Wagga Wagga to Worcestershire & back again
For many visitors to the U.K., a trip to the Cotswolds is a must. It’s quintessential England – rolling green hills, small villages made up of stone buildings, and bucolic pubs full of ales, sleeping dogs and pork scratchings.
The very far eastern reaches of Worcestershire lie within the Cotswolds, so a few months ago Adam and I decided to hold off day-tripping to the area until my family arrived so we could all go together…
Love him or hate him, King Henry the VIII, certainly played a huge part in English history. I knew of him, but it wasn’t until my first trip to the United Kingdom in 2010 that I learnt more about him, his wives and his legacy. That holiday sparked an interest in the Tudor era that I still retain (and a bit of a crush on Jonathon Rhys Meyers and his depiction of Henry in The Tudors television show :)) and I’m always keen to learn a little more.
So the other day I made the short train journey north to Worcester to Greyfriars’ House, a Tudor era National Trust property, in the city centre…
Before Adam headed off on his work trip abroad, we took a lightning fast trip to Bristol.
We weren’t in the mood for a big day of sight-seeing, so opted for a leisurely few hours wandering around Harbourside, right in the city centre…
Oxford is the sort of place where you spend most of your time looking up. The architecture in this city is breathtaking and I’m certain during my brief visit last weekend, I tripped over half a dozen times because I just couldn’t take my eyes off the magnificent buildings all around!
The city is famous of course because of Oxford University, the oldest university in the English speaking world. The first teachings in Oxford are believed to have occurred in 1096! Oxford has been on my ‘world wide bucket list’ for some time, so en route to meeting up with some friends in London, Adam and I dropped in for a wander.
In my life as a journalist in regional Australia, one of my favourite parts of the job was exploring and getting to know the towns that made up my ‘patch’. In most places I knew where the cleanest public loos were (vital when you’re on the road!), which cafe/bakery to stop at and the best route to follow to catch glimpses of favourite houses/gardens/parks.
Now that I’m getting to know the west Midlands, I’m finding myself doing the same thing here in England. Earlier this week I had to drive up to near Kidderminster for a meeting. I took the opportunity to pop into nearby Ombersley – a gorgeous historic village Adam and I visited briefly during our first few weeks in the U.K.
Last Christmas Adam’s brother John and his partner Sally gave me the book ‘102 English Things To Do’ by Alex Quick. I had a lovely scan through it in the days after Christmas, but never really got stuck into reading it properly.
I’ve now had the opportunity to look it more thoroughly and have started making a list of some of the ‘things’ I’d like to do, particularly over the next few months.
On Friday Adam and I woke up to the most brilliant sunshine. We’d both been under the weather for a few weeks with winter coughs and sniffles and by chance we also both had the day off work. Adam suggested we get in the car, go for a drive and make use of our National Trust membership.
A little over an hour later we found ourselves in south Wales at Tredegar House just outside of Newport. The property belonged to the Morgan family for around 500 years and is set in beautiful parkland just off the M4 motorway.
If you like historic buildings, cute colourful cottages and good food and drink you’ll love Ludlow. This market town in south Shropshire is credited as having the first successful food and wine festival in the U.K. and its centre is made up of dozens of independent cafes, tea rooms, cheese shops, butcheries, bakeries and providores style shops.
Earlier this week, on a particularly dark and damp day, Adam and I made the trip north to Ludlow for a visit. Adam’s told me dozens of times about the Ludlow Food Festival and it’s already marked in the diary for this year (September 8-10 if you’re interested).
We parked the car and wandered down narrow streets and walkways full of character filled shops, finding our selves in the high street. Ready for something after our drive, we walked into a tea-room full of lounges, golden lamps and a rather fabulous collection of eclectic tea cups and saucers. After slices of cake (orange and lavender for me – unusual but tasty, coffee and walnut for Adam) and a pot of tea each we were ready to explore.
Ludlow’s the sort of place I think you need to keep visiting, in order to try all the dining choices on offer. While we weren’t disappointed in where we visited, we walked into or past a handful of other tempting options. The baker in Adam also got rather excited when we found a small shop where you could buy scoops of flour, oats and other grain straight from the big brown bags the mills use.
The local farmer’s market was also on when we visited. The drizzle meant we perused quickly, but there was still a nice selection of fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese and flowers on offer – not bad for a weekday in January.
Visiting during the off-season meant we often had little laneways to ourselves and it was lovely to peek at the some of the beautiful homes that are right in the centre of Ludlow.
If you like shops with character, I’d recommended having a nose about in Rickards – a kitchen – outdoors – gardening mecca. It’s the sort of place where you can never find anything, but the shopkeeper knows exactly where ‘it’ is. How great is the front counter?!
I’m looking forward to heading back to Ludlow again – one word of advice though, arrive with an empty stomach!
Wattle and Ash 