ENGLAND 2012: Ledbury and WALES

A year ago when we were out-n-about with host Chris, and saw a bridge out on the landscape that took you to Wales (yes, we were that close!), I immediately said I wanted to go to Wales one year!  Truth be known, I really wanted it to be this year...this trip.

And so it was!

Thus, the day after our Blists Hill blogger meet-up (last post), we drove all over tarnation for about 6 hours, getting from Bath to...eventually Wales...and then back home again.

We first stopped in Ledbury, a town in Herefordshire, known for it's timber-framed buildings.  See what I mean about how Chris knew exactly what we'd want to see without even asking!

The Market House from 1617, standing on its 16 pillars, is the most notable.

I love architecture like this!

A stone's throw away, across the street, is Ledbury's library clock tower.

It's dedicated to poet Elizabeth Barrett-Browning who lived and wrote in the town.

We didn't stay long but...long enough to get a taste for this quaint little English town.
Notice I said English and not British.  Chris often had to correct my...English!

Once back in the car, and within minutes, still within the Ledbury district, Chris then stopped at this little gem:  the Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Castle Frome, Herefordshire.  And it was open!

It was out in the middle of nowhere..."at the end of a farm track well away from the village."

When we arrived it was sunshiny (left side); when we left a storm was brewing (right side).

The font from c.1170 is one of the wonders of the church (top-right image)..

When I walk inside these quaint churches, I always wonder what my preacher dad would think!

And speaking of out in the middle of nowhere...just off the church property is this rapeseed field.

Astrid had been talking all trip about getting good pictures of the rapeseed in bloom everywhere.

BINGO.

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Back in the car again, towards our "final goal" of stepping foot inside Wales...it was time to stop and eat lunch.

Leave it to Chris to have picked up some lamb meat pies for us in Ledbury.

What a host with the most!

It so happens we stopped to eat just after crossing this private toll bridge.

To avoid delay, have coinage ready.  80p.

It still blows my mind that such a bridge can be owned by a private family.

They operate it and maintain it via the toll that comes in.

See all the debris at the bottom of the pilings?  Hmmmm....

Once again, we were out in the middle of nowhere.

Sometimes those are the best places for photography!

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Then suddenly...we were in WALES!

 Hay on Wye, to be specific, right on the Welsh-English border.

All signage while in Wales was in both English and Welsh.
It's a good way to learn another language, right?

 Wiki says Hay on Wye is known as the town of books.

It has a literary festival every June that draws approx. 80,000 visitors.

(The town itself has a population of only 1500 people!)

This particular bookshop in the Hay Castle is Europe's largest secondhand bookstore. 

 And YES, it was open!

Can you imagine trying to find a specific book there???? 

We couldn't leave, of course, without our favorite treat.

I scream, You scream, We all scream for ice cream!

By now it was time to head back to Bath!  My feet had touched the very land of WALES and I was a happy camper.  My day had been filled to the hilt!  I was short of eyes....

But Chris was not yet done!

 What to our wondering, short-of-eyes should appear but...Tintern Abbey, from 1131!

It is probably the most spectacular ruins of an abbey we will ever see in our lifetime.

 It, too, is in Wales, just over the River Wye border from England.

Wouldn't you want to do a photo shoot there?!

So you see, in one swell foop, we had such a fabulous day in the life of our 2012 England trip.  Are we lucky or what!  And I'm not even done yet....

TIMBER! (or Two Men and a Truck?)

This is what happened, God-honest truth.

It started raining this spring in Atlanta like it would make up for lost time. Years of drought. Years of damage to the root systems of all our precious trees, even the mighty oaks. Suddenly, the evening news was full of stories...oak trees falling on houses and cars. Tree experts warning us to go check our trees...so it wouldn't happen to us.

So, living on 3 acres in the woods, I was no dummie! DUH! I counted F-I-V-E oak trees near the play set and driveway, any of which, if they fell, would damage an investment. Donica agreed to get the deed done. It would leave a bad taste in a buyer's mouth if "it" happened AFTER they moved in. So I did my homework and found a local man and dad who were properly licensed and insured.


In one day they quickly felled 4 of the trees. Boom boom boom boom. One right after the other. That was easy. Maybe 3 hours worth of toil and trouble. The son had to climb only one of the trees and after getting to the top, decided he didn't have to after all. Boom. It fell exactly where he wanted. Dad was there to "spot" him.

The entire time, I was busy with my camera. HA! Yes, me! I wouldn't have missed this for anything. As I walked around, however, all the contraptions, the 2 trucks and bobcat, the gizmos...all interested me much more than the trees. This was a photographer's paradise.

The 1969 Ford F-250.

The 1973 Ford F-750.


The bobcat.

Okay, now hold your breath for a month! There was still one last mighty oak to come down, the biggest of them all and half the entire price. The Mother of all Mighty Oaks! But no one came and no one came and no one came. One month!


Just when I was ready to give up on the enterprise, I heard a chainsaw buzzing one morning and there they were. Son was already at the top of the tree (the first tree at the head of this post), with all the top limbs already de-limbed. RATS! I had wanted to catch that. Not to worry, I soon found out why this one was half the price. I think they were there for 6+ hours!

And what I found out was that Dad had a pacemaker "installed" during that month and was not released to do any work for 4 weeks. Well, DUH! But the biggest topper of all was when I found out he grew up in Dansville, MI, where my sister and BIL live on their farm. The more we talked, the more connections we made. Unbelievable. What a small world.

Which makes a nice segue to tell you that I leave on Sunday (tomorrow) to drive 750+ miles north from Atlanta to Dansville, to said farm, to help sister Ruth all next week in prep for their daughter's wedding "down on the farm" August 1st! It will be a humdinger of a wedding, trust me. I can just imagine what it will be like. YES, I'll take as many pictures as possible to give you an inkling, once I return (on the 2nd).

In the meantime, here's a little photo album on the tree-cutting. Please pray for journeying mercies as I drive both ways by myself, hopefully in one day each. I will rest whenever necessary, I promise. Once back home, I've decided the house can sell just as quickly as anyone can say TIMBER five times (but hopefully without a month in between)!