The Dinedor Hill Walk is the new walk in Cathedral's 'Country Walks' series
‘Country Walks from the Heart of the City’ - four circular walks that start and end in the Cathedral Close - part of the Cathedral Close Project
These lovely circular walks have been researched and designed by heritage walks leader, Pete Blench, to give perspective to our cathedral city’s place in the landscape.
Printed leaflets, packed with illustrations, background information and route-maps to guide you on these walks are available in the Cathedral and in Hereford Tourism Information Centre, alternatively...
Download your Country Walks from the Heart of the City leaflet here.
Outline information on the walks follows:
Two Bridges Walk, 1 mile – Cathedral Close, Wye Bridge, riverside path along south bank, Victoria Footbridge, Castle Green, Quay Street.
Points of interest: Cathedral precincts; 15th century Wye Bridge (the Wye’s oldest bridge and successor to an even earlier wooden bridge dating from the 11th century); the River Wye, with references to navigation, boat building and its busy commercial past; the remains of the 12th century Rowe Ditch, part of the city’s defensive earthworks; the Victoria Footbridge, built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and replacing a ferry, ‘The Princess Mary’; Castle Green, where there was a timber-made motte & bailey fortress in Saxon times and where the moated Norman stone castle that replaced it was King Henry IV’s base in his steps to tackle the Welsh rebellion led by Owain Glyndwr from 1400-1411; St Ethelbert’s Well & 12th century Hereford as a place of miracles and pilgrimage.
Bartonsham Bend Walk, 3.5 miles – Cathedral Close, Wye Bridge, riverside path along south bank, Victoria Footbridge, riverside path along north bank and around Bartonsham Bend, Bartonsham Water Meadows, Castle Green, Quay Street.
Points of interest: as for The Two Bridges Walk, plus an appreciation of the River Wye, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its whole length and ecologically one of the most important rivers in Europe; Bartonsham’s historic links with the Cathedral as one of 28 ‘prebends’ that provided income for the Cathedral clergy; the Bartonsham Ditch earthworks – enclosure formed in the English Civil War as a stronghold for the Parliamentarian forces during the five-week Siege of Hereford in 1645.
Breinton Springs Walk, 6.5 miles – Cathedral Close, Wye Bridge, follow riverside path on south bank upstream, cross Hunderton Bridge, continue by river upstream, Breinton Springs, Breinton Church, footpath to Warham House, lane and footpath via Hereford Waterworks Museum, follow riverside path downstream to return to city.
Points of interest: historic Wye Bridge; Hunderton Bridge – former railway bridge, now part of the Great Western Way cycle and pedestrian route; the River Wye as a Site of Special Scientific Interest; Breinton Springs - a small National Trust site consisting of old pasture, orchard and a small area of woodland; a 12th century mound here was the site of a fortified dwelling occupied by the Cathedral Treasurer; Breinton Church and churchyard with ancient yew trees; orchards – a permissive path has been created through privately-owned orchards planted with traditional local varieties; a section of the return journey through Warham (which, along with Bartonsham, was another of the 28 Cathedral ‘prebends’) is on a quiet lane leading back to Hereford and has excellent views south to Dinedor and Aconbury iron age hill forts.
Between the end of August and the beginning of October 2010, heritage walks leader Pete Blench personally led each of the three circular walks that he had researched and designed for Close Connections, the educational side of the Close Renovation Project.
Starting on a wonderfully sunny August Bank Holiday Monday with the ‘Breinton Springs Walk’, these guided versions of the walks, starting and finishing in the Cathedral Close, were informative and jolly occasions, benefiting from Pete’s eye for detail and excellent story-telling of incidents from both history and nature.
The Breinton Springs 'gang' gathers in the orchard at Breinton Church
A warm but misty day in mid September saw another group set off with Pete, this time heading south-eastwards on the ‘Bartonsham Bend Walk’, while bright sunshine accompanied Pete and the walkers on the final, short ‘Two Bridges Walk’ at the beginning of October.
To book a personally guided 'Country Walk from the Heart of the City', contact Pete Blench on folley.farm@btinternet.com .