discover archers’ country

Listen to at 7pm, Sunday Visit to Friday Archers’ country With The Archers celebrating 60 years on our airwaves this month, Tor McIntosh sets out to discover the real county on which fictional Borsetshire is based:

very listener to BBC Radio 4’s long- running drama The Archers has his or her own image of Borsetshire. I certainly E do. It’s a rural haven created in my mind that I escape to the moment I hear the opening “dum-di-dum-di-dum-di-di…” of the soap opera’s instantly recognisable theme tune. Of course, the county of Borsetshire, the village of Ambridge, the market town of Borchester and the cathedral city of Felpersham only exist in the imagined world of The Archers. But, as the home county to the programme’s creator, the late Godfrey Baseley, Worcestershire certainly stakes the strongest claim to being Archers’ country. With fictional Brookfield Farm modelled on Godfrey’s sister-in-law’s Summerhill Farm in Hanbury, many believe that this small village near the town of Droitwich Spa in mid-Worcestershire is the likeliest real-life candidate for Ambridge, the epicentre of goings-on in the radio drama. But fuelled by the success of The Archers over the past 60 years, other villages in the area also vie for The Old Bull in Inkberrow is thought to be the inspiration the status of being the real Ambridge. One of these for The Archers fictional pub, The Bull. It’s also the perfect place to stop off for a drink while exploring Archers’ country is the village of Inkberrow, eight miles south of

Photo: Leon Tanner Hanbury, where Godfrey’s regular watering hole »

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ABOVE In 1961 The Old Bull in Inkberrow was turned into The Bull for the day, complete with an Ambridge-bound bus LEFT The full cast of The Archers in 2006 he Archers Just after the 7pm news bulletin on BBC Radio It was during Whit Week in May 1950 that five disease and this winter’s chaotic cold snap, 4, The Archers’ theme tune – Barwick Green by pilot episodes of The Archers were transmitted there’s sometimes a flurry of last minute Yorkshire composer Arthur Wood – reverberates on the Midland Home Service. The series was rewriting, re-recording and editing required to from radios across the nation as millions tune in broadcast nationally on New Year’s Day 1951 on keep things current. to the world’s longest-running radio drama The Light Programme, now Radio 2, before On 19 June 2010, a Diamond Jubilee series. For 12½ minutes every evening (except moving to its current slot on Radio 4. celebration is being held at the Three Counties Saturday), listeners follow the complicated and Despite The Archers’ true-to-life reflection of Show in Worcestershire to mark 60 years since entertaining lives of the rural folk living in the rural life, the show is recorded at the BBC’s the first pilot episodes of The Archers were fictional village of Ambridge in Borsetshire. After Mailbox studios in the centre of Birmingham, broadcast in the Midlands. For more information 60 years on our airwaves and more than 16,000 three to six weeks prior to broadcast. However, and tickets visit www.visitworcestershire.org, or episodes, the show still draws in five million in order to ensure topical events are included, the official Archers fan club, Archers Addicts, at listeners each week in the UK alone. such as the sudden outbreak of foot and mouth www.archers-addicts.co.uk.

»The Old Bull – a black and white half-timbered visit for the stunning 18th-century formal gardens pub overlooking Inkberrow’s village green – is and the enormous wall paintings by James remarkably similar in name to the only pub in Thornhill (1676-1734) that decorate the main Ambridge, The Bull. And it wasn’t just the name stairwell inside the house. of his local that inspired Godfrey; the bar at Peeking through the trees behind Hanbury Hall The Old Bull was also a rich source of stories. is the hilltop church of St Mary the Virgin, reputed Rosemary Kennedy, a postmistress who lived in to be St Stephen’s Church in Ambridge. Over the the village for 45 years, once said: “At one time, as years, this beautiful red sandstone building has soon as something happened in Inkberrow you been used for live broadcasts of several Archers could bet that it would turn up in The Archers a weddings and as the backdrop for cast publicity few weeks later.” photos. Recordings of the church bells have often featured in episodes too, making the bell-ringers BELOW Ysanne Lower Loxley Hall? just as famous as the church itself. John Ford, a Churchman and Norman Archers-related landmarks are thick on the ground sprightly local farmer “a year shy of 80”, Painting, playing Grace as you explore this richly agricultural area of remembers ringing the bells for the first Archers and Phil Archer, recording at BBC’s Pebble Mill central Worcestershire. The National Trust-owned wedding between Grace Fairbrother and Phil studios in 1975 Hanbury Hall on the outskirts of Hanbury village Archer in 1955. “It was meant to have been kept a is thought to be a prototype secret, but the location was printed in a national for Lower Loxley Hall, the paper,” he recalls. “Some of the cast had to walk stately home of Nigel and to the church because all the roads were blocked Elizabeth Pargetter. It with cars.” may not offer visitors Of course, there’s more to Worcestershire than falconry courses, a its association with The Archers. From its treetop walk or Nigel’s commanding hilltop setting, Hanbury church homemade wine overlooks an expansive floodplain where the rivers as in the radio Avon and Severn meander across a patchwork of “The hilltop church of St Mary show, but the verdant fields in the southernmost corner of the William and county. Just visible to the right is the distinctive the Virgin is reputed to be St Mary-style humped outline of the and, directly

house is worth a south, Hill rises majestically 300m » Photos: (The Old Bull) Photo used by permission of BBC Picture Publicity and BBC copyright, PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images; (opposite page) ImagesEurope/Alamy Stephen’s church in Ambridge”

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Worcestershire-born poet AE Housman in his Festival (www.pershoreplumfestival.org.uk) is held North of the Malverns lies Leigh Brook Valley, Above The panoramic celebrated works , in which he each year in August. where the Knapp and Papermill nature reserve is view from St Mary the penned the famous lines: In summertime on But before the Vale of became the fruit hidden away from all but the most intrepid visitors. Virgin parish church extends over the village Bredon/My love and I would lie. basket of England, its fertile land was the setting for It’s a gem of a place to visit and home to plentiful of Hanbury and the Immediately north of Bredon Hill stands the more violent activities: on a hill north of the market flora and fauna. Warden Fergus Henderson lives expanse of agricultural market town of – could this be the town of Evesham on the 4 August 1265, Simon de on site and has unrivalled knowledge of the landscape towards the fictional market town of Borchester? This Monfort was slain and butchered by the royal forces species-rich habitats – orchard, meadow, woodland Vale of Evesham picturesque settlement on the banks of the River of Prince Edward (later King Edward I) in one of and river – that make up the 67-acre reserve. A Avon, complete with medieval abbey and elegant England’s bloodiest battles, the Battle of Evesham. guided tour is highly recommended. Georgian architecture, is an ideal place for an Travel east from here and you reach the city of » afternoon amble after a walk to the summit of Mini mountain range Bredon Hill. Particularly delightful is the old-world Cross the imposing M5 motorway that cuts down

charm of Bridge Street and Broad Street, both the middle of Worcestershire to explore the mini eadow) Paul Lane lined with listed buildings displaying elaborate mountain range of the Malvern Hills, stomping Butterfly tales doorways and cast-iron balconies. ground of the county’s famous son Sir Edward Listeners to The Archers will recall Lynda Elgar. It was this dramatic eight-mile-long ridge Snell’s excitement at spotting a rare brown The plums of Pershore that inspired the composer to write some of his hairstreak butterfly in Ambridge last September. This small Lying on the western fringes of the Vale of Evesham greatest works, including the first movement of the insect has been in »(991ft), both forming striking landmarks in the Above Built in 1701 by – a flat and fertile expanse of land sheltered beneath Pomp and Circumstance Marches, which later decline over the past Malcolm Schuyl/FLPA, (Eades M largely gentle, farmed landscape. Geologically part Thomas Vernon, a Whig the Cotswold Hills and watered by the River Avon – became the flag-waving anthem Land of Hope and 30 years due to the MP for Worcester, Hanbury of the Hills, Bredon Hill today stands the land surrounding Pershore provides perfect Glory. For more on the Malverns and Elgar, see poor management of protect the species,” he Hall is a William and Mary- isolated after years of erosion have severed its ties conditions for intensive fruit growing. It was in the Julia Bradbury’s Great Days Out on page 72. its hedgerow habitats. explains. Grafton Wood style house, now owned by But according to BBC Radio Reserve (above), five to its famous neighbours that now melt into the the National Trust, with a early 19th century that wild plums were discovered Equally enthralled by these hills is Trevor 4 presenter and Worcestershire miles west of Inkberrow, horizon on its eastern and southern flanks. recreated Parterre garden growing in Tiddesley Wood near Pershore, leading Harrison, the actor who has played lovable rogue native Brett Westwood, there has has a large colony. The Iron Age hill fort of Camp based on the original to the widespread production of the plum variety Eddie Grundy in The Archers for three decades and recently been an increase in brown Tucked away down a small George London scheme of crowns Bredon’s summit, and nearby you’ll Pershore Yellow Egg. This was quickly followed in who lives nearby. “What I love about the Malverns hairstreak numbers. “A project run by lane near Hanbury is Eades Meadow the early 18th century discover a pair of standing stones known as the 1890 by the Pershore Purple and more recently the are the two different views you get from the top – Worcestershire Wildlife Trust and Butterfly National Nature Reserve, one of the finest Conservation has seen members and hay meadows in England. From May King and Queen Stones. Local legend has it Pershore Emblem; all of these local varieties are still the flat, expansive Severn Valley on the east side volunteers counting the eggs and also through until midsummer the meadow is a that passing between the stones cures individuals available today. To celebrate the town’s historic and the rugged, hilly landscape of Wales and the making landowners aware of the need to sea of wildflowers.

of illness. Bredon Hill was immortalised by association with this sweet juicy fruit, a Plum Brecon Beacons to the west,” he says. Photos: ImagesEurope/Alamy, NTPL/James Dobson, (butterfly)

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All you need to know 8 2 Locating Archers’ country 6 9 4 1 Worcestershire lies in the heart of England, surrounded by the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, , Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. 5 The south and centre of the county is predominantly agricultural, whereas the 12 northern sector has a more prominent industrial heritage. The busy M5 motorway 10 3 slices through the centre of the county, so it is relatively easy to access all of Worcestershire from anywhere in the UK. Map: OS Landranger 150 and 138

eat 1 walks 1 The Old Bull, Village Green, Inkberrow WR7 4DZ Model for the fictional pub in The Archers, this picturesque half-timbered pub also claims to have been the stopover for Shakespeare on his way to collect his wedding certificate in Worcester. 01386 792428

2 Jinney Ring Craft Centre, Hanbury B60 4BU Old timbered barns have been beautifully restored and now house 12 craft 2 workshops, a gift shop, falconry centre and farmhouse restaurant. 10 Worcestershire beacon 01527 821272 www.jinneyringcraft.co.uk The eight-mile walk to the highest point of the Malverns starts in 3 The Fleece Inn, The Cross, Bretforton, Evesham WR11 7JE Great Malvern. Climb to St Ann’s Originally built as a longhouse in the time of Chaucer, it was bequeathed to Well and follow the ridge to the the National Trust in 1977. Serves homemade food, real ales and ciders. summit of Worcestershire Beacon. 01386 831173 www.thefleeceinn.co.uk Skirt the base of Table and North Hill and return to the town along Lady Howard De Walden Drive. ABOVE From Seckley »Worcester, nestled between the M5 and the banks England’s largest colony of pearl-bordered fritillary 4 sleep viewpoint in the northern of the River Severn. At the heart of the city is the butterflies. In early June, they are just one of many 4 Hill Farm House, Dormston WR7 4JS section of the Wyre Forest, magnificent 11th-century cathedral, where Henry butterfly species you’re likely to glimpse delicately A beautiful 16th century red brick former farmhouse offering bed and you can watch the Severn breakfast in spacious, beamed en-suite rooms with a king size bed. Valley Railway steam train VIII’s elder brother Prince Arthur is buried (if he’d floating along the woodland rides. 01386 793159 www.hillfarmhouse.co.uk cross Victoria Bridge lived, we would have had a King Arthur and, possibly, no Reformation in England), along with Archers atmosphere 5 Cottage in the Wood, Holywell Road, Malvern Wells WR14 4LG King John, signatory of the Magna Carta in 1215. Sixty years ago, Godfrey Baseley set out to create a Set in seven acres of wooded slopes, this family owned hotel and restaurant Of course the city’s most famous export is Lea and “farming Dick Barton”, a rural version of the offers spectacular views across the Severn Valley and has excellent access to 11 Wyre Forest Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, which is still made popular BBC radio programme about a special the Malvern Hills. This two-mile circular waymarked in the city to its original secret recipe. agent. The idea was to educate farmers on how to 01684 588860 www.cottageinthewood.co.uk walk from Hawkbatch car park in the northernmost corner of the Follow the Severn Valley north of Worcester and increase food production after the rationing years 6 Chateau Impney Hotel, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire WR9 0BN Wyre Forest takes you through the area becomes much more industrialised as you of the Second World War, but what The Archers This eye-catching hotel – built in the style of a French chateau in 1875 by a mixed woodland to a viewpoint edge towards the Black Country, with the towns of has morphed into is a gripping entertainment 5 wealthy salt-magnet – offers a number of exquisite en-suite rooms. where you can see the Severn Redditch and Kidderminster displaying remnants of series that authentically reflects rural life in the 01905 774411 www.chateau-impney.com Valley Railway steam train cross the their industrial past: needle making and carpet UK. For those Archers fans reading this article: cast-iron Victoria Bridge. production respectively. However, tucked in the far even if Worcestershire didn’t fit your idea of DON’t MISS 7 western corner, and a haven for nature lovers and Borsetshire before now, take a trip to explore this 7 Witley Court, Great Witley WR6 6JT walkers alike, is an ancient, wild wood that is largely Midland county and I’m sure you’ll find the Following a fire in 1937, this palatial mansion is a spectacular skeleton unknown beyond Worcestershire’s borders. atmosphere of the radio show in the real county’s surrounded by landscaped gardens and the Perseus and Andromeda Fountain. www.english-heritage.org.uk Centuries ago, this woodland stretched all the agricultural landscape and rural communities – way along the Severn Valley from Worcester up to rich with history, wildlife and culture. 8 Astley Vineyards, Astley, Stourport-on-Severn DY13 0RU Bridgnorth in Shropshire, but today all that As for non-Archers listeners, exploring Established in the 1970s, this vineyard produces award-winning white wines. 9 12 Eckington Wharf survives is the 6,000 acres that make up the Wyre Worcestershire and its Archers-inspired landmarks You can visit the vineyard for some wine tasting and a tour of the site. From the Eckington Wharf picnic Forest. Yet, as Richard Boles, a ranger for the might encourage you to tune in and listen to “an 01299 822907 www.astley-vineyards.co.uk area, join the riverside path and Forestry Commission remarks: “Natural England everyday story of country folk,” every night on follow the River Avon to Strensham regards the Wyre Forest as being the third largest Radio 4 at 7pm. CF 9 Spetchley Park Gardens, Spetchley, Worcestershire WR5 1RS Lock. Continue on the path inland Further reading ancient woodland in England, after the New Forest This 30-acre private Victorian garden, owned by the Berkeley family, mixes past Court End Farm and into The Archers Miscellany by formal and informal gardening and boasts a vast collection of roses. Eckington village, before following and the Forest of Dean.” Joanna Toye, BBC Books. Tor McIntosh is the picture editor of Countryfile 01453 810303 www.spetchleygardens.co.uk Pershore Road past the Holy Trinity Features 60 years of Archers Along with an abundance of birds, mammals, Magazine and an Archers addict. Don’t try and church and back to the start. trivia in one volume. plants and fungi, the forest is also home to call her at 7pm as she’ll be glued to the radio. Photos: (opposite page) Don Bishop/TTL; (this page) John Greenwood, Robert Read/Alamy, FC Picture Library/Isobel Cameron, Flyfoto/Alamy, English Heritage Photo Library, James Schutte/Alamy

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