Woolly says – It was a dull and drizzly day which at least made a change from the torrential rain that we had in abundance in the weeks before, as we set off for the days outing, I just hoped that the sun might find us at some point. We’d found out about a new Sculpture Trail in the city of Hereford a 3 ¾ mile walk, which we were excited to try it out with a view to recommending it to our glamping guests.
With booklet in paw, we arrived at the starting point at Hereford Town Hall, the foundation stone for the current building was laid by Princess Beatrice on 13th May 1902. It was designed by Henry Cheers in an Edwardian Baroque style with terracotta facings by W. J. Bowers and was completed in 1904. It was a fine building with lots to take in, I stuck my trunk into the entrance which was very grand with its plasterwork, large wooden doors and plagues celebrating the various royals that have been there.
Passing through a passageway we arrived at the rear of the building and the start of the trail. Our first find was of No 5 Harely Court a curiously shaped house with large Georgian windows that had been home to Alfred Watkins a ‘Leylines’ person. I wasn’t sure what a leyline was but after a quick search through my Mammoth Book of Facts I found this – Ley lines are straight alignments drawn between various historic structures, prehistoric sites and prominent landmarks. The idea was developed in early 20th-century Europe, with ley line believers arguing that these alignments were recognised by ancient societies that deliberately erected structures along them. Since the 1960s, members of the Earth Mysteries movement and other esoteric traditions have commonly believed that such ley lines demarcate “earth energies” and serve as guides for alien spacecraft.
Not wishing to encounter aliens I hurried towards our next place and our first sculpture that of Sir Edward Elgar leaning on his bicycle which had been called Mr Phoebus which was a terrific name for a bike. Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO was born on 2nd June 1857 in the nearby city of Worcester was an English composer, among his best known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the King’s Musick in 1924. He lived in Hereford from 1904 until 1911 and the city has very much adopted him.
Waving goodbye to the gent we turned left and found ourselves at one of the huge entrances to Hereford Cathedral where we had previously been, several minutes passed as Jo and I re read the instructions and looked around us before the human asked for help from a passing person who directed us back to Mr Elgar and his bike and round to the opposite side of the Cathedral grounds.
Back on course we quickly found St Ethelbert Well, a cast iron drinking fountain with a 14th century sculpted head. We carried on up Castle Hill passing Nelsons Column that Thomas Hardwick had built in 1809 and passing the bowling club as per the directions. Jo then stopped looking puzzled, I trotted back to find her wondering how we were to go right when there was only a path to the left, shrugging our shoulders we headed left stopping to ask if the nice couple passing us had any idea where the Old Hospital Swans were, they had no idea but pointed us towards a large building telling us that it was the former hospital so they might be there.
We arrived at the drive into the former infirmary to find large signs telling us that it was private property, we could see what looked like a sculpture in the distance and after a few moments’ hesitation decided to risk racing down the drive taking a picture and running back.
I was rather puzzled about this, did the council expect all number of tourists following the trail to encroach on a private area? It didn’t sit well but our plan worked, and we strode quickly away before anyone could tell us off.
Woolly says – We continued along the route turning right into Nelson Street and continuing along Harold Street and I had to wonder why we were walking through a residential area, Alfie the Dog however was impressed with all the gate posts he could wee against. Our instructions told us to note the sign on the Volunteer Inn a small pub which we did. It told us that in 1914 and 1939 officers and soldiers had marched from there into war, it wasn’t a sculpture, but it was lovely to see that respect was still shown for those that fought for us.
We carried on past more houses which was boring until we reached a point where we should have gone straight on to Outfall Works Road only to find that it was currently just a council work in progress with the whole lane blocked off. A path to the right led us into a nature reserve and we could just see the presence of a bridge across a couple of fields so diverted off course to what we hoped would be the next sculpture.
Barking Boy enjoyed his romp across the fields before we arrived at Greenway Bridge, well we thought it was Greenway, but a sign told us it was Canary Bridge, Jo and I looked at each other and decided to risk it in the hope that we were in the right place. As a modern suspension bridge it was quite impressive, we paused to look at river Wye and the former home of Mr and Mrs Elgar which was situated on the other side of the railway bridge.
Following the path we finally arrived at the most impressive sculpture so far, in fact there were three of them. One of Elgar and his famous bike, one of Violette Szabo a special operation executive during the second world war and the first women to be awarded a George Cross and last but not least Josie Pearson who grow up locally and was an England wheelchair rugby player who took gold in the 2012 Paralympics. The three together were known as the local hero’s and it was lovely to see them recognised.
Retracing our steps as per the guide we arrived back over the bridge and into the field one more, we paused to ask a lovely lady to check we were in the right place and had a fantastic chat about living life to the full, travel and all things blogging before heading onwards. We crossed the fields and were delighted to find ourselves at the right street as we emerged from the greenery. We paused as Jo consulted the directions and stood shaking her head, I snatched them off her and also read them before realising that we were both equally confused. Our understanding led us to believe that if we followed them, we would be back to walking past all the houses again which was a waste of steps so we chose to ignore them and go directly to Victoria Bridge which we knew was not far away and formed the next part of the walk.
Victoria Bridge is a foot bridge that opened in 1898 to commemorate the 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The suspension bridge features iron lacework and was built to replace an earlier ferry across the river, it is classified as a Grade II structure. It was wonderful and having raced back and cross it several times we stopped to admire the stone memorial for King Georges Park from 1936. Next to it was a sculpture entitled A Fish’s Eye View which was made of swirly metal.
Back to the route and given that we were already over the 3 3/4 miles advertised we decided to skip the sunken galleon in favour of getting Alfie the Dog back to the car in one piece and set off along the riverbank.
Keeping our eyes peeled we arrived at the Mappa Mundi Labyrinth, which was basically some mowed grass circles, we moved on, the instructions told us that Dan the Bulldog was a ‘few more paces’ it wasn’t it was hundreds of paces but Dan although looking very weathered now was finally in our sights. Dan was in fact the inspiration for Elgars composition Variations on an Original Theme due to him falling into the river on a walk on which Elgar had been on with him. Our mucky mutt was delighted to befriend Dan before Jo dragged him away.
We headed towards the next bridge and crossed over as per the guide taking the first right into what we hoped was Gwynne Street, there wasn’t a sign, so we just kept things crossed that we were in the right place. A handy eatery was right in front of us and for once I didn’t have to prompt the human to think about my stomach as she led the way in and slumped down at a table for a much needed rest. Lunch consumed we chatted to a lovely gentleman who had come over to admire Alfie the Dog, as the humans talked old dog care, travel, blogging and all manner of other things the mutt and I dozed in the sunshine that had finally graced us with its presence. Ready to carry on we double checked our location which was correct and headed off to find the birthplace plaque of Nell Gwynne.
Eleanor Gwyn (2nd February 1650 to 14th November 1687), also spelled Gwynn and Gwynne, was an English stage actress and celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stage, she became best known for being a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England (c. April 1668 to 6th February 1685). The plaque was there and with a picture taken we headed onwards finding ourselves back at the Cathedral looking for the Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, a stone mosaic which was badly faded but still there.
We turned right along Victoria Street and went along Gunners Lane which tuned out to a very very busy main road with nothing to recommend it as a walking route. Finally turning into Eign Gate we were greeted by lots of greenery amongst the shops, Jo re read the leaflet asking me why we had just walked a long way round when we could have walked straight up the road from the Cathedral, I had no answer except that my paws ached. I smiled up and tried to cheer her up with a ‘it can’t be much further now’ comment, she grunted, and we continued.
The guide told us to keep ahead and turn right to find King Offa, but there was no right unless we went back down to the cathedral it also mentioned All Saints Church which we were stood at telling us to turn right and left at it for some sails. I looked down at poor old Alfie who with his ancient legs was struggling to go anywhere now and ignoring the instructions and the add on that the guide gave us of some gardens and headed to the Hereford Bull.
Woolly says – The large bronze was fabulous and in a contest with the Birmingham bull would take the best in show prize, having climbed over and under him we took a picture of the famous Black and White house which we had been inside on a previous visit and headed to the war memorial.
The 1922 War Memorial was great with small figurines at the top representing different military that had fought for us. Across the road was our final sculpture standing in front of what looked like a disused guild hall, the statue of Sir George Cornewall Lewis who had been an MP for Herefordshire, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary in his lifetime. A quick picture and we staggered the last few steps to the town hall. Five and a half miles after leaving we arrived back at the car with only a few minutes left on the parking ticket and gratefully reclined into the comfy car seats. Alfie the dog hadn’t the energy to get onto the back seat and merely zonked out in the foot well, as Jo started the engine I asked if we were going to be recommending the new trail to our guests, my question was met with laughter and the response ‘Nooooo, we want to see our guests come back not be left wandering the city for days in the quest to follow the complete route’.