Friday, January 13, 2012

The Pandy Inn & Bull's Head Free House

 The Pandy Inn, Dorstone

In 2012, because airfare is not coming down any time soon, I will be traveling back to England in photos alone, and reviewing some of my favorites with you. If you tire of seeing these photos, feel free to send airfare from MSP to LON. I'm not picky; either Heathrow or Gatwick will work for me. I will be happy to fly there and take additional photos of the enchanting English countryside, then return to Wisconsin and write blog posts to share with you. It would be a tough job, but I'd be willing to make the sacrifice. :-)




Think about it: This place has been a free house (a pub) since the 1100s!  What else happened in the 1100's? Well, for starters, William the Conqueror's son became King of England, the Crusaders captured Acre, Saint Bernard founded the Abbey of Clairvaux in France, and in the United States of America, we were...oh wait...

The twelfth century was a long time ago, but that doesn't mean the people were less intelligent than today or carrying clubs and grunting at their toothless women with straggly hair. Don't believe it. People were going places and doing things! And some of them were busy establishing this cool little pub in Herefordshire (above).

The village of Craswall is near the Welsh border (see map below).






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photo from The Bull's Head

Photo from Bull's Head, a 17th century pub

Famous old drovers inn in the superb country of the Black Mountains south of Hay on Wye. Now a pub restaurant concentrating on serving good food. Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday lunch. 'The Bull's Head pub in Craswall is one of the best rural pubs in the UK with great food.' Owen Sheers, The Daily Telegraph. - from Facebook






View Larger Map


Point A represents Craswall. Point B represents Dorstone. Now you can see why it took us twice as long to get anywhere in England than what we had planned. At home, if the place we wanted to visit was 60 miles away, we'd figure that it would take about an hour. In England, we would have to figure at least two hours. But I'm not complaining. The journey by car through the English countryside was always worth it!

These aren't the only pubs in Herefordshire, of course, but they're the only ones we visited. We had  lunch on a Sunday at the Bull's Head and dinner one night at The Pandy Inn with friends. There are lots of other places to see, such as cathedrals, castles, and ancient burial sites  - and, of course, the beautiful Golden Valley!

P.S. I'm hoping to keep Fridays as a Travel Blog day. Sometimes England, sometimes Wisconsin, etc. We'll see how it goes.


Have a great weekend, everyone!




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15 comments:

Paulette said...

I enjoy learning about others travels, and viewing photos of places in different parts of the world. See you next Friday for the next edition of Cranberry Morning Travels.♥

Marti said...

Enjoyed the armchair tour. Someday, I would like to spend some time in the British Isles. I have just flown through. I love history and architecture so I know this would be a great place to visit.

George The Lad said...

Not been there, if I do you will be the first to know ;) pubs over here are having a hard time, and a lot of country one's are having to sell up such a shame. We are hoping to do a walk from the pub book this weekend, I hope the one we visit is still open and doing well
See Yea George xxx

Heide at ApronHistory said...

Lovely photos! Such atmosphere! I am sure you can keep with the Friday Travel posts. You could always re-post, I am sure we wouldn't mind seeing them again! ;)

Anonymous said...

I love those country photos, I'll never get tired of them :) Hope you have a lovely weekend! It's slightly colder here in Dublin today. But I love clear weather. Big hugs!

Eva

Lois Christensen said...

I love looking at places and imagining what they were like years and years ago and your post was GREAT. Love the building and all the history that you shared that was happening during the time this building was serving people! Would love to enjoy your other adventures! Enjoy your weekend!

Rachel said...

Okay, I'll marry someone rich so we can charter a plane and all go on vacation!!! I LOVE the pictures!!

Happy Friday Judy!!

:)

Joyce said...

We lived near the oldest freehouse in England and spent a lot of time there-The Royal Standard in Forty Green. I wrote about it in a blog post a while back but here's the link if you're interested-

http://joyce-fromthissideofthepond.blogspot.com/2009/02/history-is-standard-here.html

I just met a friend for lunch who lived in England when I did. We commiserated and talked about our favorite spots and decided we need a trip back there pronto!

Terri @ A Creative Princess said...

Oh Judy, I'll buy your ticket when I win the lottery. The only condition is, you have to take me with you and our first stop has to be that pub!

I love your Friday posts, please keep them going!

Denise said...

Enjoyed the tour.

Life Happens said...

Thanks for 'taking' us to England with you!!

debbie bailey said...

I look forward to these! We share a love affair with England, as for Wisconsin, I've never been there but am looking forward to seeing it vicariously through your Friday travel blogs.

Robin said...

Love your pictures of the pub. We eat a lot of our meals in pubs..they are the greatest. I enjoy seeing your pictures so much.

Robin said...

Love your pictures of the pub. We eat a lot of our meals in pubs..they are the greatest. I enjoy seeing your pictures so much.

J_on_tour said...

Well written post both with the factual and personal data.

Although I was once at Hay, it was so far as an outpost for a one night stop from Bristol that we used the Hereford road both going and coming so unfortunately missed these delights.

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