Wednesday – Leominster – Heavy dark clouds move across the sky during the morning but by early afternoon although large cumulus clouds still move slowly eastwards. The sun is now beating down and it is getting hot. The footbridge over the railway is still closed. There is obviously little effort to do a rapid job to ensure the national footpath which runs over this bridge is accessible. Into Pinsley Mill. Flowering Rosebay Willowherb stands high inside the railway. Bees move from flower to flower. Brambles have an extraordinarily heavy crop of young blackberries which will be ripe in maybe a month’s time. Meadowsweet is coming into flower.
Into the Millennium orchard. A Chiffchaff calls, more of a chiff-chiff-chiff than than chiff-chaff. A Buddleia is in flower but sadly there is not a single butterfly on it. A large patch of Greater Knapweed is attracting bees, hoverflies and a few Meadow Brown butterflies. A Ringlet is in the grass. The Peace Garden has been mowed but there are still large stands of Stinging Nettles. The River Kenwater is very shallow.
A Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, investigates every floret of a small White Clover in the graveyard.
Friday – Leominster – Despite a brisk wind and some “Simpsons clouds”, it is getting very warm in the afternoon. A Red Kite circles over The Grange. Into Pinsley Road. A large Buddleia is in blossom and several Peacock and Red Admiral butterflies are feeding. The Rowan trees in front of the west end of the priory church are heavy with berries. Scarlet Pimpernels grow profusely around the weathered graves by the west wall.
Down The Priory to Priory Bridge. The River Kenwater is crystal clear but seemingly lifeless. Through Bridge Street car park, formerly site of the town gasometers. A Great Black-backed Gull flies through, not a common sight here. The flower bed with the model Ryeland sheep and apples tree has a fine display of multi-coloured Thrift, bellflowers in purple and white, Coral Bells and Verbenas, all attracting a good number of bees and a Painted Lady butterfly.
Home – I check out the gooseberry bush that is near the pond. This area is a mess and some Brambles need removing soon, as they are spreading far and wide. The gooseberries are not ripe yet. So no fruit and then time wasted removing Cleavers and grass seeds from my clothing!
The crippled Jackdaw is still in the garden. S/he disappears into the bushes when anyone approaches. I think s/he has a deformed leg as well as difficulty in flying.
Sunday – Leominster – Dark clouds cover much of the sky, but the forecasts insist there is little or no rain for at least a week. There is a cooling breeze though. Across the Grange. Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons fly over, more pigeons are calling from the rooftops and a Wren is singing loudly from a garden. A large bed of flowering lavender is by the old school; it is being visited by numerous bees.
Into Mill Street. The road either side of the level crossing has finally been resurfaced, filling the large deep potholes that have been there for some considerable time. Pond Skaters have at last arrived on the River Lugg under Ridgemore Bridge. The caterpillar-tracked machine that removes the surface of the road is sitting in the lay-by. A bitumen tanker is in the petrol station car park. The market is larger than last week.
Home - I start clearing the path along the west wall. Various small branches are cut off. The gooseberry needs tying back. A couple of large Elder saplings are removed along with a Damson. A smaller Horse Chestnut is removed and some Willow stems. A few potatoes are dug for dinner along with even fewer mange tout peas and broad beans.
Hoppy the one-legged Jackdaw is getting tamer. It searches around the base of the feeders, flicking over leaves. A large Brown Rat appears by the Wellingtonia stump. The Jackdaw and rat ignore one another. Young, pale Blue Tits visit the feeders.
Monday – Home – The air is warm despite a breeze and quite a lot of cloud. The nettle patch at the end of the garden is rather a mess, over tall Stinging Nettles, unwelcome Black Bryony and Brambles. So I decide to have a clear out. About a third of the patch fills two large sacks and I have enough nettle stings for today.
Leominster – Across the Grange. Swifts scream overhead. A Wood Pigeon calls from one of the large trees in front of Grange Court. Few people are relaxing on the Grange. Through the town. It is early afternoon and getting hot.
Wednesday – Home – The heatwave continues and seemingly for some time yet! Yesterday and today completes the clearing of the Stinging Nettle bed. Brambles are removed as far as possible, but many go deep into the stony ground. In the heat of the afternoon, the broad beans are cleared apart from a couple of late planted ones. It has been a decent enough crop this year. The Tagetes, French Marigolds that have flowered in the bean bed seem to have been very successful in keeping blackfly away. Everything is suffering from the heat. A couple of courgette plants have very droopy leaves, but hopefully they will recover when the sun moves away and they get watered this evening. They are beginning to crop well. Unsurprisingly the potatoes are not doing well. The tops are now dying and the tubers underneath are small and few in number. They really needed watering heavily a few weeks ago and regularly since, but I do not water potatoes.
Kay has picked another large bowl of raspberries and the greengages are looking good but some time off ripeness yet. We now have a freezer drawer filled with this year’s raspberries, another filled with last year’s strawberries, plums and raspberries and yet another still with a number of trays of greengage purée also from last year.
Friday – Leominster – The heat goes on. The sky is cloudless. The temperature is again above 30°C. Swifts swirl around high above, screaming as usual, fattening up for the journey south which will begin soon. Down to Pinsley Mill. Despite the heat, Wrens and a Goldfinch are in song. The lower seed pods on Rosebay Willowherbs are already turning to white silky plumes. Blackberries are ripening to red. In the orchard the umbellifers are rapidly turning to seed. Likewise the Meadow Cranesbills live up to their name with the circular seed heads and long beaks. The Priory rector and organist stride past.
In the park, half a dozen Peacock butterflies are taking advantage of the last of the rich purple Buddleia flowers. Bees and Meadow Browns are on the Black Knapweeds. Yarrow is in flower. A Chiffchaff’s call is half-hearted. Several rabbits are on Pinsley Mead, which is somewhat unusual at this time of day. The River Kenwater gets ever more shallow. A Red Admiral butterfly visits Bindweed on the far bank. It is joined by a Beautiful Demoiselle, Calopteryx virgo. A young River’s Early Prolific plum tree on Pinsley Mead has a good crop but they are still hard and rather sour. The nearby greengage also has a fair crop but these too have some time to go until ripeness.
Into the churchyard. It looks like it will be a fairly prolific year for beech mast. Lots of people with young children are entering the priory church. At last there is a slight breeze and cloud are forming. A House Sparrow chirps.
The night remains warm, making sleeping somewhat unpleasant.
Sunday – Leominster – Some clouds and a breeze make the morning slightly cooler but the sun is still blazing down. Across the Grange and into Pinsley Road. Painted Lady butterflies are chasing around with shrubbery and down the tarmac. Past the old school where butterflies are flitting around the shrubbery, more Painted Ladies, Meadow Browns and Small Whites. Over the Priory Bridge and along Paradise Walk. The River Kenwater is crystal clear and very shallow. Along Mill Street and over Ridgemoor Bridge. The River Lugg is also very shallow and crystal clear with a shingle bank appearing on one place.
The market is not at maximum size but fairly busy. The cereal crop in the adjoining field is now golden and must be close to harvest.
Two large lorries carrying sheep pull into the petrol station car park. Back along Paradise Walk. Chiffchaffs call from either side of the Kenwater. Long-tailed Tits chatter as they move through the trees. Yelping Lesser Black-backed Gulls are circling high above. Two decent sized Brown Trout swim under Priory Bridge. Past the west end of the priory church. Purple Loosestrife flowers on a patch of uncut ground and is being visited by large bumblebees.
Home – The air is heating rapidly. Some weeds are removed. Rampant vines and pruned and piled into the chicken run. The gooseberry by the pond is rather disappointing this year. A few more potatoes are dug.
Ivy is hanging in a large bunch over the path beyond the back wall. I cut as many trunks of it as I can find. Hopefully it will die back a bit and I will then pull it off the top of the wall.
Tuesday – Home – The temperature rises throughout the morning. Kay has a beautiful display of flowers both in front of the house and on the patio by the backdoor. Bees have been visiting regularly and this morning a Hummingbird Hawk Moth is feeding on those in the street. Its wings are a blur as its long tongue investigates the flowers. On the meadow, Gatekeeper, Small White and Meadow Brown butterflies are on the Black Knapweeds. A Painted Lady flies up from the museum roof.
Some compost is dug and sieved and emptied into a couple of troughs. Basil seedlings are picked out into the troughs. There are a couple of spare climbing beans in the greenhouse, so they fill in the bean stick bed where some have failed. A large number of Groundsel are growing here, so they are pulled up and fed to the hens.
The dwarf French beans are heavy with pods. Courgettes are now growing rapidly and in good numbers. I need to pick some of the Gladstone apples. Their texture is not good but it seems wrong to waste them. The Marjorie Pippin plum has some decent bunches on one side but little else. It looks like an Elder is encroaching on it and probably needs removing – a big job. I intend to strim the other side of the orchard but screws have fallen out of the housing that holds the starter cord. Fortunately, I am able to buy some replacements but the strimming will have to wait.
Most evenings large flocks of Jackdaws fly around the area making a horrendous din. They are also vocal in the morning although it is usually yelping gulls and persistently calling Wood Pigeons that wake me.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – My first visit to Bodenham since last November. The sheep field at the entrance is overgrown with nettles and thistles. A conifer in the field is dying, three Carrion Crows sit at the top. Sky is covered in cloud and there is a stiff breeze making it far cooler than recent days. Teasels stand high by the car park, their heads already gone to seed. Grasses along the track are parched. Many of the younger trees are showing signs of stress. Wood Pigeons are the only birds calling apart from the Peacock at Bodenham Manor on the hill.
Unsurprisingly, the water level in the lake is low. Large areas of the islands are exposed. Purple Loosestrife flowers at the waters edge. Greylags are on the far side. A few Mallard are around the islands, quacking weakly. A number of Canada Geese are around the water, surprising quiet. Pond Skaters are zipping across the surface. Water Mint flowers where the lake overflows. Creeping Thistle leaves are shrivelled.
Into the meadow. A few blackberries are ripe but the majority are a few weeks off. A large patch of Field Bindweed covers an area in bright white lights. Into the hide. One of the Mason wasps, Ancistrocerus species is on the window. The number of Greylags on the lake has increased considerably over the last year. Half a dozen Cormorants are on the Purple Loosestrife covered spit. A Grey Heron is nearby. A Kingfisher darts past the island. Canada Geese, again very quiet, glide across the water. A pair of Great Crested Grebes and a pair of Tufted Duck drift past. A pair of Mute Swans are in front of the southern hide. A pair of Coot squabble as usual. The Grey Heron flies across the lake, grunting. The Willows and Gorse have grown considerably, beginning to obscure the views from the hide. Various bumblebees visit the Black Knapweeds in front of the hide. Most of the St John’s Wort here has gone to seed.
Back to the meadow. A long stretch of the hedge between the meadow and the fields leading up to Westfield Wood has been cut down and re-layed. The field is another that seems unused being covered in thistles, Dock and Ragwort. A Green Woodpecker calls from the wood. Further on the remaining Blackthorns have a good crop of sloes on it.
Into the cider apple orchard. The crop looks very mixed, some have a decent number of fruits, other very few. The same applies in the dessert Apple orchard. A Walnut has a fair crop. The Irish Peach, a reliably early apple had died. Another Green Woodpecker yaffles.
Thursday – South of The Wye – We visit some churches to the south west of the city of Hereford. The air is getting hot, again! We start at Old Clehonger which I visited a couple of years ago. The 17th century cottage next to the churchyard still looks abandoned. The church is locked. A Holly tree is covered in Ivy and a Bramble has grown 20 plus feet up the tree.
Eaton Bishop. The name means settlement by the water owned by the bishop. It was held by Harold Godwinson pre-Conquest and became afterwards the property of the Bishops of Hereford. The church of St Michael and All Angels is largely 13th century. There was a pre-Conquest church here which was rebuilt in the 11th century. The roofline of this church can still be seen on the wall at the west end of the nave. The tower was probably part of the Saxon church but rebuilt by the Bishop of Hereford in the 12th century and restored in 1927. The font is 13th century, with the addition of a Victorian bowl. The pulpit is a wineglass design, with carved wooden panels. In the chancel is a 14th century sedilia composed of three bays. The 422 pipe organ, built by Eustace Ingram of Hereford, was installed in 1888. In the north aisle is a monument of “Suffer the Children” dedicated to Lady Irva Keenan Pulley, born in Illinois in 1872 and died in 1942. In the apse is a monument to Richard Sneade dated 1714. Pevsner calls the putti “ugly”.
The glass in this church some of the finest in the country, indeed Pevsner calls it the finest. It is dated to 1330 to 1340 from the Lombardic inscription would refers to Adam Murimuth, “cantor”. He was likely Herefordshire born and was appointed as cantor of Exeter cathedral in 1328. His connection to Eaton Bishop is unknown. It is extraordinary that this glass, which contains three crucifixions, has survived given the iconoclasm of the 16th and 17th centuries. However there have been references suggesting the glass was removed and stored and re-mounted at a later date. It is likely that a number of pieces have been wrongly placed but this hardly detracts from the beauty of the great east window. There is further mediaeval glass in the South and North chancel windows.
Across the road from the church entrance is the former rectory, an early 18th century house with earlier origins. Adjoined to it is the Manor House, an 18th century house which had three storeys until the top one was removed in 1957.
Madley. Our route passes Honeymoor Common and crosses Stone (Stoney) Street, part of Watling Street from Vircononium (Wroxeter) to Isca Silurum (Caerleon). We visited in 2011. The church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary has several windows containing mediaeval glass but in a mainly jumbled re-mounting of the 18th century. Most the pews have been removed and replaced with chairs in various formations. It gives the church a strangely empty feeling. An wooden eagle lectern is mounted by steps which have been pushed against a pillar rendering them inaccessible.
Friday – Hereford – High cloud filters the sun a little but does not do much to slow the rising temperature. It has been many years since I last visited St Bartholomew’s church, it was locked then and is locked now. A large group of Swifts scream as they fly low over the church roof. The large former rectory, expanded in the 19th century into a striking red-brick structure by architect George Haddon, is now a care home. A terrace of cottages and a barn lead down to the junction of the Roman road. Along the Roman Road westwards. An overhanging damson has near ripe fruit. Holmer Hall is a lone 19th century building among the 20th century developments.
A public footpath follows Ayles Brook along the side of the racecourse. The brook is just a trickle. Thistles and a single Great Mullein grow on top of the bank. The brook disappears into a culvert under the racecourse. A few Swallows twitter as they feed overhead. The track leaves the race course by the scout hut. Into Highmore Street, a mixture of houses from the 1850s through to the 21st century.
Into Grandstand Road then Yazor Road. A bus shelter advertises the fact it has a sedum roof. To the east is the vast poultry processing plant and Bulmer’s cider factory. Many of the trees along the road are showing signs of stress with number of dead branches.
A footpath follows Yazor Brook towards the city centre. A Blackcap sings. A Bridge crosses the brook. Inevitably the water level is very low. Three Beautiful Demoiselles chase. Small White butterflies pass. Under another bridge is a concrete weir known as a splitter weir. This is the point where the Yazor Brook becomes known as the Widemarsh Brook. A 1606 map shows that a leat had been taken off to feed the moat that run just outside the city walls at “Eygne Gate”. Water runs into Widemarsh Brook but Yazor Brook is now completely dry. A Goldfinch sings. The land to the north of the path, between here and Widemarsh Brook is a mass of Brambles and roses with Tansy, Black Bryony, Creeping Thistles and Weld in flower. Further on a majority of the Thistle heads have turned white fluff. Blackberries here are ripening rapidly.
Path arrives at the cider brewery. It still says HP Bulmer over the doorway, everywhere else the true owners signs are displayed, Heineken. Into Plough Lane and past the Herefordshire Council offices. Along Whitecross Road and into Eign Street. A building is derelict. Nearby is the former Victoria Eye Hospital. Opposite the United Reform church is for sale. Under the ring road and into Bewell Street. A good many shops are empty. High Town is busy and very hot. I retreat to The Barrels for a pint before catching the bus home.
– Leominster – Heavy dark clouds move across the sky during the morning but by early afternoon although large cumulus clouds still move slowly eastwards. The sun is now beating down and it is getting hot. The footbridge over the railway is still closed. There is obviously little effort to do a rapid job to ensure the national footpath which runs over this bridge is accessible. Into Pinsley Mill. Flowering Rosebay Willowherb stands high inside the railway. Bees move from flower to flower. Brambles have an extraordinarily heavy crop of young blackberries which will be ripe in maybe a month’s time. Meadowsweet is coming into flower.
Down The Priory to Priory Bridge. The River Kenwater is crystal clear but seemingly lifeless. Through Bridge Street car park, formerly site of the town gasometers. A Great Black-backed Gull flies through, not a common sight here. The flower bed with the model Ryeland sheep and apples tree has a fine display of multi-coloured Thrift, bellflowers in purple and white, Coral Bells and Verbenas, all attracting a good number of bees and a Painted Lady butterfly.
the umbellifers are rapidly turning to seed. Likewise the Meadow Cranesbills live up to their name with the circular seed heads and long beaks. The Priory rector and organist stride past.
Mint flowers where the lake overflows. Creeping Thistle leaves are shrivelled.
churchyard still looks abandoned. The church is locked. A Holly tree is covered in Ivy and a Bramble has grown 20 plus feet up the tree.
which was rebuilt in the 11th century. The roofline of this church can still be seen on the wall at the west end of the nave. The tower was probably part of the Saxon church but rebuilt by the Bishop of Hereford in the 12th century and restored in 1927. The font is 13th century, with the addition of a Victorian bowl. The pulpit is a wineglass design, with carved wooden panels. In the chancel is a 14th century sedilia composed of three bays. The 422 pipe organ, built by Eustace Ingram of Hereford, was installed in 1888. In the north aisle is a monument of “Suffer the Children” dedicated to Lady Irva Keenan Pulley, born in Illinois in 1872 and died in 1942. In the apse is a monument to Richard Sneade dated 1714. Pevsner calls the putti “ugly”.
The glass in this church some of the finest in the country, indeed Pevsner calls it the finest. It is dated to 1330 to 1340 from the Lombardic inscription would refers to Adam Murimuth, “cantor”. He was likely Herefordshire born and was appointed as cantor of Exeter cathedral in 1328. His connection to Eaton Bishop is unknown. It is extraordinary that this glass, which contains three crucifixions, has survived given the iconoclasm of the 16th and 17th centuries. However there have been references suggesting the glass was removed and stored and re-mounted at a later date. It is likely that a number of pieces have been wrongly placed but this hardly detracts from the beauty of the great east window. There is further mediaeval glass in the South and North chancel windows.
Into Grandstand Road then Yazor Road. A bus shelter advertises the fact it has a sedum roof. To the east is the vast poultry processing plant and Bulmer’s cider factory. Many of the trees along the road are showing signs of stress with number of dead branches.