Read my Gloucester travelogue here.

The eleventh city on my list is the West-Midlands city of Hereford 130 miles from London.

Hereford has a simple etymology. As we all know by now, a ford is somewhere shallow enough that you can cross a river – the river in question in this case is the river Wye. “Here,” rhyming with terror, means an army, so Hereford is a place where an army can cross a river. Hereford has been a settlement since, at least, the eighth century, so I’m sure plenty of armies have crossed the river Wye.

Can you believe it’s been three months since I visited my last city: Gloucester? When I started this goal, I had the vague idea of completing it by the time I turned thirty. With less than a year and twenty-four cities to go, I’m not sure I set myself an achievable goal.

One reason I’ve been putting off this trip is partly the distance – the journey there took me over three hours, but also the remoteness. It looked like I had to change in either Newport or Worcester. Luckily, I was able to get a direct train to Hereford.

Not everybody shared my luck. A lad in the row in front of me didn’t have a suitable ticket, so he was fined and escorted off the train. It made me paranoid as to whether I had the right ticket, but the inspector didn’t return.

Anyway, I arrived in Hereford at 1pm. And I had a good first impression. Unlike certain cities *cough cough* Gloucester* the courtyard of the station wasn’t covered in roadworks. The first thing I did other than avoiding being run over was go into the nearby Morrison’s and buy a ready meal for dinner tonight.

For those not in the UK, a ready meal is where you can buy a sandwich or salad, a snack like processed meat or a chocolate bar and a drink e.g fruit juice for a discounted price. There is a huge debate as to the perfect meal deal. I usually go for a variation of a tomato-based pasta salad, processed meat and an innocent smoothie. That’s what I did today. People rave about meal deals, but I think they’re a scam. You think you’re saving so much money? No. You’re spending more money than you usually would. I’ll tell you what will save money. Just buying the sandwich. Or making a sandwich at home and bringing it with you. Having said that I get meal deals a lot, so I’m just a big fat hypocrite.

Anyway, after I finished in Morrison’s, I headed to Hereford cathedral, walking through the town centre in the process. I walked past a lovely music store which was closed and an antiques shop which was closed. If only I hadn’t come on a Sunday… but I did walk down the lovely Cathedral close with most of the shops being closed there too.

Thankfully the cathedral was open and free to visit. It was a majestic building dating back to the eleventh century. There was supposed to be a café and a shop but they too were closed.

For lunch at half-1ish, I visited the nearby “Taste of Italy” bistro where I ordered a smoked salmon sandwich and an apple juice. It just so happened they were making that exact same sandwich when I arrived, so I received it straight away. It was £13, so not the cheapest, but I was hungry. And if I was worried about money, I wouldn’t have bought a train ticket to Hereford.

After that I decided to visit the city’s CEX, so I could buy some ore films that feature on the top 1000 films of all time. I am watching and reviewing them here. But I was waylaid by Hereford’ plethora of charity shops. Any city with a lot of charity shops has a plus in my book. Granted most of them were closed, because it was Sunday, but I did buy the book Mystic River by Dennis Lehane in Oxfam. I recently watched the excellent adaptation, so I’m looking forward to reading the source material.

I also went to the local stationers to buy a replacement pencil case and a new load of pens. There are some writers who purely type everything, but I like to handwrite things first. What happens if I want to write something and I can’t get to my laptop?

I also stopped at the West Midlands Air ambulane charity shjop where I bought the following films: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the Bourney Supremacy, the Constant Gardener, Looper and Miller’s Crossing. This way I supported a local charity and I didn’t have to stop at Cex.

It was nearing three by now so I decided to visit the Black-and-White-House – one of Hereford’s many museums, but it was closed. Instead, I went to the Butter Market, but that was closed as well. However, I was able to look round this cute, arts and crafts market containing small businesses. But I couldn’t linger as that was closing too.

Next I followed signs to the historic city wall – or rather I tried and followed. Form here, I navigated down to the River Wye, which was gorgeous. But I was also looking for a toilet. Instead, I found the “old tat Honesty Shop –“ instead of being manned by a staff member, you pay for items by putting money in a box. Of course you don’t have to pay, it all depends on how honest you are.

But the coolest thing was how the shop had a small snooker table. You couldn’t buy it, but you could play on it. I do like snooker, so I had a quick go on it. Even though I like playing snooker, I’m awful at it, so I soon gave up and moved on. I thought I could use the toilets at the nearby swimming pool, but, guess what? It was closed too.

Back to the river I went, crossing the Victoria bridge to the siren’s call of an ice cream van. However, when I saw the ice creams were £4.50, I put wax in my ears and headed down to the river. I can see where Hereford gets its name from. The water was so shallow you could wade to the middle of the river. People were. They were also canoeing and stand-up paddle boarding.

I walked along the river until 4.45 where I crossed another bridge with the intention of meandering back to the station for my 18.03 train home. En route, I found the city wall. It was a great wall. 10/10.

I also found a micro-brewery with fancy beers. Remember how I said I was too cheap to buy a £4.50 ice cream? That didn’t apply for alcohol as I bought a £4.50 bottle of cider.

Hereford is well-known for its cider production, so I had to try it. Desoite me not knowing anything about cider, I enjoyed it. It had a crisp taste and lacked the same, sweet, cloyingess you get from other ciders. It’s funny because I spent a month working on a French cider farm – although that was more washing bottles and picking apples rather than making the cider.

Anyway, at half 5, I headed to station where it was closed! Just kidding. Actually, my train had been cancelled. Although I was able to travel direct here, for the journey home, I had to take one train to Worcester Shrub Hill and then catch a train back to London Paddington from there. It was the first train that had been cancelled.

Instead, I took the rail-replacement bus which naturally dropped me off nowhere near Worcester Shrub Hill. Instead, it dropped me in Worcester Town centre at the Foregate Street station. I walked twenty minutes to Shrub Hill, which was on the outskirts of the city. Does this count as visiting Worcester? Can I cross it off my list? I’ve at least spotted a few places I could get lunch whenever I do go to Worcester: Korean, Jamaican or Indian.

Anyway, by the time, I reached Shrub Hill, I had long missed my connecting train, so I had to wait half an hour for the next one to Paddington. But at least I was able to eat my meal deal! And at 8.20, an hour later than planned, I was able to begin my long journey back to Paddington. I’ve realised why the train journey is so long; every five minutes you’re stopping at a different station.

Overall, I really enjoyed Hereford. Yes, a lot of it was closed, but that was because I had come on a Sunday. I’m sure if I had come during the week, it would have been swarming. Despite that, it still had a friendly and lively atmosphere. Plus, the natural scenery was gorgeous. I was also a fan of the Old Tat Honesty shop. Lancaster, you’re next. Hopefully it won’t take me three months to visit you.