HEREFORDSHIRE!

Forwardologist: Emily (with her family)

Place of residence: A little rural retreat (beams, very low ceilings and copies of 'The Field' for reading) quite a way from the small village of Eardisley. Gorgeous country views which can only mean one thing - backwardness.

A quick perusal of the local notice board told us what we needed to know about the goings on in this area. Not a lot.

Day 1: Hay-on-Wye 'famous' for it's literary festival. Spent 5 hours perfecting the art of pottering. Living in Marlborough is good practise, as this was a similar sort of town. Second-hand bookshop heaven - finding bargain Bridget Jones for £1.99. However if that's not your cup of char "it's long drawn out torture."

Day 2: National Trust House (property names all seem to be the same). On this particular day there was a falconry display! (very exciting) Had a hog roast, then walked for 2 miles down a hill to get to the house, only to find it three rooms big. Nice, but not very impressive.

That Evening: In a wedding marquee in a field.
The Eardisley tennis club had organised a show/cabaret affair. Consisted of three men - a musician, a singer, and a farmer. Songs and chat focussed very heavily on farming, manure, cows, and other random countryside humour. Lots of jokes at the expense of the Welsh. We were near the Welsh boarder so this probably wasn't a good idea.
Had the second hog roast of my life, but also the second one that day. Obviously popular cuisine. If I hadn't experienced this myself, I would have doubted that an evening like this could exist.

Day 3: Amazing world of mazes wasn't that amazing
Amazingly mobile phone found only signal in county at 05:30am and beeped backlog of txt messages.  'Escape to the country' only thing on T.V. that night.

Day 4: Cider house - one of the things the county is good for. Hurrah!

Another NT property.  Beautiful and absolutely fabulous as N.T. goes. In the middle of nowhere because Capability Brown destroyed any nearby villages if they spoilt the view when he landscaped the garden.

Day 5: Hereford Tension arose when we discovered that Hereford, the capital of Herefordshire, had only a one-screen cinema. Sat through 'Hulk'.

Day 6: Brecon Beacons (Wales) Again lovely views and scenery etc… but had to walk up a mountain. Wild sheep and horses a-plenty, so v. concerned over sandwich situation.  Heavens opened upon descent. Exhilarating, or do I mean exhausting?

Day 7: Home, via Wales Enjoyed the first proper lot of sunshine all week.

Overall: Quite enjoyable but a VERY backwards - 6. A good holiday if one needs to retreat for a bit, but a bit too remote for me. Puts my backwards situation into perspective!