Day 11 - Hereford

We started today with a drive out of Hereford (pronounced "Haeraford." It's the same with Dery, which is pronounced "Darby.") and to a small little town called Hay-On-Wye. Wye is actually the name of the river that runs through the town, so the whole area has little towns named like Whitney-on-Wye, Monnington-on-Wye, Ross-on-Wye. Hay-On-Wye is known for it's bookstores...and bookstores...and even more bookstores. Even the caslte is a bookstore. There are a few other shops scattered around town but by far it is known for old and new books.

Hay-On-Wye is right on the border of Wales. As a result many of the signs in the town were in English and Welsh. For example, this little sign by the car park lot. 

Our next stop was for lunch. We were driving back towards Hereford and stopped at a little pub named the Tram Inn in Eardsisley. It's pretty amazing to walk into a place and see a coat rack with the date 1636 on it and have the owners tell you that yes, the pub is that old. Cheri had the fish and chips and Drew had a tomato basil soup. Eventually Cheri looked behind her and saw this cat sleeping on a chair behind her. This is the 2nd time we seen pets hanging out in a pub. This would probably break all sort of health code violations in the states, yet no one seems to care here. It's actually a nice addition to the whole pub feel. However, the music was an odd contrast to the setting. It was typical pub music, which means techno and Beyonce was mixed in with an elderly crowd and a historic setting.

We made a quick stop in Dilwyn, a town where some of Cheri's relatives once lived. 

After Dilwyn it was back to Hampton Court Gardens. Yesterday while we were there they informed us that because it was Easter Weekend the house would be open, which is a rare ocation. So, we went back. It actually worked out rather well. The weather today was warm and sunny. A really perfect day, except for the crowds...

After that we were sort of done for the day. Things close early in the UK. Most things don't open till 10 or 11 in the morning and most close by 5. So Cheri really wanted afternoon tea so we went back to the hotel and sat out on the back patio. Drew had a ham, cheddar and Chutney sandwich and Cheri had some herbal tea with a selection of sandwiches. We decided we could see a happy Lochness in the spout of the tea pot.

After Tea we were sort of at a loss for what to do since it was almost 5:30 and we knew everything would be closed or closing. We walked down to the business area of Hereford and walked around a little but then we decided to take off and run out to a church ruins in a little town called Llanwarne. When we were planning this trip we found the ruins on Google Earth and just wanted to see them. We hoped there would be some good picture opportunities.

With the sun quickly setting we decided to race away and see if we could get any good shots at Goodrich castle. Cheri's 23rd Great Grandmother and 24th Great Grandfather on her Mother's side were born in the Castle. From what we have read the castle actually changed hands many times and she actually had multiple relatives living here at different times. It is situated on a large hill surround by sheep farms. The castle was closed, and the sun was setting, but we got some good pictures. We'll go back tomorrow on our way out of Hereford for some more pictures.