It’s double-issue time at The People’s Friend this week, with a bumper 144 pages in this week’s issue (dated 8th December). It’s the one with my travel article, Lovely Ledbury on the front cover.
(Alex and Shirley even gave me a name check during their recent Facebook Live discussion of their new bumper issue – check it out below)
Of course, in order to get the piece written (and Christmassy photos taken) in time, I actually visited Ledbury, in Herefordshire, last year. (Yes, sometimes magazines work over 12 months in advance!)
Although Ledbury isn’t that far from me, it’s not somewhere I’ve visited often, and as someone who’s not always quick off the mark to start his Christmas shopping, this was perfect for me.
And only two months earlier, Ledbury had been listed in The Guardian newspaper as one of the ten best cities in Europe for Christmas shopping. Now, as an ex-employee of Herefordshire Council, I was a little surprised to see Ledbury called a ‘city’. Herefordshire only has one city: Hereford!
However, Ledbury is a delightfully charming black-and-white timber-framed town, full of independent shops, which are perfect for Christmas shopping. And, when it comes to their Christmas lights, they bedeck the town with plain, simple white lights, which only enhances the wooden-framed buildings.
If you get a chance when visiting, check out the following:
- St Michael and All Angels Church, Ledbury, which includes a large painted copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. It was painted by a local main in 1824.
- The Master’s House, part of the St Katherine’s hospital complex.
And here are some extra photos not included in my article, to give a flavour of what Ledbury has to offer at this time of year.
