Bromyard
| Bromyard | |
| Herefordshire | |
|---|---|
 Bromyard High Street | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SO654548 |
| Location: | 52°11’27"N, 2°30’24"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 4,700 (2001) |
| Post town: | Bromyard |
| Postcode: | HR7 |
| Dialling code: | 01885 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Herefordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North Herefordshire |
| Website: | Bromyard Info |
Bromyard is a small town in north-eastern Herefordshire with a population of approximately 4,000. It lies near to the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 between Leominster and Worcester. Bromyard's pretty streets have a number of traditional half-timbered pubs and some buildings dating back to Norman days. Bromyard was once a market town and centre for growing hops and soft fruit.
During First World War, Bromyard was the site of an internment camp, where the Irish nationalist future Lord Mayor of Cork and hunger striker Terence MacSwiney was both interned. During the Second World War, Westminster School was temporarily relocated to Buckenhill, on the outskirts of the town.
Big Society
Bromyard hosts a three-day folk festival each year in September, which particularly concentrates on English traditional music; one of the largest events of its kind in the country.[1]
Bromyard Gala, a large country show and traction engine and vintage rally, is held on its showground just off Hereford Road on the first weekend of July.[2]
Bromyard is the home of Nozstock Festival of Performing Arts which attracts nearly 3,000 visitors at the end of July every year. This three-day event showcases 30 bands from around the country across three stages, alongside two dance arenas, a cinema, a theatre and comedy stage, circus, and a vintage tractor arena.
At Christmastide, volunteers (organised by the Chamber of Commerce) organise an extensive display of Christmas lights, which runs for the five weeks up to Christmas until after the New Year. The group established links with Blackpool Illuminations over 2009/10, and Blackpool's director Richard Ryan performed the switching-on ceremony in November 2010.
The Conquest Theatre offers a programme of plays, variety, musicals, operettas, ballet, pantomime and concerts, in a purpose-built centre built in 1991.
Bromyard also has its own wind band, Bromyard Wind Band, which rehearses in the nearby village of Bredenbury on Friday evenings, except on the first Friday of every month, when it is permitted to rehearse at the Falcon Hotel in central Bromyard.
Bromyard.info, the community website for Bromyard and District. Run as a Community Interest Company by volunteers, it is an 'online daily news site', has a full events calendar, features places of interest, accommodation, pubs, restaurants and shopping directory, together with a full local directory.
Regular acoustic music sessions also feature in Bromyard's pubs, mostly on Sunday and Tuesday evenings, throughout the year. A calendar of regular and upcoming events is maintained by the Bromyard Sessions.
Rowden Paddocks Farm north of Bromyard is the site for the annual Nozstock music and comedy festival. The 2011 event will be held on 29 to 31 July and features Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds.
Parish church
The parish church is St Peter's. It is a large building in which the work of many ages can be found. The earliest parts of the structure are from the Norman period; much is from the late 12th Century. An effigy of St Peter, with two keys, stands over the main doorway, an unusually feature as such things were generally torn down as idols at the Reformation.
The church has an interesting central tower. Its four supporting arches, the belfry and an unusual corner stair turret, climbing above the tower, are of the 14th Century. The pulpit is practically modern; made in the 19th Century. The communion table has carved legs and this and the rail are said to have been brought from Hereford Cathedral around 1805.
Withi the church is the Bromyard Bushel Measure, made in 1670 to fix the local standard measure.
The old rail line
The Worcester Bromyard and Leominster Railway, now dismantled, ran from Worcester to Leominster, and was a common destination for 'hop-pickers' specials' from the Black Country.The railway was dismantled in 1958.
Sights about the town
The town centre is bypassed by the main road, A44, and allowed to breath. The town centre has many old and historically interesting buildings
- The High Street and Market Square and around have a number of historic buildings and half-timbered pubs.
- {i-NTE}} Lower Brockhampton, a moated farmhouse and National Trust property, lies a short distance to the east.
- Bromyard Downs, an area of common land lying to the northeast, offers many walks, with extensive views over the town, the hills to Radnorshire and hills beyond.
References
- ↑ Bromyard Folk Festival Retrieved 16 December 2009
- ↑ Bromyard Gala website Retrieved 16 December 2009