Back to the Herefordshire Page
- The Royal Connection
- Herefordshire Eats
- Herefordshire VIPs
- Richard Remembers
- Owlbut's Birdwatch
Surprisingly, considering I've not
been there (see later), Hereford has many royal connections over the years. King Offa ruled from Hereford Castle way back in 794AD ish while Richard I sold Hereford
to its people to raise money for his crusades.
The picture on the right is of the King's chair. From 1139AD until 1147AD there was a civil war in England. You can read about it all
here. It was fought between Stephen, officially the King and the nephew of
Henry I, and Matilda, daughter of Henry I. Stephen took the city in 1138AD, a year before kick off it would appear, but then Matilda retook it. Stephen won it back
again and at a Whitsunday service declared himself King whilst he sat on his hastily put together throne.
Edward I was imprisoned in Hereford Castle by Simon de Montfort, also on the website for 1258AD and a few years thereafter, but Edward escaped. Later
on he built loads of castles in Wales, probably with the help of loads of builders. Anther influential woman, Isabella, used Hereford Castle as a base to begin
her rule. She's on the site in 1326AD. Finally the maybe lover of Queen Elizabeth I, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was born in Herefordshire.
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It was dear old William the Conqueror
and his monks that we have to thank for Herefordshire Cider Cake. They brought the knowledge of how to make cider to England and the climate of Southern England was great
for growing the apples from which cider is made. Nowadays cider is mainly made in Kent, Somerset and Herefordshire, which is why it is here.
There is an annual cider festival in Herefordshire and the cake became a part of it. In the 18th century, cider was looked down on by the wealthy as it
was seen as a drink for the peasants but more recently cider has risen in popularity.
The mixture is a fairly normal cake mixture of butter, sugar, eggs and flour with the addition of cinnamon and/or ginger plus, of course, a liberal
dose of cider.
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Seven random people who were born in Herefordshire in the last 100 years:-
John Blashford-Snell (Explorer and Youth Leader), Ellie Goulding (Singer), Frank Oz (Actor, voice of Miss Piggy, Yoda, Fozzie Bear and Cookie Monster among
others), Beryl Reid (Actor and Comedian), Jake Mitchell (YouTuber), James Honeyman-Scott (Guitarist and Founder of The Pretenders) and Connor Wickham (Footballer).
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On the left is a map of England, you
may have seen it somewhere else on our site. It is divided into the various counties and metropolitan boroughs. All those in yellow I have either lived in, visited or
just driven through. The one in red, Herefordshire, I have done none of those things.
I missed it on my first coastline journey around Great Britain, crossing back from Wales to England across the Severn Bridge. My other journeys were only
around the coast of England and Herefordshire didn't feature. The second journey was anti-clockwise and I came home from Hoole in Cheshire to Essex and returned to
Cannington in Somerset. The third journey, clockwise did involve driving up from Weston-super-Mare, again in Somerset, to Lytham St Annes in Lancashire but I
didn't drive through Herefordshire.
I also have to admit that as a child I always thought Herefordshire was in Wales, no real idea why, and only famous for cattle. By the way (or BTW for
the younger generation) my primary school geography learning of the counties of England involved the whole class standing in a line around the wall of our classroom
and being asked in turn to name a county. If the person or persons in front of you in the line failed to answer and you did, you moved up the line. My natural
competitive, some would say over-competitive, instinct seriously helped my geography knowledge.
I think I've remembered too much; I need a lie down.
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This rather good looking bird is a lapwing also known as a peewit. It can usually be found in farmland all over England.
There are about 140,000 breeding pairs in the UK. At the moment it is on the Red List of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (The RSPB). That means
they are worried about its survival. It has a black and white appearance and rounded wings in flight. It is easy to spot. It eats worms and insects.
It is about 30cms long and has a wingspan of about 85cms. It weighs between 140 to 320 grams. The feathers are black, brown, grey, green, purple, orange
and white and it has a medium length black beak and a rather neat hair style.
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Two extra sections, "It Happened Here" and "Now That's Weird", will appear on 28 April 2025
