Today, Elizabeth had to go to work yet again, so I took the opportunity to go to the village where my mother was born and where she spent her first few years.
This is the view over the River Lugg from the bridge at Mordiford. Soon after this point the Lugg joins the River Wye on its way to the Severn on the Anglo-Welsh border near Chepstow. This view was one of Sir Edward Elgar's favourites when on one of his many cycling tours from Hereford and he would fish from the bridge.
Here's an excerpt from "Edward Elgar: A Creative Life" by Jerrold Northrop Moore -
And here's the bridge itself - To say that Mordiford is a one horse place is perhaps a bit of an overstatement. There's a primary school, a church and a pub, but the Post Office has recently gone - There is a mill which is being restored and they have open days to encourage interest - it's behind the tree!My mother was born in this house, variously known as "The Rock" or "Rock House" -
Before they all had running water in the houses, the locals used to fetch their water from "The Spout" - although, as you can see if you look closely, it seems that Health & Safety don't necessarily think that was a good idea, judging from the label on it - On the left is the road up to "Rock House" and my uncles used to race down it on some sort of dilly and end up in the brook - and also in lots of trouble!That was obviously in the days before the safety fence had been put in!I spent some time in the cemetery looking up some of my relatives - this my great grandfather and my great great aunt -There's a pleasant view from the cemetery on the hill - and I can really recommend the pub - where my forbears used to hang out, I'm told - and here are some more views from the bridge -
Wednesday has been a difficult day.
First of all I had to take Elizabeth to the exam board's HQ for her to go to work. I then had to do some work of my own for the people who pay me and then I had lots of other things to do before the time would soon come round for me to pick up the worker.
I had to go for a swim, have two spells in the hot tub, go into the steam room, then the sauna and then go to their Cellar Bar to have a bacon sandwich and a pint of Pedigree and also squeeze in a bit of cricket watching on Sky there. I then went for a walk in the hotel grounds which was rudely interrupted by my taxi passenger phoning me to say to was time to collect her.
Here are some photos of the hotel grounds.
And then we made our way to the hotel where we had bacon butty and a beer for a late snack lunch, then went for a swim (hotel said no photos allowed!) and then into the steam room and sauna.
After that we found a nice Vintage Inn nearby (same chain as the Golden Ball at Whiston), then came back to the hotel, played on laptop and tablet while Man Utd seemed ever more likely to lose against Olympiakos ....
And, as Samuel Pepys would have put it: "And so to bed."
Some of the architecture almost seems to mimic the new cathedral ....
while other vistas are just pleasant -
We didn't go into the cathedral, but here's a taster of what it's like -
But we hesitated to look, not wanting to be regarded as 'Peeping Toms'.
Thank goodness that her long hair protected Lady Godiva's modesty as she won the wager with her husband so that he would relent on his oppressive taxes!
In the Guildhall itself there's a plaque to remember the 57 firefighters from Coventry who lost their lives in the last war, one of whom was an Atkins ....
