What’s going for it? I bet Ledbury’s looking seasonal today. The town’s like a Quality Street lid come to life – old-style Quality Street, before it got rid of the bonneted lady, her soldier-stalker and the ye olde street scenes from days of yore. If you want a refresher, Ledbury’s your place, its streets an utterly charming jumble of redbrick Georgian townhouses, ickle cottages and, its speciality, black and white timber-framed Tudor, twisted and tottering on to the pavements. It wears its beauty lightly. Were this not in Herefordshire, hardly in the thick of things, it would have become self-aware, pretentious. Ledbury keeps it real, with butchers, bakers and, er, gunmakers on its streets and a twee-free atmosphere, give or take the odd gifte shoppe. There is something irresistibly timeless about the place, in our age of freneticness. Inside St Michael & All Angels church lie tombs and stone effigies of knights that have weathered worse than Brexit. Meanwhile, keeping watch on the town, high above it, the rocks of the Malvern Hills, almost 700m years old (former volcanoes, say some), give a daily reality check on the transience of things.
The case against On the quiet side of life, even if there are poetry festivals and all sorts to keep you entertained. It’s hardly Dartford Crossing, but traffic can be a problem, despite the addition of a sort-of bypass.
Well connected? Trains: to Hereford (16 mins), or Worcester the other way (24-28 mins); hourly to Birmingham (71 mins). Driving: half an hour to Hereford or Gloucester, 40 mins to Cheltenham or Worcester; the M50 passes a few miles to the south.
Schools Primaries: Ledbury Primary is “good”, says Ofsted, with Eastnor Parochial, just outside, “outstanding”. Secondaries: John Masefield High is “good”.
Hang out at… The Feathers, for a full dose of wood beams and roaring fires; “convivial”, says the Good Pub Guide, and I couldn’t agree more.
Where to buy Most of the town, laid out on a gigantic cross, is made up of fine period property. The long high street, The Homend, is the place to start, especially the top end where the shops and pubs give way to homes. Also, south to the appropriately named Southend; quieter. Poshest, perhaps, is on and off the Worcester Road as the ground rises towards the Malverns, the Upper Hall Estate especially. Large detacheds and townhouses, £425,000-£850,000. Detacheds and smaller townhouses, £275,000-£425,000. Semis, £200,000-£325,000. Terraces and cottages, £175,000-£250,000. Few flats for sale. Rentals: a one-bedroom flat, £425-£575pcm; a three-bedroom house, £800-£950pcm.
Bargain of the week Three-bedroom period cottage on the main drag, with scope for refurbishment and a decent garden, £240,000, johngoodwin.co.uk.
From the streets
Cressida Connolly “Gorgeous architecture, independent shops and a great setting.”
Leonie Gregson “A real mix of people – older, more conservative residents, blue-haired hippies, smart business types and becardiganned academics.”
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