Hereford and Malvern

Our first morning waking up on the Eastern slopes: light very early, but a white, filtered light. The colour of pea soup, some might say. Yes, it was foggy. We could see the whitish disc of the sun, and we watched as it gradually drew itself up out of the soup, until it was too bright. Yes, it was even bright enough for shadows this morning.

After the Farly breakfast, we made our way to Hereford. We heard a Victoria O Quam Gloriosum introit and Byrd Justorum Animae for All Saints Sunday. It was interspersed with a Mozart Mass in G (although it was written by Schubert). The introit is sung from the retrochoir, and the sound is rather muffled by the time it gets to the nave - as though through pea soup, some might say. But the clarity of the boys' singing during the service was wonderful.


Joanna and the girls went exploring the town while I was at the communion service, and we joined up (only just) in time for matins - a service where the music is much more concentrated. And what music - Howells Collegium Regale. The last phrase of the Te Deum, "let me never be confounded," gives me shivers every time. There was nothing wrong with the psalm or the Goss anthem (These are they), but they didn't really compare to the Howells. Master Tallis' Testament made for a nice postlude, though I missed the last verse as we rushed towards the chained library to look at the Mappa Mundi and the new exhibition - not normally open on Sundays.

We explored Hereford in the sunlight, searching for a a quick lunch, and then zoomed back to Malvern, where the girls had a "date" to play with Izzy in the Priory Park. But there was a shock in store for us. We crossed the hills to Malvern Wells, and discovered ourselves yet again in the pea soup, as some might say. The playground was fun for the three girls and boy (not quite so much fun for Joanna), but it was still rather chilly.




















It was almost nice to have the rather aerobic climb home to help us warm up. In the photograph to the left, you can see our house almost in the middle. Of course it's a little hard to show the perspective, but perhaps you can imagine it.






Christopher found some dead leaves to play with just outside the front door.