The old barn at Stretton Grandison

Today has been a long story. I may add more tomorrow. Suffice it to say that I had to set off at 5-30pm this evening to drive to a pub a few miles to the north of Leominster in Herefordshire to rendezvous with Sarah and Ant, who I'd stayed with in London on Tuesday night. The reason was that I'd left my camera bag with all my lenses etc in it at their house. Luckily they were going to the Hay Festival this weekend so I managed to meet up with them.

I set off for home at about 8-30pm driving down the road to Gloucester which I have known for many decades through visiting friends living in the Welsh borders north of Knighton. I picked up some sandwiches and after eating them I decided to look for a scenic spot to grab some pictures as the light was fading fast. On the outward journey I had noticed some lovely orchards outside the hamlet of Stretton Grandison, a place I have always been intrigued by. So I turned off into a side road and walked back up the farm beside the orchards. I had spotted this old barn which looked interesting. I perched at the side of the road, not wanting to go into their yard, and you can see the wonderful assemblage of very old timbers used as cladding. I fear for old barns as they can easily get damaged if not cared for. I do hope this farmer will surprise me, although there didn't seem to be an air of prosperity there.

I have just searched online for information about the hamlet and it appears that the current hamlet is built on the site of a Roman settlement, close to the Roman fort, which was probably protecting the Roman road that runs up from Gloucester. There would have been a lot of infantry marching this way to see off the wild Celts living in the borderlands just to the north and west of there.