Hereford

We woke to rain. Not heavy, but it had been raining steadily most of the night. By the time we had finished breakfast, it had stopped but was cool and overcast.

I had packed up the picnic box which we took out with us, but in the end the picnic was had back at the campsite (see extra).

We drove to Leominster. Somewhere we had never visited before. More lovely old medieval buildings, housing a variety of shops and cafes. The one we chose for coffee was on the corner of the marketplace, and also housed an antique shop. It was popular with (older) locals. We had coffee and shared a toasted teacake. Then wandered the other shops before heading on to Hereford.

Again, we have never visited this part of the country, so the city of Hereford was much as I expected it to be, size wise. Similar to Norwich. Full of history, but more of the main shops you expect in a bigger city. We made our way to the cathedral, down this quaint alleyway (where we returned for lunch). At the cathedral we paid to visit the Mappa Mundi and the Chained Library. Two things I had never heard of before - I'm ashamed to say. I've bought a brief guide which I'm reading now. They also have a copy of Magna Carta but that wasn't on display. We have seen a much bigger one at Lincoln Castle. Overall, the exhibition here was very interesting. The Mappa Mundi is the 'Greatest Surviving medieval world map' - bottom right in the collage. The ancient chained library is the largest in the world. The books are all chained together and they are truly significant collection of manuscripts and books (a lot of them bibles) It is proving to be a kind of history holiday for us - as they usually are. The weather warmed up, and we wandered back up the lane and had dinner in a pub called The Lichfield Vaults.

After visiting a few more shops we headed back. The picnic not needed, we had for our tea! We've been joined by another motorhome at the site, so that's 2 motorhomes and us in our eriba! Looks like another peaceful evening!