HAVE YOU ALWAYS LIVED IN HEREFORDSHIRE? IF SO, WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT GROWING UP HERE
Herefordshire born and bred, and, aside from the university years, have always lived here, like generations upon generations of my family before me. My ancestors arrived in Herefordshire in 1120 AD. Or thereabouts. 
The Herefordshire of my Seventies childhood was an antique land; the village bus on Wednesdays had women with cardboard boxes full of hens, the skies over the fields were coloured with birdsong, and partridge scuttled through the hop yards.
 

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE HEREFORDSHIRE TO PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW IT?
God's Own County
 

AND IF A STRANGER ONLY HAD TIME TO VISIT ONE PLACE, WHERE WOULD YOU SUGGEST?
Garway Hill, not just for wild views to the Black Mountains and the full panorama of Herefordshire, but for the Iron Age farm. On the wind you can sometimes catch the voices of the early farmers, the people who made the English countryside. 
 

WHAT MAKES HEREFORDSHIRE PEOPLE SPECIAL?
If you can find an old timer, try the accent and the language. My hop farmer grandfather spoke a dialect with wondrous words such as 'Mister Teddy' for badger and 'bellocking' for mooing. 
 

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR FAVOURITE THING TO DO IN THE COUNTY ON A DAY OFF?
Visit churches. Herefordshire is be-jewelled with glorious churches, from the ridiculous folly (the Italianate confection at Hoarwithy) to the Arts and Crafts sublime (Brockhampton), via the quintessential English (Hampton Bishop)
 

WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO EAT?
A close run thing between The Crown at Woolhope and the Kilpeck Inn. 
 

WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO MEET FRIENDS FOR A DRINK AND A CATCH-UP?
The lounge in the Green Dragon, a hotel with an addictive ramshackle, old-fashioned charm. 
 

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WALK – OR VIEW?
I change my mind on this almost daily, but am currently enamoured with the Wye at Hole-in-the-Wall, where the river is at its most tranquil and tempting. 
 

WHAT’S THE VERY BEST THING ABOUT THE COUNTY?
The lack of motorways, skyscrapers and other supposed infrastructural necessities which would murder the charm of this special place. 
 

WHAT WOULD MAKE HEREFORDSHIRE AN EVEN BETTER PLACE TO LIVE?
More organic agriculture.