Day 19 Hereford to Broseley
Weather: Sunny H 21 L11 Humidity 91% wind <5 kph
Departure:Hereford
Destination: The Lion Hotel
High Street Brosely TF12 5EZ
Planned distance: 52.1 mi. 83.4 km
Planned ascent: 1,906 ft
Planned descent: 1,601
Route: https://www.cycling4charity.org.uk/august-19
For actual stats pls see Ralph’s ride in the Strava section.
Good morning /Good day,
We were treated to lovely warm scones, porridge and “bike mechanic” services from Sean as we got up and headed on our way. Thank you so much Sean.
We headed off at 9:30 with our first stop the Hereford Cathedra Close to see the cathedral and the statue of the composer Sir Edward Elgar with his bike. Ralph has all the composer’s recordings. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Elgar
Statue of Elgar and his bicycle looking at Hereford Cathedral
The Mappa Mundi is displayed here too in a new special building beside the cathedral.
The cathedral, as expected is huge. There is a permanent stone mason’s shed on the property to accommodate masons doing continuous repair.
There is a wedding today so the cathedral will close at 10:30. We were fortunate to be able to hear the choir practicing for the ceremony.
The Mappa Mundi used to be in the cathedral but they have built a temperature controlled building to preserve it. Like
many new builds in Britain, it blends perfectly into the Cathedral wall. As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we stayed at a Warmshower’s home last night.
Sean was a fabulous host, but in addition, as a retired firefighter he had all sorts of tidbits about the cathedral and the new fire precautions in the Mappa Mundi’s new home.
The 700 yrs old calf skin was written in the 1280’s by a Canon of the Lincoln Catherdral. He transferred to Hereford Cathedral and brought it with him. The excellent volunteer explained that the Mappa Mundi was the Medieval iPad with all the facts the Canon should know.
Not surprisingly it is Christ centric with Christ in the middle, the known continents on the bottom and top, weather information, biblical stories and trade routes. A remarkable piece of history. It is a window into the medieval mind.
It marks the path of life from Adam and Eve to the time of the Canon’s writings.
We got back on our bikes at 10:40 with 52 miles to ride.
We were on regular traffic roads most of the morning which Ralph described as boring. I agree. One has to spend considerable energy dealing with traffic so special features are missed.
Soon we were back on the quiet backroads being passed by farm tractors and going through small villages. One such place was England’s Gate. I have no idea where my ancestors came from but maybe it was here!
I know you have seen many straw bales … but wheat seems to be what is grown here.
There was lots of pasture and hay crops growing too. Herefordshire is cattle country.
I quite liked the tree in that pasture!
Veggies for sale along the roadside … and an automatic milk dispenser where I got a chocolate milkshake! Apparently the cows are just down the road. We likely passed them. The milk is not homogenized but I was assured by a local filling her glass bottles, that it is pasturized.
There was even the odd manor to look at and wonder how others live in this quiet countryside.
The town of Ludlow gave us lots of photo candy as we pedalled down the medieval streets. I stopped paying attention to my Garmin and got completely off course. This is where Ralph’s backup Komoot and Wahoo come in handy. I just can’t get over the fact that I could be a knight in shining armour!
Shadows were getting long as we pedalled on over rolling countryside on near perfect pavement. The winds have at times been significant, and always at our backs. The next medieval town was Wenlock then down into the valley where Brosley and The Lion Hotel were waiting.
This 200 year old building used to be a coach house. I am not sure what the difference is between a coach house and a pub…. but I have an idea it has something to do with how many horses were around to switch to your carriage.
Barrie the « publican » looked after our bikes and saw us to our rooms high in the rafters!
Mine had a beautiful view across the rooftops of the town.
It was 7:15 which lately has been the norm for us to finish our day on the road. This one was steeped in history for sure.
Barrie pampered me with any help he could give as I made calls and chatted in the pub. Wifi doesn’t extend well in thick stone walls.
Barrie’s accent to me, and I suppose my accent to him, were quite amusing. Barrie told stories of making just over £2 a week at age 16 working 42 hours in the mines. At the same time
he was paid a fantastic amount on the weekend playing football. I believe something like £25!
I did a short walk through the town as the sun set on another great cycling day.
Well today ended with a real feeling that I had experienced something very special standing in front of 700 year old history in the Mappa Mundi and 78 year old living history spending time with Barrie.
A nice feeling at the end of the day.
Safe travels
Lorraine