A summers drive throught the Black & White villages of Herefodshire
A bumper turnout of Wye Dean members met at the Wye Vale Garden centre in Hereford on what felt like the first summer's day – in all, 19 members joined us in 10 TRs & 2 bikes (more of that later).
It's become standard practice for Dick & me to take a wrong turn at some point in the day, so we got it over and done with early on by attempting to leave the car park via the 'No Exit' route! The others patiently waited muttering something about 'senior moments', and we eventually got under way.
The route took us onto the A480 & through stunning countryside to weave our way through Lyonshall, then onto the A44 towards Pembridge. At Andrew Langton's suggestion we stopped off at the Westonbury Mill for coffee, which was an excellent call. A fabulous setting, good coffee, a garden centre and the water gardens as potential return visit.
On then to Pembridge – like many, we've driven through here many times, but never taken the time to walk around – it's picture book classic Black & White village (though sadly the A44 is a bit intrusive). A stroll up to the Church takes you to a lovely open setting with views over the surrounding area. The current church dates from the early 14th century, though a Church existed on this site some 200 years earlier. An impressive set of tapestries on display chart the history. Of particular note is the separate bell tower with its spaghetti of ancient timbers – we were told that some have been dated to 900 years old before they were used in the construction of the tower in the middle ages…awesome!
Andrew, Glyn & Nikki left us after an hour in Pembridge, and the remaining 14 made our way to the Salwey Arms at Wooferton, just south of Ludlow, so now we were in Shropshire. We were delighted with a surprise visit from Bill & Stephanie Piggott – here's where the bikes come in – they'd cycled to the pub as they live close by. So, we rounded off the day with an excellent lunch to end a great day out in good company, driving through stunning countryside on a beautiful summers day, in well behaved classic cars that attracted attention wherever we stopped, ………….what more could you want?
Look at the selection of photos on the gallery section