The English Midlands, and Herefordshire in particular, are well known for their timber-framed houses. Here are some quintessential English scenes we have enjoyed in our travels:
The roses at Bramptoncourt Estate were glorious:
The orchard was full of damson plums:
As serendipity would have it, our visit coincided with an agricultural show. The grand parade of tractors was utterly charming, as was the commentary (or at least the bit we could understand):
From chainsaw carved pigs to home-made pork pies, there was something for everyone:
Even an exhibition of multi-media and textile works by artist in residence Ursula Nash:
Serendipity also embraced our visit to Gloucester Cathedral. Unbeknowst to us, the Crucible 2 exhibition opened this week and it’s a big deal. 100 modern sculptures by 61 artists including works by Sir Henry Moore and Damian Hirst. I confess, I missed the Hirst piece, I was too busy admiring the altar cloth! However, thisBBC video gives you an overview of the exhibition and this blog post has lots of photos.
I took photos too but the artworks were only numbered, not labelled so I cannot give proper artist attribution for most of my images and will not share them online.
This is a playful juxtaposition of a Henry Moore reclining nude with a tomb:
Who knows what serendipity will present next.