// Ledbury
Walking Around Ledbury
Andy Black, Tourism Officer from Visit Herefordshire, guides us through some stunning local walks
Ledbury is famed for a number of things. The 17th century black and white Market House stands proud in the centre of the town, its pillars of chestnut the handiwork of John Abel, the Kings carpenter and completed in 1653. Besides this architecture and The Feathers Hotel, Ledbury also offers a photographers dream that is Church Lane whose medieval streets feature the Heritage Centre, Butchers Row Folk Museum and the Painted Room amongst the cobbled streets. It is home to three famous poets in Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, John Masefield, (the UK’s Poet Laureate from 1930) and William Langland, appropriately also hosting the UK’s largest poetry festival each year, (running from 30th June to 9th July later this year). There’s also a certain poetic quality to the nearby Malvern Hills, the dramatic nine miles long outline that straddles both Herefordshire and Worcestershire and which proves perennially popular to walkers, keen to soak up the atmosphere and vistas, following in the footsteps of illustrious figures such as Elgar.
There are several good walks beginning from Ledbury itself and I would highlight a couple which offer three to three and a half hours walking time so something to suit most ages and abilities. The Hollybush to Eastnor Castle walk is a circular route of just over seven miles, beginning from the small hamlet of Hollybush before culminating with the opulent grounds and splendour that is Eastnor Castle. Along the way you can enjoy an authentic motte castle built by the Earl Somers in 1812, an impressive Obelisk and the 17th century St John the Baptist Church. Peering through Hawthorne bushes you can catch a first glimpse of the quasi Gothic Eastnor Castle whilst upon
reaching the brow of the hill you can see the Iron Age fort which heralds British Camp on the top of the Herefordshire Beacon nestled within the Malvern Hills. Descending into the grounds of the Eastnor estate, heading off in a south westerly direction takes in the 90 feet tall Obelisk. Traversing the Eastnor Deer Park then takes in the small Victorian church, complete with Norman tower. Your return to Hollybush retraces some of your earlier steps as you track uphill towards the most southerly part of the Malvern Hills.
As an alternative to this walk, you can start from Ledbury’s Market House, making your way to Eastnor via the uphill climb to Coneygree Woods. As you continue you will see Eastnor Church and keep views of British Camp in your eyeline, before then seeing Eastnor cricket ground and Eastnor Pottery centre, eventually walking downhill as you reach the path leading back to Coneygree Woods. Continuing down you will then reach the centre of Ledbury again.
With the opulent scenery, idyllic rural location and a wealth of stunning buildings steeped in history, this area of East Herefordshire bordering the Malverns very much promises the “Box of Delights” that Ledbury’s famous son, John Masefield wrote of.
For more precise details of walks, map references, GPS etc
www.malvernwalks.co.uk and for further information, please visit
www.visitherefordshire.co.uk
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