Garway Hill, Herefordshire

I won’t reveal too much about Herefordshire because it is a largely rural county that in many ways modern life has passed by and I hope it stays that way, beautiful, lush and green.

We walked for a couple of hours from our hotel, the Bell at Skenfrith, through fields and farms to get to the summit of Garway Hill. Incidentally, the Bell at Skenfrith has great rooms but I would not recommend the place to anybody. The dining room service was poor and the barman offhand. The tone was set when the five of us arrived and instead of saying ‘Welcome to the Bell, I hope that you have an enjoyable stay’ the host said ‘name please.’

You would be better off at the Garway Moon Inn which we visited on the way down. It has good food, real ale and a friendly welcome.

Garway is a village in southwest Herefordshire, lying approximately equidistant from Hereford, Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth. Above the village stands Garway Hill, a prominent local landmark rising to over 1200 feet.

From the top of the hill there is a view of seven counties in a 360-degree panorama. White mountain horses graze there most of the year and raise their foals amongst the bracken. Sheep roam freely. A pond near the summit provides a water supply for the animals which lasts all the year round, despite there being no visible source to keep it topped up. The pond is also home to a protected species of newt.

Here’s us at the summit, is Pete the first Australian up there? Perhaps not.