THE July meeting began with a delightful illustrated talk, given by Penny Platts.

She spoke about the Market Towns of Herefordshire, beginning with Bromyard. The past wealth of these towns could be judged by the scale and grandeur of the churches and St.Peters Church at Bromyard is particularly lovely and well kept. Penny took members through the town, picking out many interesting buildings, some of which had been bricked or rendered over oak frames. She then transported them to Bromyard Downs and told of the racecourse and how people from many miles away congregated to enjoy the spectacle. There was also a shooting range on the Downs.

Members then travelled to Ledbury, the town that is associated with the poets Elizabeth Barrett Browning and John Masefield. How appropriate that they still hold a Poetry Festival in the town. The beautiful old Church Lane members were told, was part of the old salt route to Droitwich. With 47 public houses in the town, both locals and travellers were well catered for in past times.

Ross-on-Wye was one of the UK’s first tourist hot-spots where people came to enjoy the wonderful scenery of the Wye Valley. Ross benefitted greatly from John Kyrle known as The Man of Ross who spent his fortune helping the people of the town.

The next call was at Kington, located on the Welsh border and although the town still has some handsome timber buildings, the character of Kington was different from the other Market Towns, due to its location.

Leominster was the final port of call. Now famous for the many antique shops in the town, in past times it was from the fleece of the Ryland Sheep that Leominster gained prosperity. In fact the impact of wool on the town was so great that it was referred to as Leominster Gold.

In the business meeting that followed Catherine Best reported to members on the AGM (recently held in Leeds) and the date for the annual outing was set for Thursday, August 21 – details to be given at the next meeting which will be held on Thursday, August 14 when the speaker will be Rosemary Prosser on the subject From Tights to Trousers.