Page 23 - Eat Sleep Live Herefordshire Guide 2019

Facts & Fiction
Fab little facts
David J Vaughan’s book The Little Book of Herefordshire tells us Herefordshire has almost 2000 listed buildings, 130 castles (not all accessible) and 178 bridges along the River Wye. Astounding!
Famous faces
Historic figures have all played their part in the area’s culture during their life and times here; composer Elgar, courtier Nell Gwynne, Kings Arthur and Offa to name a few.
The region has produced and is home to some incredible musical talent; Bands The Pretenders and Mott the Hoople have roots here, musician Robert Plant is a regular face, pop princess Ellie Goulding grew up here, and Peter Gabriel produced the timeless Tubular Bells album in our hills.
TV buffs will double-take when you bump into Only Fools and Horses’ ‘Boycie’ actor John Challis, Top Gear’s Richard Hammond or Gardener’s World’s Monty Don down at your local. Jessica Raine aka ‘Jenny Lee’ in the original series of Call the Midwife pops back to her family home, Bargain Hunt and Flog It antiques expert Kate Bliss is very active locally,
as is Escape to the Country’s Jules Hudson, and The Chase’s ‘The Beast’ Mark Labbett.
Oh, did we mention Game of Thrones’ Kit Harrington hails from here and yes Liz Hurley really does live in that sprawling manor house down the lane. Fancy that!
Screen and Script
This area has long inspired creatives and writers. The wildness of the Golden Valley setting the scene for the film Shadowlands with Anthony Hopkins, influencing Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland who’s brother was Vicar at hamlet Vowchurch, and CS Lewis used Arthur’s Stone, part of a Neolithic tomb at Dorstone and Herefordshire’s oldest manmande structure, as inspiration for the stone table where Aslan was sacrificed in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Modern day author Phil Rickman based his spooky trilogy of Merrily Watkins novels in Herefordshire and the filming locations for the ITV series of his Midwinter of the Spirit book can be easily visited.
Legend & Folkore
With such a deep history there is little wonder that you’ll find a captivating tale around every footpath and cobbled street. Have you heard the legend of Black Vaughan and his faithful bloodhound still haunting Hergest Court, it’s said to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write The Hound of the Baskervilles?
Does the Dragon of Mordiford still come to drink from the stream in the village? And is it really legal to shoot a Welshman with a longbow in Hereford Cathedral Close on a Sunday between 9am and 12noon from a distance of 12 yards? We’re not going to chance it!
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