Bromyard Tourist Information

Bromyard is a real, old-fashioned market town where everyone is friendly and the shops are stuffed with the wildest variety of goods you can imagine (One shop has life-size knitted people in its window display, changed every six months or so!). Many will be delighted to find the town free of the usual shopping chains and that one might search in vain for a hypermarket or fried chicken outlet.

Next door to the teddy bear museum is an art shop which has been in the same family for several generations and the artist founder of the dynasty has been commemorated with a risque clock. On the hour the artist's model lowers her strategically positioned fan - but as she turns while doing so, such that those of a nervous disposition need not avert their eyes.

The official Bromyard museum is at the other end of the High Street and celebrates the hop-growing industry, with fascinating displays of Bromyard in earlier times.

Although the church does not have any outstanding monuments, it is worth a visit just for the pleasure of strolling through the churchyard and enjoying the peace of the house of God.

There are several lovely black and white half-timbered buildings in and around the town (most famous of all is Brockhampton, of course). Seemingly abandoned tipper trucks and sections of rail bear witness to an aborted attempt to revive the narrow guage railway that once served the area. Bromyard Down, behind the town, is an open hillside where you can stretch your legs and fill your lungs with fresh air.

The Bromyard Gala - when a field above the town is awash with traction engines and vintage cars - is well worth the price of admission.

The countryside around Bromyard is rich in lovely village churches, thatched and half-timbered buildings surrounded by green fields, ancient hill forts and public footpaths that lead to the loveliest hidden locations. To get the best out of Bromyard you really must bring - and use - an Ordinance Survey Map and a stout pair of walking boots.

Description by Kendall Down