Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Our house with festive lights and mistletoe on the front door

Yes, yes - I know. 

The long-promised post on the house has not yet come to fruition. There are a number of reasons for that, but I hope to finally publish something over the Christmas or New Year period.

In the meantime, I thought I would share some images of the lead-up to Christmas here in Ledbury, and the wider Herefordshire / Worcestershire region.

The mistletoe was a gift from a friend who, handily, has a tree in her garden that tipped over
in a storm... meaning the mistletoe can be reached without an industrial crane!

Our first festive event was the excellent Traditional Christmas Market in the grounds of Great Malvern Priory, only a 15-minute drive from home. I am pleased to report this was a very stylish market - a tat-free zone, with lots of high quality artisans selling delicious food and drink, handcrafted items and festive decorations. Unfortunately it was *very* wet and although we braved the stalls clad in rain jackets and armed with umbrellas, after an hour we decided we'd had enough. The Priory gave us some respite - it had been decorated, there were choirs performing, lots of activities for children and they even had a café set up. But due to the inclement weather outside, it was rammed, so not particularly conducive to lingering.

Still, we very much look forward to next year's market which - fingers crossed - might be blessed with better weather conditions.

We arrived at the Traditional Christmas Market at Great Malvern Priory just as it started to rain

Christmas carols with a difference:
the Worcester Ukele Club doing the honours at the Traditional Christmas Market, Great Malvern Priory

Now, on to Ledbury.

Man, this town loves a festival! Since we moved here in July there have been numerous large events where the main street is closed off to accommodate food vans, tractor parades, rides for the kiddies and musical performances. There must have been at least one each month, and of course Christmas is no exception.

Along with thousands of other locals, a few weeks ago we attended the Christmas Lights Switch-On. By way of entertainment there were a brass band accompanied by carol singers, Morris dancers and a local youth rock band. And of course the magical moment when the Town Crier (who attends the same 06:30 strength training circuit class that we do on a Wednesday morning) did the countdown and - * hey presto! *Ledbury was lit up, generating a spontaneous cheer from the crowd. What a joyful moment, and an interesting modern phenomenon. I can understand that in 'olden days' it was quite exciting when large-scale electric lighting was activated, but it's somehow pleasing that such a simple thing can elicit celebration, even in jaded old 2025.

One of the many food vans offering seasonal treats to the revellers of Ledbury,
at the Christmas Lights Switch-On

A member of Ledbury's canine residents, rugged up in his Christmas pudding festive jumper ♥️

Morris dancers shootin' the breeze before their next performance
at the Ledbury Christmas Lights Switch-On

Big crowds enjoying the festivities at Ledbury's Christmas Lights Switch-On
(this is the main street)

Just by luck we happened to be standing right underneath the fake snow blower
at Ledbury's Market Hall when it was switched on!

The Market Hall and Christmas tree do provide festive cheer on these cold, dark and long evenings

A couple of weeks later Ledbury hosted its special Christmas Late Night Shopping event. Stores across the town had decorated their windows and were serving mulled wine, Prosecco, mince pies and other treats to the hardy customers who braved what was, sadly, another windy and very wet evening. You've got to feel for the retailers as numbers were definitely down. The poor carollers were up an alley, huddled under the shelter of a canopy!

They woz robbed!
One of the local opticians has the best decorated window in Ledbury, but it was only a runner-up in the shopfront decoration competition.
(the winning window was rubbish... they must have paid off the judges, ha-ha)

The brass band stoically playing on under the shelter of the Ledbury Market Hall,
with the wind and rain all around them!

The Chocolate Box only opened its doors in November.
It stocks high-end (and very pricey!) chocolate and I hope it survives the current difficult financial environment

Black-and-white buildings in Church Lane, decorated for Christmas

More black-and-white splendour and festive decoration in Ledbury - the Feathers Hotel

At the top end of Ledbury's high street - we love the upper windows, each illuminated with a single star

This house is just opposite the top of our street.
They (and their neighbours) have done an elegant job of Christmas decorating!

In between the Christmas Lights Switch-On and the Late Night Shopping we very much enjoyed a wine tasting evening in the historic St Katherine's hall, once part of St Katherine's Hospital which was founded in 1232 by Bishop Hugh Foliot. The hall itself was built around 1330-40. This event was hosted by Hay's Wines, a superb specialist wine and spirits store just across the high street from the hall. What fun! Hard to beat an evening where a couple of hundred people lurch from table to table, enthusiastically sampling everything from fizz, white, rosé and red to dessert wine and port... and getting gradually more tipsy! Representatives from individual vineyards and wine wholesalers were available to advise on tipples from Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the USA, the UK and even lesser known wine regions such as Georgia (former Soviet Union republic). There were spittoons provided but I only saw one person use one - and just the once, ha-ha!

Our festive season activities have not been confined to the local area. In early December we nipped over to the north-western side of Herefordshire to visit two National Trust properties near Leominster, about 50 minutes' drive from Ledbury but only 10-15 minutes' drive from each other.

We were fortunate to have one of those gorgeous, sunny-but-frosty winter days requiring hats, gloves and scarves, and Croft Castle was a sight to behold against a cerulean blue sky. We did a tour of the house, in which some of the rooms were decorated for Christmas in the Victorian style. Although there's been a building on the site from around 1085 when the estate was established by the Croft family and baronets, the current building dates from the 1660s. We also visited the lovely church, which actually pre-dates the house by several centuries.

Croft Castle and St Michael's and All Angels Church, on a gloriously sunny winter's day

The dining room of Croft Castle, decorated for Christmas in Victorian style 

The western side of Croft Castle, near Leominster

The bell tower of St Michael and All Angels Church (13th century)
- Croft Castle, near Leominster

The light-filled interior of St Michael and All Angels church with its ornate tiled floor
- Croft Castle

Berrington Hall was less impressive! Ugh - what a spectacularly ugly building in red sandstone, which Wikipedia rather kindly describes as having 'a somewhat austere exterior' but with 'delicate interiors.' We'll have to take their word for the latter, and that of the National Trust, because unfortunately we'd just missed the last of the guided house tours when we arrived. 

Pictured below are some of the Berrington Hall yew balls, which were relocated from another spot earlier this year and which immediately started to fail, due to the shock of transplanting combined with the driest spring and hottest summer on record. Still, the National Trust gardeners have made the best of a bad lot by decorating the brown Christmas pudding shaped balls as... giant Christmas puddings!

Berrington Hall, near Leominster, in all its 'austere' splendour - not to my taste!

Fine views from the exterior of National Trust property Berrington Hall
near Leominster, Herefordshire

A trail of destruction at Berrington Hall!
Ancient yew balls that were relocated earlier this year - the shock of the relocation,
combined with the driest spring and hottest summer on record, meant they have all but died...

...but at least somebody had the clever idea of dressing them up as giant Christmas puddings!

Another view of Berrington Hall (and another one of those damaged yew balls), near Leominster

Today we've jaunted over to the Oxfordshire part of The Cotswolds to meet up with dear friends Roy and Tracey for a pre-Christmas lunch. I don't think we'd been to Burford for possibly ten years or so, and gosh how nice it was to be reminded that it is a very charming town. We had an hour to wander up and down the high street and its surrounds before our booking, and I spent no small portion of that time ooh-ing and aah-ing at beautifully decorated windows and gorgeous Christmas wreath-clad front doors of cute cottages. That golden Cotswolds stone takes some beating when it comes to architecture.

A very pleasing wreath on a lovely Cotswold cottage in Burford
- The Vicarage

The Church of St John the Baptist in Burford, Oxfordshire

These Burford people really know how to decorate a front entrance!
And just look at that Arts & Crafts wall lantern... *swoon*

One of Burford's lovely gift stores along its high street

A long avenue of pollarded trees and golden Cotswolds stone cottages
- Burford high street

Our lunch venue - the cosy and welcoming The Angel pub in Burford

Festive splendour around the specials board in the bar area of The Angel in Burford, Oxfordshire

We have invited about ten of our neighbours to Christmas drinks on the 22nd of December and we're looking forward to having more than just the usual quick doorstep conversation. The people in the street are a friendly bunch but when we see each other, one of us is always just about to head off somewhere, or we are halfway up a ladder cutting back a shrub etc. We have fingers crossed for our sitting room ceiling, a big chunk of which fell onto the floor a few weeks ago, followed by a steady ingress of rain. The leak has been repaired, but the 125-year-old lath-and-plaster ceiling is being completely replaced the week prior to our little soirée, and we have doubts that we'll manage to get it painted before the New Year...

As for Christmas itself, we'll be spending it in a small cottage in the picturesque Lake District village of Troutbeck, which is not far from Windermere. We have Christmas Eve dinner booked at the local pub, with hopes that it won't rain *every* day (it's a very wet part of the country), though if it's cold enough for the rain to turn into snow we'll be happy indeed.

And finally, a few more random festive shots...

One of Great Malvern's nicest gift stores has a whole basement level
dedicated to Christmas decorations!

Impressive decorations from this coffee place in nearby Hereford

'The Vegan Yorkie'
- lunch with former London work colleagues Julianne and Sam, at the Malbury Café, just 5 mins from home.
It's essentially a giant Yorkshire pudding filled with roast vegetables and vegan sausages! ♥️

15th century local pub The Prince of Wales, looking splendid for Christmas

Well, hopefully these images have helped to get you in the Christmas spirit, particularly those of you in Australia who are already suffering through extreme heat and bushfires. Here's hoping there is some relief in sight for you.

Wishing my readers a Christmas that brings you joy, whether that's a big family gathering or a quiet little celebration like ours. And particular thanks to friends and family abroad who send cards and gifts each year. It reminds us that, though we are very far away, we have people who love us scattered across the world.

Winter sunrise through the mist in Ledbury
(taken from a moving car on the way home from our obscenely early weights-circuit class)

Until next time,

- Maree  xo

Interim update: A new life in Ledbury

The Grade II heritage listed Ledbury Railway Viaduct,
finished in 1861 and just a few minutes' walk from our new house

My goodness, it's been a while, Readers. 

Of course, I have a pretty good excuse. Since the last Tunnels of Green post we have moved house, leaving the south-east of England for the south-western edge of the West Midlands.

We now live in Belle Orchard in Ledbury.
Many of the street names in the town hark back to when the area was
full of apple orchards and hop yards

The top end of Belle Orchard - this massive expanse of white roses is tended by volunteers, I believe

After six weeks we are well and truly starting to settle in at our new house in Herefordshire. We officially moved on 31 July but spent a further couple of nights down at Frensham, camping on a mattress, while we scrubbed and cleaned the house and got rid of a couple of pieces of furniture we no longer required. Since then we've been unpacking, painting, gardening, getting tradespeople in for small jobs and doing bits of DIY ourselves. Also trying to source pieces of furniture and getting rid of some we brought with us from Surrey to 'tide us over' until we found their replacements.

I have been struggling with a couple of the rooms with regard to paint colours, rugs and furniture. We've moved so many times I'm aware it takes time to live in a house and get to know its light and conditions, but we've actually owned the place for nearly a year. Anyway, after multiple failed attempts to find the right paint colour for our garden room (having expended a frightening amount of money on tester pots), a colour consultation appointment at Farrow & Ball in Cheltenham has finally yielded a result. This room has the most bizarre natural light. It's at the darkest end of the house; it faces west and has long windows all along the western and northern* sides. This means a single paint colour looks dramatically different on each of the walls. Additionally, because the house is 125 years old we are obliged to buy expensive, breathable paint that is suitable for use on century-old lime plaster. It's been a learning curve.

* For my Antipodean readers, of course in the northern hemisphere south-facing rooms get the most light (particularly in winter when the sun is at a very low angle), and north-facing rooms are the gloomiest. The garden room is at the northern end of the house.

One of our lovely new neighbours baked these incredible sablés 
to welcome us to the street

There was a slight interruption to all this activity because a mere two weeks after we landed here we hosted our first guest! Graeme took time out of his trip to Finland, Sweden and Norway to visit us for nearly a week. 

We had fun showing Graeme our new town, including one memorable evening when we tried out the second of Ledbury's two Indian restaurants (we had some weeks ago eaten at the other one), and then stopped in for a nightcap at the 15th century Prince of Wales pub in historic Church Lane. By chance earlier that day we'd seen a sandwich board outside the pub advertising Wednesday evenings as open music night, and that particular Wednesday was to focus on folk. What a treat to have local musicians taking turns to perform a range of traditional and more modern folk. It's a teeny-tiny place which probably accommodates only about 30 people, but at one point in the evening the entire pub spontaneously joined in on the chorus of the classic Peter, Paul and Mary tune, Leaving on a Jet Plane. Most pubs these days are really restaurants housed in buildings that were once drinking establishments with accommodation; the Prince of Wales is a 'proper' pub. it does serve food, but that's secondary to the drinks and the social function.

While Graeme was here we also sampled the excellent coffee and cake at the organic supermarket and café and toured the historic 16th century 'painted room' that was discovered in the Town Council offices in the 1980s. We called into many of the local artisan stores and galleries. Ledbury has not one, but two specialist wine shops and the larger of the two regularly hosts tasting evenings. Just last Friday Kevin recently attended a single malt whisky tasting event in one of Ledbury's heritage listed buildings.

Church Lane, one of Ledbury's oldest streets,
with the Church of St Michael and All Angels in the distance, and the
Price of Wales pub in the foreground

The modern showroom of Roger Oates Design, makers of exceptionally high quality carpets, rugs and upholstery. 
All their wares are woven locally from their own special wool which is dyed and spun in Yorkshire. 
We have one of their stair-runners

The wonderful black-and-white Tudor façade of The Feathers Hotel in Ledbury's High Street.
It's been welcoming weary travellers for more than 400 years

This town really supports its local, independent businesses. 
So nice to see a traditional hardware store in this age of massive chain stores

Some of Ledbury's colourful buildings. This is just opposite the top of our street

A few days after Graeme's arrival we met up with friends Roy and Tracey in the Cotswolds. Utter madness, I know, to attempt the Cotswolds in summer when peak crowds mean parking is nigh on impossible and the streets are thronged with tourists. Still, it was a handy halfway point between Ledbury and Buckingham, where Roy and Tracey live, and Graeme had never been to the Cotswolds. I have a friend, a former London work colleague, who lives in beautiful Chipping Campden so we started the day with coffee and convivial conversation on the sunny outdoor terrace of a local café, admiring the gorgeous, centuries-old buildings of golden Cotswold stone. 

The rest of the day was spent doing battle with the aforementioned throng, in Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water and Bibury. We attempted to visit 'the Slaughters' (Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter), but gave up trying to find anywhere to park after about ten minutes!

Rows of terraced Cotswolds Stone houses in Chipping Campden's high street

Doorway in Chipping Campden, the Cotswolds

Ridiculously picturesque Bibury, once described by William Morris as 'the most beautiful village in England'.
This is The Swan (hotel); they were hosting a wedding on the day we visited

The River Coln in Bibury, one of the Cotswolds' most popular villages

Another view of the River Coln in Bibury

Cottage in Bourton-on-the-Water, Cotswolds

This is the famed ‘hobbit’ door of St Edward’s church in Stow-on-the-Wold.
It's believed to have sparked J. R. R. Tolkien’s inspiration for the “Doors of Durin”
(The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)

In between decorating and hosting visitors we do try, once or twice a week, to take a jaunt to places within about an hour's drive from home, often combining necessary appointments with sightseeing or attending special events. We've been to a food fair in lovely Leominster, to a choral mass in Great Malvern Priory, and visited Hereford with its glorious cathedral. Naturally we usually combine these sorties with a visit to a local café or pub. This area isn't quite as generous as the south-east in terms of in variety for vegetarians and vegans; the region is known for its meat producers, particularly beef. But usually we manage to find something and generally the quality is good.

I have to say since moving to Herefordshire I've been ruined for supermarket fruit, particularly berries. Not even Waitrose's finest selection of organic produce can compete with the local produce here. There are not one but two stands on the outskirts of Ledbury where you can purchase the local produce. During the day there's somebody there to take your money, but after 5pm there is a refrigerated 24-hour automat! The strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are among the best we've ever tasted, as are the local ones available from our small greengrocer in the high street. The organic supermarket and café also has amazing seasonal produce - the pears and apricots taste like actual pears and apricots. 

This whole region is known for its apples and its cider. Sadly neither Kevin nor I care for cider, so we can't attest to its quality, and apples are not my favourite fruit (I'll only eat them if there's nothing else on offer), but Kevin is enjoying them. Plus, apple trees are so pretty throughout the seasons, and right now Herefordshire is peppered with bejewelled greenery, vivid red orbs amongst the green leaves. Harvest is usually in October but after such a long, dry, hot summer I think the apples are probably ready now.

Last week one of Kevin's cycling group knocked on our door, having ridden over from his allotment, panniers full of a purple fruit that is a hybrid plum-damson. I took two containers full (several kilos), freezing some for later and using the ripest ones to bake an Italian plum cake which was absolutely delicious. 

Grange Court in Leominster 

Food fair in Leominster's Corn Square

What a find! We'll definitely return to No. 27 Drapers Lane in Leominster.
Superb food, friendly service and a great location in Drapers Lane

Drapers Lane in Leominster. The name stems from the number of traders who finished and sold locally produced cloth from premises there.
The buildings in the Lane vary greatly in age; some date back to the 1400s

Hereford Cathedral. Doesn't look anything special from the outside...

...but just take a look at the interior. Absolutely glorious!
The gold wreath (corona) above the altar was designed to resemble Jesus' crown of thorns.
It was made by Simon Beer, a silversmith from Lewes (assembled / launched in 1992)

Vaulted ceilings and stone pillars at Hereford Cathedral

And of course we finally have some time to explore our immediate locality. 

The photo at the top of this post shows Ledbury's Grade II listed Victorian railway viaduct, which is only about 10 minutes' walk from our house. It was constructed between 1859-61 from bricks made on-site using the clay dug out for the foundations, and more than 160 years later when you journey to Ledbury by rail, your train travels over it. 

Completed a little later, in 1881, was Ledbury's Skew Bridge, a really interesting piece of construction with a ribbed skew arch at an angle of approximately 45º. It was also designed for railway use but became disused following the closure of the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway Line in 1959. Happily, the Skew Bridge is now part of the Ledbury Town Trail footpath.

Ledbury's Skew Bridge, a former railway bridge but these days it only carries pedestrian
traffic, as part of the Ledbury Town Trail

We had dinner one evening at The Greenman in the village of Fownhope, 
about 30 minutes from Ledbury, in the Wye Valley

The Greenman pub in Fownhope dates from the 15th century

I do miss Surrey's endless woods and tunnels of green; this part of England is far more agricultural. I have seen more tractors since moving here than I had previously seen in my entire life. They are everywhere, rumbling along narrow country lanes but also barrelling through the main street of town on a daily basis. A couple of weeks ago Ledbury hosted its annual carnival, and the star attraction was definitely a parade of tractors and other farm equipment. 

One of a series of vintage tractors that were the star turn at Ledbury Carnival

Ciderrrrrrrrrrr (said in best West Country accent!)
The Westons Cider dray, from the nearby village of Much Marcle, at Ledbury Carnival

I also miss not having a Waitrose close by! The nearest one is Great Malvern, about 25 minutes by car. Our former proximity to London is additionally a great loss to me, particularly with the new David Bowie Centre in Hackney (an extension of the V&A Museum) having just opened in the past week. Boo-hoo!

And of course I miss our friends at Frensham and the wider Surrey region, a social circle built over the past 15 years or so. 

But I suppose over time Ledbury will start to feel like home, and hopefully we will make more friends here. Our neighbours are incredibly welcoming, as are all the shopkeepers in the town. And everybody says hello as they pass when you're out on one of the walking trails. It's a nice place.

Ledbury's Cenotaph (foreground) and the Barrett Browning Institute with its gothic clock tower
 which was built to commemorate the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who lived in the town

The Market Hall in Ledbury's main street.
Another Tudor building, completed in 1617, and elevated for storage of grain above,
with room for stallholders beneath

One of Ledbury's purveyors of fish and chips - The Codfather Part II 🤣

 A common sight across Herefordshire in September - apples trees abundant with fruit

I'll publish some photos of the house sometime soon, once we have done some more painting and the last of our new / vintage furnishings arrive. 

And lastly, ***HURRAH!*** Autumn is finally here! 😀

Until next time,

- Maree  xo