Hadley Bowling Green Inn

Worcester Races

by DUNK67

National Hunt horse racing takes place at Pitchcroft racecourse during the Summer, from April to October there are 17 meetings.

It is a small course cramped into a small space with tight turns at either end.

There are plenty of places to get food and drink around the grandstand and centre of the course.

Entrance Fee

From £5
Under 16`s Free A pair of binoculars to watch the races.

Victorian half-timbering

by leics

There are quite a lot of Medieval half-timbered buildings dotted around England, particularly in what were then important cities; Worcester, York, Shrewsbury, Chester etc. Many still exist in country villages too. The Victorians idea of painting the timbers black, and the rest of the building white, has stuck (as has their idea of a Welsh national costume, and of Druids) but is not actually correct. more and more of these half-timbered buildings are now being restored to their original appearance; natural wood and a beige-white plaster. The one in the photo is a good example of how they should look.

Battle of Worcester

by Galahad

The Battle of Worcester took place of September the 3rd 1651. It was between a largely Scottish army under Charles II and the Parliamentary forces under Oliver Cromwell. After losing the battle Charles was forced to flee for his life. Many of the Scottish soldiers who survived the battle were transported to America. My photograph is the view from Fort Royal (the battle ground is now an open space which can be climbed quite easily). In the centre of the photo is the Cathedral and the Fort Royal was in a key position overlooking the city. It was held by the Scots and captured by the Parliamentarians.

Victorian Fayre Worcester

by ALANinWORCS69

Annually, and usually over the first weekend in December is the showcase in Worcesters tourist calendar... The Victorian Fayre. The streets of Worcester are transformed back to the 19th Century (sort of!); stallholders dressed in Victorian costumes are selling crafts and gifts, the smell of mulled wine fills the air along with the aroma of hot chestnuts. It can get very crowded with people visiting (usually coach trips) from all over the UK. The atmosphere is great though... a really christmassy' feel. The band of the Salvation army playing carols and the sound of organ music being played from the "merry-go-round"adds to the festivities.
Taking place daily from Thursday until Late afternoon on the Sunday there's plenty of time to visit... I prefer the Friday evening, not as busy as the Saturday night but busy enough to give it some atmosphere.
The Victorian Fayre also includes a modern day fun-fair... although what this has to do with Victorians is beyond me. Often congregations of teenagers here too... in my opinion it does let the character of the Fayre down... but I suppose it keeps lots of people entertained.
Overall it's worth a visit... take it in with a weekend break to Worcester... oh yes it's free too, no entrance fee that is, the mulled wine costs around £2.00 and likewise for the chestnuts.

Worcester from the canal - Sat., July 27, 2002

by grandmaR

Our grandson was the only one of us who had actually seen the duck. This made him feel important, but not too upset.

So we continued down and turned in Diglas Basin (not a trivial operation as there were moorings and boats at the docks). There was a pub here, but the guidebooks warned that it might be a rough group and primarily a drinking pub and not an eating pub.

After we turned, we got water. Then our son-in-law and grandson pull the boat along the towpath and we tied up below the lock instead of
above the lock where we would have been closer to town as we had intended. (We were moored right opposite the Royal Worcester factory at bridge #2, but there was no access from the canal towpath to bridge #2. So we had to walk up to the next bridge each time.)

The total distance of our trip was less than 6 miles.

We got off the boat and went into town and ate a late lunch at Charlie's Cafe (Our grandson had sausage and chips, I had quiche and salad, SIL had steak and ale pie, Bob had a tuna sandwich and our daughter had a cheese potato and salad). We didn't want to eat at the King's Arms with a view of the canal at that point.

It was too bad that we didn't walk up into the cathedral first to eat because they were having a food fair. We toured the cathedral (King John is buried there) and our daughter, SIL and grandson went up into the tower. Bob and I walked to the Royal Worcester factory, and I looked for a wedding present for our niece, but none of the things she'd asked for were available there even though I looked in all 3 shops(regular, sale and seconds). She will just have to make do with the wedding spoon I got in Wales. I did get my mom an iris fairy plate (she's an iris judge). Our daughter's family took our grandson to get some soccer spikes for camp this week, and then they went to the Royal Worcester factory too and she got her cousin some cut glass.

Our SIL wanted to go to mass either Sun morning or Sat evening, so our daughter and I had researched beforehand all the Catholic churchs in Worcester. (The Cathedral is COE of course.) St. George's was not too far away which had 6 pm mass, so they walked up to it, and Bob and I napped a bit on the boat, and then met them at bridge #3.

We had dinner at Ye Old Talbot. (The food fair was over at 5:30 pm). I had the lamp chop special, our daughter had the lamb joint which was more fat and had bones, and Bob and our SIL had steak and ale pie, which neither one of them thought was as good as previous ones they had had. Our grandson had a hamburger and chips for a change. For dessert, our daughter and grandson shared a chocolate torte, Bob had lemon Brule (which was excellent), and I had a blackberry pie for dessert. Our SIL had another Guinness.

I have finally gotten resigned to the fact that lemonade means Sprite here, and hot tea is too hot for me to drink right away if I am thirsty, so this time I ordered pineapple juice and got about half a glass of it. So I ordered tap water in addition.

Sunday