Wagga Wagga to Worcestershire & back again
Earlier this year I compiled a list of ‘English things’ I was hoping to do over the course of 2017. I confess I haven’t been pursuing my list with a terrible amount of vigour, but the other weekend I did tick another item off:
100: Drink traditional cider
It all happened at a little get-together called West Fest…
A large field in the English countryside, warm sun, blue sky and blooming flowers five foot tall, as far as the eye can see. That was my Sunday.
A few weeks ago I spotted a post on Facebook about a Worcestershire flower farm that opens its fields to visitors every July.
The owners of the farm harvest its flowers to produce floral ‘confetti’ for weddings and other events, but lets people visit its delphinium and cornflower field before the stems are stripped.
Adam and I made the short journey to Wick, a gorgeous little village just outside of Pershore, for a look…
Isn’t it amazing how when you go away and then come back home again you pick up on changes you never noticed before?
The day after returning from Scotland I spent almost a good hour poking around the garden, amazed at all the new flowers that had suddenly appeared.
Summer is the season for fairs in England, so days after checking out Malvern’s annual Food Festival, Adam and I found ourselves at another Worcestershire classic, Asparafest.
Set in Evesham, a half an hour drive east, Asparafest celebrates the market town’s asparagus farms. It was one of those quirky community events Adam had told me about before we moved to England and I was keen to see it for myself.
Monday of this week was a bank holiday in England. Adam and I both had the day off, so took advantage of our free time to visit the Great Malvern Food Festival. When I lived in Australia, Wagga Wagga’s annual food and wine festival was one of my favourite events of the year so I was keen to check out my new community’s version.
I’m sure I’m not the only person who, when thinking about canals, thinks about Venice. Oh the romance of narrow waterways passing by historic stone houses in rainbow colours, a gondolier in a straw hat and stripy shirt and lazy warm days on the water, gelato in hand!
Canals though aren’t just restricted to Italy – hundreds of places have them, England included. The U.K. canal system really rose to prominence during the Industrial Revolution and given the Midland’s strong association with this era, there are plenty of examples of canals near to Malvern.
Last week I got a Facebook message from Australian friend Kerri, who’s currently holidaying around the U.K., about a delicious asparagus and wild garlic soup she’d eaten. Intrigued and inspired, especially by some of the images of wild garlic that are appearing on my Instagram feed, I went out in search of some the plants myself.
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.
A few weeks ago during a bout of absolutely gorgeous spring weather (read more here!) Adam and I got invited to our first barbecue of the year.
It was in the nearby village of Welland, just outside of Malvern. It normally only takes us 10 minutes or so to drive to Welland from the house Adam and I live in, so instead of taking the car we decided we’d make use of the local public footpath network and walk.
After months of patiently waiting and a few false alarms, I can now accurately report the annual bluebell show has started here in Malvern.
I saw my first glimpse of bluebells en masse over the Easter long weekend when Adam and I went camping in the Cotswolds. It was a pretty magical sight – a sea of tiny purple-blue flowers under a canopy of the sweetest smelling pine trees.
The day after we arrived home, Adam and I took to the Malvern Hills to see if a similar sprouting of wildflowers had occurred. We were in luck.
Wattle and Ash 