It's a grotty, featureless hole, masquerading as a city on account of a (rather small, squat, dirty) cathedral.
You know you are in trouble when the Hereford City Council website offers you this:
...a wonky black and white scan of a map from many years back. You can spend many a happy hour trying to locate the Tourist Information Centre. Go on, try it. I imagine that when you get there, the Tourist Information they offer would be "Go anywhere other than Hereford".
(It is helpful, though, to have the toilets categorised into Male & Female; Male, Female & Disabled; Female & Female Disabled; Male.)
Having just come from Cardiff, which is lively and cosmopolitan, Hereford is like being stuck in the 70s. Nothing opens after 5.30pm. The only things that were open after that? McDonalds, a Pizza Express (which I imagine is the height of sophistication for people in Hereford - "if you're celebrating, sit in the window") and a Beefeater.
If you're Welsh and crossing the border into England for a bit of a day out, say from Abergavenny or Monmouth or Brecon or Llandridnod Wells (Google maps...!) then you are going to be very disappointed. Cerys was right - "Every day, when I wake up, I thank the Lord I'm Welsh..."; the little known next line perhaps being, "Because I don't live in Hereford..."
If I ever go there again it will really be too soon.
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So you had fun then?
ReplyDeleteSounds similar to New Plymouth
ReplyDeleteWe're all off for a day trip to Hereford then? lol
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I got the name of the place wrong. This is not a good sign. I NEED MORE SLEEP :-) I still can't remember the proper name of the place and I've looked at the post twice now x
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that Hereford can still keep the Welsh out even if the city walls are not what they use to be.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that your attack on Hereford borders on the insane.
A rather small, squat and dirty Cathedral?
Hardly, in fact Hereford Cathedral has been undergoing extensive renovations since the 1980's. Did you actually walk around it? Go inside?
The link to the map you posted is not from HerefordShire council, their website is here http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/
Your also obviously blind as the Tourist Information Centre is a 20 second walk from the cathedral.
There are many places to eat in Hereford, LeftBank Village (this being a 2 minute walk from the Tourist Information Centre) ASK, numerous Thai, Indian, Chinese restaurants, and any other the many pubs.
And sorry but why would you want shops to be open after 5:30pm?
There are 5 supermarkets, 2 which stay open 24/7.
I hope your blog is intended as some light hearted fun, it just worries me that it ranks so highly in a Google Search because fun or not it's utter crap.
Bloody hell! What on earth did you search for on Google for my utter crap to feature so highly in the results...?!
ReplyDeleteWhatever it was, you really have to concede that the cathedral is small and squat... (It might have only looked dirty because it was dark, I'll accept that. For a proper cathedral, see Lincoln).
And I'll agree that the city walls have seen better days. (That may be because the good burghers of the city allowed them to become one side of Tesco...)
But as I was only there from about 6pm one evening till 9am the following morning, my chances to behold the true wonders of the city were limited. I withdraw any criticism until I have the chance to visit again...
...next time I am on my way to somewhere nice... ;-)