Ecological writer Satish Kumar once wrote that ‘unless you know Nature, you cannot love her’. Likewise, if we wish to protect England’s green and pleasant land, it’s important to get to know why. People who drop fast food litter, pollute our seas with oil and hunt our precious wildlife, obviously were never taught all about why our land is so beautiful and precious.
Herefordshire is one of England’s least-populated counties, and its only city of Hereford is also pretty small and quiet, with a beautiful cathedral that is home to copies of the Magna Carta. Lying near the border to Wales, the population swells each summer, when visitors flock to the Hay-on-Wye book festival nearby.
Like Kent, Herefordshire is rich with ancient orchards, and home to the highest concentration of apple juice and cider makers in England. You’ll also find lots of lovely countryside and rolling hills. The county sits on the River Wye (the fifth longest river in England) that empties out into the Severn Estuary.
one of England’s best counties for night skies
Like Northumberland, the lack of light pollution means Herefordshire is one of the best places to gaze at the stars, and obviously good for local wildlife and birds. Abroad, sea turtles are leaving the sea to ‘follow the moon’ and ending up laying their eggs in artificially-lit car parks. Our skies are now so ‘light-polluted’ that millions of people have never seen the Milky Way.
one of England’s most beautiful landscapes
The Wye Valley is home to one of England’s most beautiful landsapes and home to the market town of Ross-on-Wye (the river Wye has a ‘foot in both England and Wales’). Popular with walkers, the little cottages were originally homes of local blacksmiths, carpenters, coppicers and wheelwrights. The nearby Black Mountains are very near the Malvern Hills (Worcestershire) and the Welsh border.
one of England’s quieter smaller cities
Hereford is known for its beautiful cathedral and half-timbered houses, and looks more like a quaint town than a city. The cathedral houses the biggest surviving medieval world map (800 years old) and the biggest chained library (books used to be locked up, as they were rare and precious). Elgar wrote many of his major pieces of work while living here (his most famous work is the Pomp and Circumstance March, familiar to people who watch The Last Night of the Proms).