The stories behind the track titles..........

Arthur's Stone
Despite a legend that suggest that it was here that King Arthur slew a giant who left the impression of his elbows on one of the stones as he fell, Arthur's Stone is, of course, nothing to do with King Arthur! Located to the North of Dorstone (at HR3 6AX) Its origins stretch back more than 5,000 years, well before the creation of the Arthurian Legends. Situated close to Dornstone it is, in fact, a Neolithic chambered tomb. Today only the large stones of the inner chamber remain and these would have once been covered by a long mound of earth.  It seems unlikely however that it was simply built as a tomb and it's thought that it would have also functioned as a focus for various ritual ceremonies. At the time of writing (July 2024) a new round of excavations are taking place, including guided tours - you can find out more here.

The Herefordshire Hoard
There are two stories about the hoard. One is a story of criminal proceedings and prison sentences, the other is the story of the history of England and the light that the hoard has cast on this. The hoard was discovered in a field at Eye, near Leominster, by two metal detectorists who chose not to report their find to the authorities and, consequently, are now in prison. This event attracted a lot of media attention and, perhaps, overshadowed the significance of the find itself, but the importance of the find cannot be overstated.  The Hoard Website makes it very clear - "The Herefordshire Hoard rewrites English history" and I'll leave you to discover from the site just what that means. It's thought to have been buried as a result of the movements and incursions of the Viking Great Army, either just before or just after the Battle of Edington in 878. It will have been buried with the expectation that at some point its owners would be able to recover it. This, of course, was not to be.

The New Weir Ironworks
The River Wye of the 21st century is a place of tranquility and beauty. It's a place to walk, canoe, and wonder at the scenery. It wasn't always like this though. Once upon a time it teemed with industry - particularly the metal industry. The river itself provided an efficient transport system - at a time when roads were often rutted mud and barely passable - and  it also provided water and, most importantly -  power. It's thought that the New Weir Ironworks was established at Symond's Yatt in the 1570s by the Earl of Shrewsbury. It was taken over by John Partridge, the "Ironmonger of Ross" in 1753. The forge processed and refined cast iron from nearby furnaces and a "slitting mill" cut iron into rods to make nails. Interestingly Gilpin reported that the tourists of the time were fascinated by all this heavy industry - "volumes of thick smoke thrown up at intervals....add double grandeur to the scene". In time steam power took over from water power and industries were relocated. Little remains now to tell us that this was once a scene of deafening noise and choking smoke. The trees have grown again and only traces remain.

Ballingham Tunnel
The most modern of all the places celebrated in this album. Just a couple of miles South of Holme Lacy the Ballingham tunnel was opened in 1855 as part of Brunel's broad guage Hereford Ross and Gloucester Railway. It was converted to standard gauge in 1869 and closed in 1964. Hereford is laced with the signs of a once thriving railway system and I'm particularly fond of the hugely evocative  "Lost Railway Journey's" video which you'll find here - at 2 minutes 10 seconds you'll see the train enter the tunnel. The Ballingham Tunnel still stands, (SO5650532600), people still explore it, but the trains are no more.

Kilpeck
The village of Kilpeck is currently home to a population of about about 215 people. It has a pub (great beer), a beautiful church and a ruined castle - all of which attract a good few visitors. Beyond the church, though, is a field which, if you look at it very carefully, reveals the odd bump and lump which betrays a fascinating and tragic past. This is the site of the original village of Kipeck. It's thought that it would once have had a  population of about 600 people and was a busy and prosperous community until being almost completely  wiped out by famine in 1327 and then the Black Death in 1349. You can find an interesting timeline for the village here.

British Camp
British Camp is an Iron Age hill fort located at the top of Herefordshire Beacon in the Malvern Hills. It's  thought to have been first constructed in the 2nd century BC but is special to me simply because it's been such an regular presence in my life. I've lived within sight of it for more than ten years, walk on it regularly today, and drive past it as an everyday event. When I first had the initial concept for this album I knew I'd have to include British Camp - it's "my" Iron Age Fort! You can find out more about the fort here. 

Wigmore Castle
The castle was founded in 1067 by William fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford and a close associate of William the Conqueror. It was sited close to the border between England and Wales, one of a series of castles designed by the Normans to defend England against attack by the Welsh. After fitz Osbern's death in 1071 it passed to the turbulent Mortimer family, who held it until the early 15th Century. Wigmore Castle was later dismantled to prevent its use during the Civil War. Now it is among the most remarkable ruins in England, largely buried up to first floor level by earth and fallen masonry. Yet many of its fortifications survive to full height, including parts of the keep on its towering mound. It's an extraordinary site to visit and usually feels incredibly peaceful - though the day we were there hoping to make some field recordings we found a great deal of very noisy strimming going on! You can find out more about the Castle here.

The Rose Garden
Woebley is a  beautiful  black and white village, part of Herefordshire's "Black  and White " trail, and a charming place to visit. There's a good cafe, a small local museum and plenty of places to eat and drink. It's the starting point for several good walks and has the ruins of a castle which was first built in the 11th Century on the outskirts of the village. I've always enjoyed visiting the village but always find myself being struck by the rose garden in its heart. This was the site of a block of notable black and white buildings which were all destroyed by a fire in 1943. The site was cleared and, untimately, a rose garden planted in its place. It fascinates me to imagine the lives that would have been lived in that space, to think about the buildings that were once there and are no more. And to realize that this is a trace in the landscape that's pretty much vanished from site - if I hadn't read about the houses that were once there I would never have known they'd been there.

Sutton Walls
Located four miles North of Hereford, Sutton Walls, like British Camp, was an iron age hill fort. Unlike British Camp, it hasn't been treated well by the passing centuries, particularly the 20th Century, and was extensively quarried for sand and gravel in the 1940's and subsequently used as a landfill site. Traditionally linked to King Offa and  the murder of King Ethelbert, Sutton Walls has been at the centre of some of the dramatic and intense power struggles of the Iron Age, Roman and Saxon periods that have helped to shape the history of Herefordshire. Despite it's huge archaeological significance the site is designated as being "at risk" - at risk in this case meaning a general deterioration - unmanaged tree growth, diminished cover and an increase in burrowing animals. You can read more about Sutton Walls here.

Dore Abbey,

Dore Abbey was established in the ‘Golden Valley’ of south-west Hereford in 1147 and was colonised by monks from Morimond Abbey in the Champagne region of north-eastern France. When the monks arrived from Morimond, they found themselves on the border lordship of Ewyas Harold, owned by Robert Fitz Harold of Ewyas, who became the first patron of Dore. In 1321 Abbot Richard, a renowned scholar, was given a relic of the Holy Cross by William de Gradisson, and it was said that crowds visited the abbey to see this. In 1633 the owner, Viscount Scudamore, decided to restore what was left of the abbey church and convert it for use as the local parish church. Though, like most such buildings, it would benefit from more work, it is still very much there. A building, not a trace of something that went before. I included it on this album because, to me it still represents a trace. A trace that leads to a different set of beliefs, a different world view, a different way of being.

St Peters Well
Every village needs water. The supply might be from a spring, a stream, a pump, whatever, but without water humans don't make a settlement. St Peter's Well is an ancient spring that has supplied the community of Peterchurch since time immemorial. It is seen as a sacred site and it's believed that the spring would have ben held in great reverence.  The water originally came from a carved (Celtic?) head but the spring was routed to a resevoir in the 1960's and the well itself is largely forgotten - though you can still find it at SO35333880. I was very stuck by the changes in its fortunes. You can learn more about its past here.

A Silver Half Groat
This is probably the most personal track of the album and, perhaps, it's inspiration. We own a small meadow beside the Wye and in the summer of 2022 we were visited by two metal detectorists who we'd invited to see what they could find. They found the usual things - scraps of metal, tent pegs, a number of small modern coins and so on - and then, when they'd been searching for at least a couple of hours, a silver half groat. We were all excited by the find but, as the days went by, I couldn't quite put it out of my mind. Who dropped it there? Where were they going? What were they doing? There used to be a ferry across the river at our house. Were they walking towards that? Away from it? Of course we'll never know, but for the best part of 450 years it must have lying there, waiting to be found, and this is the music I wrote for it.