16/01/21 - Bromyard and the Frome Valley

Distance - 7 Miles

Walk Inspiration - 100 Walks in Hereford and Worcestershire, Walk 89

Geocaches - 2

Welcome to Bromyard, the Jewel in the Downs, is the message from the signposts as you enter.

Certainly plenty of interest.

The Historical:  A house where Charles I stayed in 1645.

The Essential:  An independent butchers/cheesemongers and bakery.

The Redundant: Some fine looking pubs, including some half timbered C16th coaching houses and a Good Beer Guide back street boozer - the Rose and Lion - that I couldn't even bring myself to "look at what I could have won".

Starting in the town at 9am on a wet Saturday gave plenty of opportunity to explore this fascinating little place.  The reason for the early start?  The Black Country Derby.

Bromyard - A Pub Crawl in Waiting

With Blue Plaque Culture 

This 7 miler is a delight of a walk - that explores the Frome Valley through the sort of agricultural land that Herefordshire provides in abundance.  Lush green, gently sloping hills and when there's no orchards in uniform, there are hop frames.

Two things put an even broader smile on my lock down face.  Plenty of tarmac of farm drives and quiet country lanes and after a start through the miasma of low cloud, the sun burnt it away to provide gorgeous blues skies.

Grey Skies but no mud

Until the Sun burnt it all away

Always nice to return to a town and with nothing else to spend my money on, I return home a glorious hero with a £14 four item cheeseboard and three jam doughnuts.

Refreshments to make  a 2-3 away win at the Molineux even sweeter.

Boing Boing! - I think I can get through Lockdown 3.