banks of the always beautiful Wye. The square tower of the
cathedral is the most conspicuous object when the town first comes into
view. Though dating in part from the Eleventh Century, work on the
cathedral occupied the centuries until 1530, when it was practically
completed as it now stands. The vandal Wyatt, who dealt so hardly with
Salisbury, had the restoration of the cathedral in hand early in the
Eighteenth Century. He destroyed many of its most artistic features,
but recently his work was undone and a second restoration was completed
in about 1863. The structure as it now stands is mainly Norman in style,
built of light-brown stone, and remarkably beautiful and imposing.
Hereford Castle has entirely vanished, though a contemporary writer
describes it as "one of the fairest, largest, and strongest castles in
England." The site which it occupied is now a public garden, diversified
with shrubbery and flowers. An ornamental lake indicates where once was
the moat, but the outlines of the walls are shown only by grass-covered
ridges. Its history was no doubt as stirring as that of others of the
border castles, which more fortunately escaped annihilation.
Despite its present atmosphere of peace and quietude, Hereford saw
strenuous times in the fierce warfare which raged between the English
and Welsh, though few relics of those days remain. The streets are
unusually wide and with few exceptions the buildings are modern.
Surrounding the town is a stretch of green, level meadow, upon which
graze herds of the red and white cattle whose fame is wider than that of
their native shire. No doubt there are many familiar with the sleek
Herefords who have no idea from whence they take their name.
Our hotel, the Green Dragon, had recently been re-furnished and
brightened throughout, and its excellent service was much better than
we often found in towns the size of Hereford. Its well planned motor
garage, just completed, showed that its proprietors recognized the
growing importance of this method of touring.
Our run from Hereford up the Wye Valley to the sea, we agreed was one of
our red-letter days. We passed through greatly varied scenery from the
fertile, level country around Hereford to the rough, broken hills near
the river's source, but the view was always picturesque in the highest
degree. The road runs along the edge of the hills, and the glorious
valley with its brawling river spread out before us almost the entire
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