Strolling in delightful Herefordshire...Lav regaining her strength

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In view of Lavinia having just over one week left to recover following her operation, we decided to hot step it to Herefordshire to do a 5 mile stroll, in order to help improve Lavinia's post operative fitness for the Pennine Way at the end of April and breathe in some fresh country air. We have not really ventured into Herefordshire before and so decided to wake up bright and early to check out the county's delights on a family stroll.

To our pleasure we discovered that Herefordshire is a wonderful county; with some spectacular countryside, gentle river valleys, views of the beautiful Malvern Hills and the windswept peaks of the Black Mountains in Wales. There are many apple and pear orchards in Herefordshire - which is why the county is famous for its cider! Lav did try one of the local farm ciders and...umm...it was slightly cloudy (so quite potent) and not quite to her taste...she is more of a Magners' lady. As well as all of the orchards, Herefordshire most certainly has an abundance of sheep, sheep and more sheep! It was great to see the new lambs bouncing around and kicking their legs in the March crisp air. After a stormy night the evening before, the moody grey clouds threatened to break out into showers of rain, but luckily it held off. We followed part of the 150 mile long distance Herefordshire Trail - through a lovely stretch of the Wye Valley. We passed orchards, rolling hills, woodland, gorgeous riverside meadows, pretty rural churches and the quiet old villages of King's Caple, Sellack and Hoarwithy.

Lav excitedly exited the jeep as it was her first taste of a proper countryside ramble since her operation at the end of January and her longest walk since the operation. Lav tried to convince everyone else of the benefits of going for a 'very gentle' 7 mile stroll, but we all reached an agreement that 5 miles was enough of a taster until we reach the Lakes and Skye in a couple weeks time. The 5 mile stroll certainly did whet our appetite for the bigger more demanding mountains and demonstrated that Lavinia is becoming a lot stronger physically as she managed to tackle clambering over the stiles with not too much trouble. It was a bit awkward for her to get her leg over on a few ocassions - but this was partly due to her length of her legs - well yes, they are rather short! We were both so relieved to be far away from the stresses and strains back home; that even a 2 mile ramble would have been appreciated. We are convinced that going for walks and hikes is a very good natural tonic in helping to relieve stress (GPs should recommend it). We enjoyed our time in Herefordshire - so thumbs up! We'll definitely be back again one day to explore some more of this county's unspolit landscapes.

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Photos

King's Caple church. King's Caple, Herefordshire
King's Caple church is a handsome building built in the local rich red sandstone. It has a mixture of styles dating from the 12th to 15th century. You can see its dominating 14th century spire for miles around.

Ready to explore!
Medina (known as Dida - Steve and Mal's sister), Oliver (their dad), Steve and Malcolm.

Caple Court, King's Caple. Herefordshire
A delightful 18th century manor house, built in Georgian style with many Palladian features.

Mal tests the 'shaky' suspension bridge! Sellack, Herefordshire
Our walking book had warned that this suspension bridge built in 1895 was 'rather shaky' - so guess what, Mal puts it to the test. Yes, he proved it's 'incredibly shaky' - fit for its purpose? Probably - well luckily we made it across in one piece!

Hmmm. No, Malcolm hasn't done too much damage - she's got another good 100 years in her yet.
Engineer turned accountant Steve, cannot resist checking out the mechanics of this old suspension bridge with his dad.

Sellack church. Herefordshire
Sellack church reached by crossing the River Wye, is another attractive old sandstone church, built in the 14th century. The village of Sellack is tiny - just a few houses and farms.

The Three Amigos! Inquisitive sheep come over for a gander. Sellack, Herefordshire
These seemingly fearless sheep bounded over to Lav when she was trying to take a photo of Sellack church.

Is that Johnny Wilkinson in Herefordshire?
Mal has been noted on more than one ocassion as having a resemblance to Johnny Wilkinson - in this photo, he almost looks like he is going to go for the famous Johnny 'drop goal'. Any rugby fans may know what we mean.