We have been traipsing around villages in a number of counties around our base in Aylesbury - like Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire. Now we headed north and west towards Herefordshire, where we will spend the next three days. It was of course a roundabout trip as we had places to see on the way.
 
Many towns around this area are on the Thames River, like Henley-on -Thames where the famous annual regatta is held. Lechlade-on-Thames is one of those towns. The town’s central position on both the rivers and roads here have made it a busy point on the trade routes. It is from this point of the river that the water is deep enough that navigation by boat to London is possible. It is also possible to walk, which would be an interesting exercise.

   


We walked over the Halfpenny Bridge just down the road from the square and saw the small toll house where the halfpenny toll was once collected. Apparently there was strong opposition to the toll and it was finally dropped. The river area is now has a variety of boat cruises but during the week a peaceful place.
 
Bibury, our next stop is a popular with visitors. It is a pretty place, well known because of Arlington Row, a row of tiny terrace houses - the doors would only admit very short people without bending. These houses were built in 1380 as wool stores but in the 17th century were divided into weavers cottages. They are right across from ‘rack row’ a meadow where the racks for drying cloth were placed. So many of the towns in this area have a history relating to the wool and cloth. Lots of pretty gardens here also, so a good place to visit.
 
As we drove we saw how green and gorgeous the countryside and gardens are at the moment, and we completed our roundabout circuit to our stop for the night through the Forest of Dean. 
   
 
In Bishop’s Frome, near Hereford, our base for next three nights we notice that the houses are made of different materials to the honey coloured stone of the Cotswolds. There is more variety of housing material, but the area is mostly known for its so called ‘black and white’ or timber framed houses . We also found we are now in an apple growing area - trees are in bloom everywhere here and there are places processing fruit for cider. Reminds me of Stanthorpe in Australia.
 
The next day we did a circuit around Tewkesbury and Great Malvern in the Worcestershire area. Tewkesbury is built where the Avon and Severn rivers converge, has a variety of buildings in the ’black and white ’theme, antique shops, little alleys, and plenty of tea rooms. In other words, the quintessential English village.

   
 
Tewkesbury on this day was overrun with high school students. Everywhere we went there were more. Interesting how the school uniforms are adapted to match the current young fashions. These boys wore skin tight trousers and the girls tight black skirts that barely covered their knickers. We escaped into a hotel to have coffee, and when we later went to the massive Tewkesbury Abbey there they were again. The abbey is very large, and fortunate that there is a decent amount of land around it. Many churches are so built in it is hard to see the whole at once.
 
It was the Malvern area that really impressed us. These hills rise very dramatically out of the countryside. The soil on the hills is quite thin so there is not a lot of vegetation so the views are wonderful. The mountains are particularly known for the spring water that can be accessed at a number of places. We saw people lined up to fill their bottles. 

 


   The springs also gave rise to the spa town of Great Malvern, a hilly but attractive town that has quality hotels and shops and still gets visitors who come for the spa benefits for their health. We again saw bluebells, this time they grew in full sunlight on the sides of the hills. Interesting, as the ones we have seen previously have grown in the shade of trees.

 

Our travels back and forth in this area have shown us what a lovely area this is. It will be interesting to see how the next area measures up.