Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Sportsman/Bull's Head | Hereford

Remember the summers of your youth?

It’s clichéd to say so but they were longer, and they were sunnier. Much of those blissful years, for me, were spent haunting Widemarsh Common while my dad played cricket. I’d explore all the nooks and crannies within the radius of the Hereford Lads Club. The swings and slide of the cricket pavilion the half built, never finished and now demolished Lads Club adventure play ground. The disused railway track creeping into Bulmers and the babbling clean waters of the Canny Brook.

Off to one side was the oddly placed public house the Bulls Head. Built in the late 19th Century and extended in 1929 this building stood guard over one corner of the Widemarsh Common. In the 1990s it changed its name to the Sportsman and often held remote control car racing events. Then, all of a sudden, it closed. Although it has looked derelict for years it has actually been home to Polish immigrants until last week when it was ravished not once, but twice by fire. Thankfully no one was hurt but this once proud building was irreparably damaged. It’s now due for immediate demolition – tomorrow if the local paper is correct.

I managed to get some final snaps this afternoon as I bid farewell to part of the scenery of my childhood.

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