A chilly wet day today, nevertheless, we drove to Ross on Wye to meet with our old friends Mike and Gail. I've known Mike a couple of weeks longer than I've known Clare, as he introduced us at Bristol University a long time ago. We met outside the mediaeval market hall. It was pleasing to see clothes traders about their business in the street below, and under the ancient shelter the market hall offers.
We made straight away for the Royal Hotel, perched on a promontory overlooking meadows flanking an elegant bend in the river Wye, framed by the A40 bypass road, busy in the background. The main bar with terrace offers a view that in better weather would rate as delightful. Today was too cold and wet to stroll the streets, let alone venture into the meadows below, so we stayed indoors for elevenses and lunch.
The rain turned into sparse snow while we were eating, but then it cleared for long enough to allow us to walk up to the Parish Church, to take in the equally delightful view of the river plain from an unusual churchyard terrace. Then, after a warm drink and more conversation in one of the town's coffee shops, we parted company and headed for home through countryside lightly tinged with white.
I doubt if we'll see much more snow than this in the months to come, despite severe weather warnings for other regions of the U.K. Fifteen years on, I still miss real alpine snow.
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