walked through the churchyard and entered the church, shut the door behind us, and turned around. That was when we had a big surprise.

Wow! What a sight. The ceiling of the Chancel was painted in 1672 and the Reredos was painted in 1880. Standing underneath the Chancel ceiling is like looking up into the sky. The number of times we have passed through Bromfield and we had no idea what we were missing.

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1541 the church and priory were leased to Charles Foxe, who then purchased the property in 1558. He converted parts of the church into a house but in the 17th century the house was damaged by fire, and Foxe’s descendants moved away.

The remains of Foxe’s house are still present, attached to the south side of the church.

Next to the church is the medieval timber-framed gatehouse to the priory now owned by the Landmark Trust and let as a holiday property.

We started off along the footpath towards Ludlow but hadn’t gone very far when we came across this old mill.

It is, apparently, a water powered corn mill, dating from the mid 1800s, although the water wheel is now missing.

We continued our walk following a tarmac lane through a private estate, although the lane was a public footpath, with some nice views.

After about a mile we branched left across a potato field (yes, I know, we do all the really exciting stuff).

This section eventually led us to a very large cornfield and it was here that I started to feel a little unwell and reached the point where I decided to lay down in the corn before I fell down. I have to admit that I had two cups of coffee after getting up but nothing to eat at all. A contributing factor perhaps?

I felt a bit better after a while so we continued for at least another mile when we arrived at Dinham Bridge.

We still had to walk up into town, I still felt somewhat fragile, so we continued (no other choice really) and eventually arrived in Castle Square.

After having some lunch I was back to normal (which isn’t saying much). Draw your own conclusions.

We caught a bus back to Bromfield where we’d left the car.

A Hole New Adventure 3

A Hole New Adventure 3

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Day 3.

Staying in Settle meant that we were on the Settle to Carlisle Railway which is well known for its scenery and for the Ribblehead Viaduct which it crosses so we thought we would pay the viaduct a visit.

We drove over to Ribblehead and found some easy parking.

Building this impressive viaduct started in 1869 and required a workforce of 2300. The railway across it opened in 1876.

Nearby we found this.

Finding it wasn’t accidental. I came here when I was a young caver and exploring it required crawling on hands and knees in the stream. Unfortunately, after only a relatively short distance the roof came down to floor level. End of exloration.

After this we thought that we should find a real cave so we drove a few miles towards Ingleton to White Scar Cave. This cave is open as a show cave and tours run throughout the day.

It is an active cave with a stream running through it and, consequently, is subject to flooding. In 2016 the water pouring out of the cave destroyed the buildings outside together with the car park. Everything has since been rebuilt. In bad weather check opening times in case it has to be closed.

Access to the cave is via a tunnel cut through the rock. Part the way along this tunnel it shows part of the cave passge that the original explorers had to traverse laying flat. Not a comfortable experience.

The entrance tunnel meets the show cave proper in the active stream passage.

If you were a caver you’d have to walk along this passage with your feet in the stream but, luckily for you, there’s a strong, well constructed, metal walkway so that you can keep your feet dry and admire the spectacular underground scenery.

There is plenty to admire including extraordinary formations like this.

There is a lot to see in this cave and the normal tour takes over an hour.

Finally, after climbing a stairway through a man-made tunnel, you will reach the Battlefield Cavern. This is the latest part of the show cave.

After that adventure we made our way back to the cave entrance and went back to our hotel.

A Hole New Adventure 2

A Hole New Adventure 2

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Day 2

We made Settle our base for this trip and so, this morning, we drove from Settle to Horton-in-Ribblesdale (6 miles, 10 minutes)s where we parked. We were planning to walk on the Pennine Way towards Pen-y-Ghent but weren’t planning to walk up it.

It was a very pleasant walk along a wide track which wasn’t too steep although it was uphill all the way and we soon arrived at our first destination.

This is Hull Pot measuring 60 feet deep, 60 feet wide and 300 feet long. There is no access to any underground passages, even if you could get down there safely, but a small waterfall can be seen and the water from that emerges down near Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

This pothole can fill with water in very wet weather.

We went back to the Pennine Way and turned towards Pen-y-Ghent for a short distance to see this.

No, not the very obvious Pen-y-Ghent, but that triangular dark patch just below the centre line of the picture. The next picture shows a closer view.

Yes, yet another hole in the ground. This is Hunt Pot and that black patch at the bottom of the depression is the top of a 180 foot shaft so don’t go too near. This pothole, unlike Hull Pot, does give access to lots of underground passages and the only way in is down that shaft. No, we didn’t.

After that we decided to make our way back to base. A bit of a long walk back to the car, past the impressive Pen-y-Ghent, but very scenic and enjoyable.

Hergest Ridge/Offa’s Dyke Path.

Hergest Ridge/Offa’s Dyke Path.

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We have been to Hergest Croft Gardens, near Kington, a number of times but we had never been further up the lane to Hergest Ridge at the top. It was now time to change that.

We took our normal route to Hergest Croft Gardens but instead of turning into their car park we went straight past to the end of the lane where we parked and continued on foot through the gate along Offa’s Dyke Path.

Hergest Ridge straddles the English and Welsh border and is part of the Offa’s Dyke walk as well as a standalone highlight in any exploration of Herefordshire.

If you decide to start at the main carpark in Kington a modest climb of 1300 feet up from the quaint town will bring you to this point, where we started, and we continue through the gate on the Offa’s Dyke Route.

Heading for the top the views emerge all around and, as you walk, run, or cycle along the beautiful moorland, you may chance on wild ponies grazing , we didn’t see any, but we saw some wonderful views.

There were numerous people walking up here and you can probably see that Offa’s Dyke Path is well worn and, therefore, easy to see and follow.

There were plenty of wild flowers about and we saw this Tormentil and Gorse on the way up.

From the ridge you can look across to the Black Mountains and even as far as the Malvern Hills, with uninterrupted English and Welsh countryside landscapes all around.

Look out for the Victorian racecourse that sits atop Hergest and imagine the thrills and spills as the horses galloped around the track. As we approached the summit we could see the Monkey Puzzle Trees ahead. This area is part of the Hergest Estate and the trees were planted by one of the owners having seen similar trees growing on mountain tops in Chile in the early 1990’s.

You should also see the Whetstone near the summit, a natural stone, which in medieval times was used as a place to distribute food to people suffering from leprosy. Legend has it that the stone rolled down to Hindwell Brook each time it heard a cock crow. but it doesn’t attempt to explain how it managed to get back up the hill again.

Amanda giving an idea of the stone’s size.
The Whetstone and the Monkey Puzzle Trees.

On the way down we noticed this tree in blossom. Although the blossom is pink we think that it’s a Blackthorn.

This was an easy and very pleasant walk on a warm sunny day.

High & Low – First Trip of 2021

High & Low – First Trip of 2021

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This trip took place on 30th March 2021 and this Blog Post is obviously late and there will probably a few more posts that will also be late.

Welsh travelling rules have recently been relaxed so it was time for a day out. We weren’t going far, just 16 miles to the high ground near Newtown and although the road is a typical narrow, winding Welsh backroad it didn’t take us long. We parked in the little free car park at the start of the Kerry Ridgeway which runs for about 15 miles to Bishops Castle although we weren’t going anywhere near the distance.

This is where we stopped and shows the Knighton-Newtown road with the little car park to the right and the start of the Kerry Ridgeway path along the side of the road. The Kerry Ridgeway is one of the oldest paths in Wales probably from the time of the Bronze Age.

We started up the path and soon reached the bend where the path turns away from the road and continues uphill.

As we had started from high ground we had good views almost instantly although it was very hazy.

We walked further along the path looking for the Cross Dyke and soon found it. We couldn’t really miss it could we?

The Cross Dyke, just beyond that wooden post, crosses our path and the next picture shows the twin banks heading downhill towards Newtown and the following picture shows them running down to cross our path and join the top picture of the two below.

The Cross Dyke marks an ancient boundary long since forgotten but, rather like Offa’s Dyke, they took a lot of trouble and effort to build it.

Nearby are the Two Tumps which are Bronze Age burial mounds. There is one on the left, just poking above the far horizon, and one to the right of that, and a little further back, with the far horizon just showing over the top.

We headed further up the path as far as this viewing point which has information, hill names etc., to identify what you can see around you.

It was now time to leave the Kerry Ridgeway, as we had more to do, so we headed back down the path admiring the views on the way.

Along the path I spotted a small area of tiny flowers and there is also a daisy to give a scale. Difficult to identify precisely because there are so many different varieties but it probably is a member of the Whitlow-grass group.

We soon arrived back at the car having been serenaded by Skylarks along the way. We drove towards Knighton for no more than a half-mile and parked in a large layby next to a landscape feature know as ‘The Ring’.

The Ring is a geographical feature caused by the River Teme eroding the bank and causing the higher ground to collapse and then the collapsed soil to be washed away. This picture was taken from road level on a previous occasion and the river is partly in flood producing this waterfall.

On this trip it was relatively dry with little water flowing.

This is the Ring itself. It’s called ‘The Ring’ because it is shaped like a large semi-circular amphitheatre.

We decided that we needed to climb down to look more closely at the waterfall which was at the bottom. It is not safe to climb down just anywhere because the sides are generally far too steep. So we had to visually plot a route down and then set off. The route we followed proved to be quite easy and it didn’t take us long to reach the river.

There was just a trickle of water over the waterfall, which is a pity, so we shall, perhaps, have to try again sometime when it is a bit wetter.

This is the River Teme, the same River Teme that flows through Knighton, heading off from the waterfall down the valley towards Knighton and we now hope to do the same. All we have to do is get back up to the road. We did that without incident, although slower than coming down.

The end of our short, but interesting, trip.

Kington Kaleidoscope.

Kington Kaleidoscope.

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We went to Hergest Croft Gardens again recently to see how the autumn colours were progressing and to say that we were blown away, if I might use the vernacular, would be an understatement. The colours were astonishing!

Having looked around the main gardens we walked across ‘The Park’ to ‘Park Wood’, both of which are parts of the Hergest Croft Estate, and we went as far as the Pond. I’ll leave you to be the judge of these scenes.

And now we see Amanda in a blue jacket and red trousers with matching tree.

Having walked on the path around the pond, and its upper valley, we were walking back towards the Pond when we saw this.

We haven’t seen anything like it before. It was a series of trunks arranged in a circle around a central trunk and the trunk material looked to be the consistency of cucumber; nothing like wood. The growth at the top of each trunk was something like feathery leaves. The trunks have obviously been deliberately cut back as part of some sort of maintenance. I’m hoping that someone from Hergest Croft will see this and tell us what it is.

( Hergest Croft later told us that it is a Gunnera i.e. Giant Rhubarb.)

Personally I think that it is a Triffid.

We then left Park Wood and walked back across The Park, which looked lovely in the sunshine, towards the main garden.

Having got back to the main garden we saw, on the ground, a lot of large leaves from a nearby vine of some sort and I have deliberately included my boot to give an idea of scale.

Well that was a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting visit. They haven’t seen the last of us yet!

Ross and Moss – Day 2

Ross and Moss – Day 2

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Before I get on to the account of today’s travels there is one thing I forgot to include in yesterday’s post.

When we were walking along Spruce Ride in the Forest of Dean we saw lots of dead Dor beetles (Dung beetles) and there must have been hundreds of them littering the ground. They don’t have a very long life span and these have probably died naturally but it seemed strange that we couldn’t see any live ones.

Then we started to see an occasional live beetle so there were some live ones about. I found one, alive but on its back, so I picked it up.

So, on to today.

We woke to another sunny day and, having had a tasty breakfast, drove off to our next destination and parked. One of the reasons that we came here was that I first drove here 65 years ago. Then it was a case of parking in a convenient space (not that many cars about then) and walking a short distance but now there is a huge car park (pay and display) together with a cafe. There is then a footpath from the car park which goes over the road on this footbridge.

The path then continues for a short distance to this viewpoint.

So what are they, and us, looking at? It’s this, the famous view from Symonds Yat Rock showing a U-bend in the River Wye. All of this so far is in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire but that view is across the border into Herefordshire so we are virtually standing on the border here.

My goodness, how everything has changed since my last visit except the view – at least that is still the same. The whole area has the atmosphere of a famous, bustling, tourist attraction, which I suppose it is now, but back then it was no such thing.

Making our way back to the car park we made a slight detour to see a different view in a different direction but it is still the River Wye.

Having had our fill of the view we went back, near the hotel, to look at another two lakes in the forest known as Cannop Ponds. This next picture is of the southern-most lake and the second picture is the northern-most lake. We walked from the far end of the southern lake to the join between the two lakes.

The first lake was much quieter with very few people but the second lake was quite busy and that could be because there is a large car park there.

After a pleasant walk we drove back to the hotel, parked and then had some lunch in the Orangery Restaurant. That decided us to try this restaurant for dinner tonight.

After lunch we walked to the Cyril Hart Aboretum which borders the hotel. I haven’t been a great fan of arboreta until I visited this one and that changed my mind.

On the way to the arboretum we went across this small area where the turf had been badly damaged and were wondering what might have caused this. We reasoned that it was probably caused by wild boar, which roam the forest, digging with their tusks in search of food.

The arboretum is certainly picturesque and is full of interest. One aspect that notices is the variety of leaf colour from the different trees.

There are some very large trees here and if you want big leaves then we can do big leaves.

Those leaves are HUGE and they are on a Norway Maple. This next view I thought was rather picturesque too and showed some of the larger trees.

This attractive and colourful little tree is a Spindle Tree.

We spent quite a time here, particularly as Amanda likes trees, and then went back to the hotel to prepare for dinner. As I said earlier we planned to eat in the Orangery Restaurant which is a lovely light and bright room with a menu which is quite different from the Verderers Restaurant we ate in yesterday.

The menu was different enough that it included these. Amanda is sitting opposite me and this sundae is big enough to hide her and her sundae. YUM!

What a delightful end to a delightful day.