Ledbury - Poetic Black & White Town

Photo 1: Looking Down on Ledbury from Dog Hill

January has been colder than usual with the mean Central England Temperature (CET) in negative territory up to the 18th. 

Figure 1: Mean CET up to 18th January

This month's daily temperatures are shown in Figure 2, collected by our backyard Davis Weather Station. Nine air frosts (i.e. freezing temperatures) already by the 18th. 

Figure 2: January 2025 Daily Temperatures up to 18th (Min/Max/Average)

The forecast for the 17th January (marked) was a little warmer and, as we were both free of other engagements, decided to try a short walk (two miles) around Ledbury from this book ...

... a Xmas present from Mary.

Ledbury is a delightful town of around 10,000 though expanding rapidly. The centre is full of historic buildings such as the Market House, the Master's House, the Clock Tower, the Jacobean Ceremony Room, the 16th Century Painted Room and the Feathers Hotel. There are plenty of local independent shops and you are only a short distance from Eastnor Castle, the Cathedral City of Hereford and the Malvern Hills.

Photo 2: The Clock Tower, Ledbury

Famous residents of Ledbury include the poets John Masefield and Elizabeth Barrett Browning - which is as good a reason as any to have an annual Poetry Festival.

Ledbury has good rail links to Hereford, Worcester, Birmingham and London - it would have been a good alternative to Hereford when we left London in the early 2000s (I continued to work three days a week in London for a further 10 years before retiring). There is a small but excellent theatre that doubles up as a cinema, a swimming pool, leisure centre and a number of private gyms.