Local interest
Have a look at the Visit Ledbury site for more information. or call the Ledbury Tourist Information Centre on
01531 636147.
For details on Herefordshire, go to the Visit Herefordshire site.
Restaurants and cafes
The Malthouse Restaurant
01531 634443
Discover Ledbury
Ledbury is a lively and picturesque market town, close to the Malvern Hills. Well known for its black and white architecture, its wealth of individual shops and its pubs, restaurants and cafes serving delicious local produce.
Ledbury is an ancient borough, dating back to the Domesday Book, where it was recorded as Liedeberge, and returned members to Parliament in the reign of Edward I. Ledbury probably takes its name from the River Leadon, on which it stands. The Old English berg (hill) has been added to the river name
Church Lane in Ledbury, where many of the Festival events happen.
You’d have to go a long way to find a more beautiful place than Ledbury to enjoy more completely an English Summer day. The sun climbing high in the sky, birdsong above, and carpets of wild flowers in the woodlands that nudge up against the town’s ancient streets, minutes from the bustle.
Meanwhile beneath the magnificent jumble of black and white shops and hostelries, it’s a picture of Herefordshire life almost unchanged for centuries – market stalls and shops abundant with local produce: rhubarb, early asparagus and strawberries, meat and cheese, cider and wine, bread and cakes, spring vegetables, and other seasonal treats. There’s a friendly hubbub, time enough to chat and enjoy the atmosphere, a welcoming place that exerts a gentle restorative magic on visitors and locals.
Exhibitions
Pop and Circumstance
The Weavers Gallery
29 June - 11July
10am 5-pm
An exhibition of stitched textiles inspired by the life and music of Sir Edward Elgar. He was greatly influenced by his enviroment and spent many hours walking the Malvern Hills and cycling through Worcestershire countryside. Many of the artists participating in this exhibition have been similarly inspired, while others have used his music as a starting point. The resulting work uses a variety of medi and techniques, demonstrating a broad spectrum of textile work.
Touchstone: an exhibition
Touchstone is a sequence of haiku by Philip Sharpe on exhibition and for sale at Hus & Hem throughout the Festival in both an illustrated edition and a large pamphlet format. The Illustrated edition, with hand-made, lino-cut prints by artist and printmaker Andrew Judd, is a set of individual prints, exhibited, mounted and framed. Both editions are printed in hand-set letterpress and limited to 75 copies. For further details contact Hus & Hem, 17c High Street, Ledbury
Tel:01531-631044
Wordsmith Banners
John Masefield High School students will work with 'The Mischief Maerks', to produce banners during a one day workshop. These banners will be displayed around the school and Ledbury as part of school's Arts Festival and the Poetry Festival before shown at Eastnor during the Big Chill in August. There will be a 'protest camp' at the Big Chill whre the students will continue to make large scale stencilled and appliqued banners.
Supported by The Big Chill Festival
Extras
Knotwork
Works by artist Jeanette McCulloch inspired by the medieval art in the churches of Herefordshire and the Marches.
Craft Market
Friday 9 July
9am-5pm
Ledbury High Street
Ceramics, jewellery and textiles for sale from twenty local artist makers.
Local highlights…
Ledbury “has been home to three famous poets - William Langland, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and John Masefield - and its historic buildings just happen to be both poetic and adventurous, too. The most memorable, the 17th-century Market House, rises on 16 oak posts. Further along the high street, the Barrett Browning Institute dominates with its fairytale clock tower, while the Feathers Hotel, a coaching inn, is a superb example of English black-and-white architecture.” (Jonathan Glancey, The Guardian).
During the 2009 Festival Ledbury hosted a Summer Food Fair on Sunday 5 July and a Craft market on Friday 10 July. Those who came to the Summer Food Fair sampled local cheese, sausages, pies, bread, vegetables, fruit and hand-made chocolates, and tasted the apple juice, cider, perry and wines on offer too.
Herefordshire has a well-established artist community and the Craft Market featured basketwork, metalwork, paintings, jewellery, glassware and textiles.
While you are in Ledbury visit Hellens Manor and Hampton Court, Herefordshire.
The Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is famed for its dramatic hills and for the natural spring water that flows from them, as well as ancient woodland, rolling pastures and wild, open commons.
Tinsmiths is a stunning shop, hidden away up one of Ledbury’s intriguing alleyways. Alex Clive, who designed and built it says, "I worked out proportions and the ways individual panels would fit by standing and staring at the structure as it went up. So it's a modern-looking building that comes out of a much older craft tradition. It's medieval modern, if you like, and it follows in the footsteps of other adventurous buildings in the town. I wouldn't expect to see buildings like this popping up along the high streets of every historic market town. But there must be room for at least some experimentation in local architecture."