A Walking Tour of Hertford

Friday, 22 May

Despite having more rabbits to watch outside the window it was time to leave our motel and head across the UK to Hertford where friends Sharon and Dave are now living - between their travels - in Bengeo.

Here we are sitting down for lunch:

Me, Sharon, and Dave having lunch (Gary taking the photo)

Mid-afternoon we headed off to look around Hertford, with Dave as our guide. Dave grew up in Bengeo which was formerly a village but is now pretty much a suburb of Hertford.

Converted buildings alongside the canal

Dave left us to look around the museum which was small but delightful - some of my favourite bits were their quirky collections and placements. Here's one among many; an old iron beside an Iron Age pot.

Fun collections

With Gary and Dave's plans to repair the fence and replace the barge-board they needed to buy in some supplies and went to a nicely old-fashioned hardware shop.

Shopping for nails

As we walked around Hertford Dave told us stories about things he'd done growing up in the area - and his stories are always entertaining. :o)

McMullens is the local brewery, founded in 1827 in Hertford. I have more photos of the brewery later in the post but here's the end wall of the Green Dragon pub.

Serious advertising for the Green Dragon Hotel and McMullens brewery

We stopped at the weir where Dave had had a canoeing incident in his younger days and were entertained for some time by a grey wagtail who was catching mayflies as they flitted about over the water. In my photo the water behind him was dropping smoothly over the weir, making those interesting reflections.

Grey wagtail

Dave had asked if there was anything I wanted to see around Hertford and I said I'd like to see the house where W. E. Johns had grown up so we walked around the town, past the 'Oh My Cod' fish and chip shop opposite the Baptist church. This decorative tower on the church caught my eye: