We drove to Hereford on Thursday arriving for a morning coffee for the Historic Churches Trust held in Hereford town hall. Preserves, jelly, fudge, plants and baked goods were on sale to support the preservation of old churches in Herefordshire. The Mayor was there, yes, and the Bishop and the Dean of the cathedral along with many other folk from hither and yon. Each table was carefully set with pink sweet peas.
Our next stop was a visit to Plas Gwyn, the house where Elgar lived from 1904-11. Renee happens to be good friends with the current owner, Timothy Day, who made us a sumptuous lunch and very kindly let me wander around his home taking photos of everything, plus he treated us to a concert in Malvern afterward. (Is anyone out there a tiny bit envious? ) As well as being a great cook and really nice guy, Tim is a brilliant musicologist currently working on a book about cathedral music.
Alas, we leave scenic Elgar country tomorrow for the big city.
This is from Philip Baldwin, from Herefordshire, at present visiting Abner and Shirley ( with Sue), and very impressed with Stephanie’s Blogs! Sorry to miss you of course, but I’m so glad you’ve been given such a wonderful tour by Renee.
The photo of Elgar’s study prompts me to say that this is where our Committee (Elgar in Hereford Group) meet again, every 6 weeks or so, after some months during which that part of Plas Gwyn was being sold. We (and Joan Marsden the previous owner) are very pleased that the purchaser was Tim Day, who has now brought a Steinway piano to the house, and is the ideal person to be living there!
Our organisation was founded in 2000 AD to make possible a permanent memorial in Hereford to Sir Edward Elgar, who composed many of his most important works whilst living here. This resulted in the now-familiar Statue with the Sunbeam bicycle unveiled in Cathedral Close by Dame Janet Baker in September 2005. A large Grant from the Foundation for Sport & the Arts (of which Dame Janet is a Trustee) enabled the work to go ahead; the chosen Sculptor was Jemma Pearson from Clun, Shropshire, who followed with a new statue of the Composer sitting on a garden seat looking across to the Malvern Hills from the Birthplace garden near Worcester. This was unveiled by Sir Mark Elder, another Elgarian, in February of last year.
Incidentally Tim Day’s photo was taken from a house overlooking Castle Pool, Hereford.
See another comment under the Elgar graves.
Philip Baldwin, Chair, Elgar in Hereford Group, Eye Leominster HR6 ODP