Ledbury, Herefordshire

I visited Ledbury when I was housesitting in Colwall in the Malvern Hills at the end of November.

Just a short train ride from Colwall, Ledbury has a substantial number of timber-framed buildings, including a market hall completed in 1617. Markets were held on the open ground floor while grain was stored on the first floor.

I was particularly impressed by the almshouse with its attractive frontage and balconies at the rear. It’s rare to see attractive social or seniors’ housing nowadays.

Ledbury is known as the poetry town and holds an annual poetry festival. Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived there and John Masefield was born there. The Dymock poetry group (including Robert Frost and Rupert Brooke) was based nearby in Dymock and would have passed through Ledbury when travelling by train. Edward Thomas was on one such journey when he wrote Adlestrop, which I think is a hauntingly beautiful poem.