Under the arches
The first stop on our expedition was to Shobdon Arches, which unsurprisingly is in the village of Shobdon. Accessed by a delightful tree-lined avenue, parking is available alongside the church (watch you don't park in the Rector's space as we nearly did). On the outside of the gated entrance there was a small yellow button, which Max dared me to press. Obviously I couldn't resist, and duly pressed it. However, conclusions came there none as to what it actually did. I pondered whether it was a doorbell to alert the Rector to the presence of parishioners unable to climb the steps (I'm not entirely sure what use the Rector would be to them).
After a nose around the church, which is actually quite nice, we walked up another tree-lined avenue to the arches. With the trees in full autumn mode, the walk up was enchanting, especially as we neared the arches. Upon reaching them, I have to say I was a little disappointed, as the structure consisted of a mere 3 arches which weren't much to look at. There's certainly very little to do here as it takes all of 30 seconds to walk around them. There is, however, an amazing view over the surrounding countryside.
With nothing to do but leave, we retraced our steps back to the church and walked down the road a little until we came to some big water (which always tempts me in). The water in question was a collection of ponds which glistened in the morning sunshine. There were various makes of wildfowl floating atop the water, and we skipped merrily around the central pond to investigate a mysterious looking cabin with a jetty attached. It wasn't worth the effort as it turned out to be an empty shed. We did, however, stumble upon an awesome dead tree which I eagerly scampered up (I think this may be the first time I've ever climbed a tree). Getting down was far less fun than getting up, but I was proud of my achievement, being a woman of advancing years.
After wandering back to the motor, we spotted what appeared to be a mausoleum just off the roadside. So, unable to resist the urge to investigate, we ditched the motor in a spot which clearly stated 'no parking' and ventured off across the fields. Unfortunately, this too wasn't worth the effort, as it turned out to be a glorified wall. I was most displeased.
From here we headed for Wigmore. However, Max insisted on showing me a UGF (underwhelming geographical feature), and after taking several wrong turns to find it, underwhelming wasn't the word for it. Crap would've been a better word for it. It's far too boring to describe what it was, and was even more boring to stop and take a photo. This adventure has been filled with disappointment.
Once we arrived at Wigmore, we got turned away at the local hostelry for lunch, as there was no room at the inn, so we continued on to Wigmore Castle with rumbling tummies. There's not much left of the castle, but it's interesting to wonder around anyway.
After leaving the castle we headed up the road to Leintwardine in search of food stuffs, where we stopped at The Lion. We decided to sit outside so we could smoke (even though it was chuffing chilly), and after asking the serving wench for the vegan options for Max (special needs food baby), and the poor girl taking ages to compile a list of enticing options, he opted for tomato soup - we got the feeling she wasn't too impressed with his choice. With nothing else left to do, we headed to Morrisons in Leominster for booze and headed for home.
This was by far the most boring of my adventures to date. And at times I found myself secretly wishing Phil had joined me again, rather than Max. That being said, I would never return to the places we visited (except maybe the pub). If you've got little better to do, then maybe consider following in my footsteps, otherwise I would highly recommend doing anything else.
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