Hereford Cathedral - part 1

 A good start to the day - NOT - my week old mouse just died on me so I've had to order another and then learn how to scan a copy of the bar code to return it - I just take it to Llandod (would rather stick in an envelope and save the fuel!) and they scan the code and package it etc.  More technology!  I had to use my card to pay for parking in Hereford yesterday, having mindfully bought something with a £10 note so I had plenty of change for parking!  I am being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century.  Update - couldn't do anything with the touch pad on the computer - it was SO slow going through the photos, so I shot to Llandod to return the old mouse and got the LAST mouse in Tesco (left because it was £20!! There was no price on it but I was desperate.)

Beautiful Hereford Cathedral.

I could do a whole post JUST on the stained glass, and another JUST on the late Medieval stone memorials. I am kicking myself for not buying a guide book because I had seen one here recently.  Darned if I can remember in which bookcase now!

Lift up thine eyes.

The beautiful font and its setting.  I did take a photo of one of the little lions? but it wasn't sharp enough to share.

The nave was lined with shrines of the great and good in Hereford's history.  Quite a few were sans faces - down to Cromwell's troops one assumes.

As you can see, I was having a bad day with focusing the camera.  This was partly down to rushing to be back to Keith, and partly me worried about paying to get out of the car park as I hadn't noticed the payment area on the way out and didn't want to get my knickers in a twist having to pay on the way out with card.  Above was the tomb of St Thomas Pembridge anyway.  

Beautiful carvings when you looked up and of course, amazing Norman architecture.

Above and below this is the wonderful SAS Memorial called Ascension.  It was unveiled in 2017.  The glass is beautiful - now that is GOOD modern stained glass.  It was created by Royal Academy Sculptor John Maine.  The glass was assembled in Germany by Derix using 4,000 pieces of European glass in 40 different colours.   A wonderful tribute to those brave men from the Regiment (which is based in Hereford).  HERE is a piece which describes it in detail.

Stupendous stained glass.  I wish I had paid more attention and noted what was what!

There will be more tomorrow - after the dash into Llandod, I spent the morning filling informs and my brain is a bit addled now.  HERE is a link to the timeline of the Cathedral.

Arriving tomorrow - a visit to Hereford Cathedral

 

A walk beside the Wye

 

This pleasant spot used to be Erwood Station, on the old Mid-Wales line which ran from Brecon to Llanidloes. This diesel engine dates from 1939, and there are also three carriages which form the Craft Centre premises.  The station house is still there too.  Radnorshire Wildlife Trust have a display there too, as this area is a small nature reserve.

A few Bluebells were in bloom in places, but it wasn't overwhelmed with them.

First Speckled Wood of the season.

Looking up towards Twyn-y-Garth.

A glimpse of the River Wye.

The path led along beside the river and when the nearby A470 had a gap in the traffic, the river's song was very soothing.

Waiting for the Physio's visit.  I think he will be shocked at how K has deteriorated.  The thyroid treatment has had no effect whatsoever (but it is so low it is little more than a placebo).

Sorry for the lack of words - I was awake for 5 hours in the night and my brain isn't really in residence.

Still only two Swallows (and they are either both female or both male as not mating). The 3 House Martins are nesting on the empty house across the lane I think.

Running on empty

 The Fair is all done and dusted (bar the unpacking).  It was a busy weekend although Sunday was quieter - perhaps because it was raining some people were put off.  Bargain Hunt were there too - Kate Bliss and the Blue Team shopping opposite us in the Back Sheds.

We set up at the Fair on the Friday, arriving around lunchtime and having a look round before setting out our wares.  Early-entry buyers come in and of course other dealers come round, hoping for a bargain, but we made no sales.  Keith had a good wander round, both in the bargain-basement wheelchair we had bought from the 2nd hand shop in town from sheer desperation as I wanted him to be able to go to the Fair too, but also a little bit on foot.  He overdid it, but managed, just about.  It was so good to see friends again and generally have a nosey about to see what other folk were selling, and the prices they had on things! This was a 26,000 steps day.

The top table on my stand.  Some big chunks of this attracted buyers.

Saturday was a killer.  No doubt about that, as it was a 12 1/2 hour day and we had to be there, ready to stand with our stock when the doors were unlocked at 7 a.m.  and until they shut at 6.30 p.m.  In the evening, never had the idea of a take-away Indian Meal been so appealing!  22,000 steps clocked up.

    Keith came along again but really overdid things trying to force himself to walk further - this did not work well and he has learned a lesson!  The fitness scheme that worked when he was 40 does not have the same outcome now . . .  He enjoyed himself though - bucked him up no end.

More "stuff" from pre-Covid times when I had my little business and  we did fairs regularly. There are a few bits less now, but I still have boxes and boxes here! 

We had plenty of floor space too.

Chairs used to be our stock in trade.  There are 3 fewer now.

I was intrigued by this ?Mongolian? saddle base on a rocking horse. At first I thought it was a McLellan (American) saddle but no, on closer inspection it wasn't.

Our nearest neighbours, where the Bargain Hunt team were filmed.  Really friendly folk.

A beautifully hand-quilted Welsh quilt.  Probably Carmarthenshire but I'm too tired to even go and get a quilt book (upstairs) to check the patterns.

These have a good look - brand new too.

Sorry, the flash didn't go off.  Gorgeous carved pieces here on a stall belonging to a friend of ours who bought the wonderful Charles I carvings from us.  He will put proper spikes in to take candles.

A good selection of paintings on another stall.

It was a very worthwhile weekend.  Another 22,000 steps clocked up yesterday.  I shan't be doing much today after the un packing is done.

So, Monday morning now and I am tired out before I even start!  I have to unpack the van now, on my own, as Tam is moving into her lovely flat with a sea view in Aberystwyth.  We hope she will be very happy there.

Enjoy the Bank Holiday folks.

Signing off for a few days as so busy

Forgive my absence (in advance) as I am going absolutely flat out with the preparation for the Fair but have 3 very long days of it so I shan't be able to write anything or check in.  Think 12 1/2 hour days out of the house.  Wishing everyone a lovely weekend. See you next week, which will also be very busy with 4 necessary meetings for me.

The amazing font at Castle Frome church, Herefordshire

 

This church was easy to find - I just left Ledbury on the Bromyard road, and then found the turning for it.  A quiet spot and once there was a nearby wooden motte and bailey castle on the high ground east of the church  and which was also the site of a Roman Camp (evidenced by the Hellebore still growing here - a plant always found at Roman sites because it was used as a purgitive.)  Bishop's Frome and Canon Frome villages got their names from being administered by the Canons of Llantony Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries.  In the Domesday Book, Castle Frome was Brismerfrum. (Many thanks to the little potted history of Castle Frome which I bought in the church for 50p.)

My photographs cannot even begin to match this superb one from the cover of Malcolm Thurlby's book "The Herefordshire School of Romanesque Sculpture".  

The church is very simple in layout and the font is at the back - you get a view of the nave and chancel here.

Two Eagles representing St John, and below, an amazing survival, the rough sculpture for it.

The vast font is supported by three figures in ribbed (quilted?) clothing.  Two are now sadly missing their heads.  The remaining one reminded me of a tortoise and its shell!  This is a similar design to that used in Wurtemberg, Germany.

A close-up of the face with the curly hair and beard and slightly bulging eyes, similar to designs at Kilpeck.

The Ox of St. Luke.

The Angel of St Matthew.

What I missed taking a photograph of is the baptism of Christ with a large footed John the Baptist and the widening ripples of a big pool of water.  It was rather dark in there though.  Must do my homework before I go to the next church.  I missed some interesting bits in the church at Ledbury too.  Slapped wrist!

This tomb is of the Unett family, and dates to 1656.  They were related by marriage through Elizabeth Clodeshalle (subsequently Deveraux) whose family had been granted the lordship of Castle Frome by Gilbert de Lacy in 1341. You can just see traces of the original paintwork.

This was the only wall memorial.  Also to members of the Unett family.

This church had a very comforting atmosphere.  I sat down for a while to think of what was happening in reality in my life right now, and my eyes filled with tears. Worry rather than self-pity.

This week I booked Keith in at the GP's again and we discussed the way forward - with worryingly-long waiting lists to see Consultants, we have decided on an initial private appointment with a Neurologist to try and get a proper assessment (although I think use it or lose it is to blame to some degree).  I realize we are very fortunate to be in a position to do this but it is only because we have a small nest egg from selling our last home, otherwise we would be at the bottom of the queue.  So, we shall see.

I have a very busy weekend ahead with a 3 day Fair - first day setting up but we can't leave until 7 p.m. when they lock the doors.  Then 6.30 Saturday and we can't start packing up until 5 on the Sunday.  Fortunately Tam is doing it with me as Keith hasn't the stamina right now.  I will be worrying about him at home all the time I am away, in case he should have a fall.  Friday night's meal will be courtesy of the Chippy  . . .  Worried about the Fair on all sorts of levels but I am sure it will work out OK, and we shall be wearing masks as so many people from across the country go there to buy and sell.

On a positive note, I have cleared the area where a veg bed of sorts was - the wooden edging was surrounded by about 20 years of ivy growth in a continuous loop and took some clearing.  I have gone back to the edge of the hedge now but still need to clear behind the stump, which will have a Clematis planted by it to grow over.  I have a couple in pots which haven't thrived so will put them in later.

The gardener came yesterday to cut the lawn.  I asked him to cut down the flowering cherry tree because it had obviously got long past its best - about half a dozen bits of bloom.  Being on a dry bank with its roots in rubble has done it no favours.  The Pieris will have more room now.  I was expecting the lawn to be done in an hour especially as he has a petrol mower.  It all went quiet out there and I found him cutting all the borders (ok they needed it) with edging shears.  At the end of 3 hours (!) he said that the quickest bit was cutting the lawn.  Well, yes, that was what I had wanted him to do.  The rest I could manage in my own time.  I'm afraid I will have to do it all myself in future as his fitness levels are lower than mine and it took him 3 hours to dig over quite a small area last time! 

Have a good weekend all.