Hereford

Coordinates: 52°03′23″N 2°42′58″W / 52.0565°N 2.7160°W / 52.0565; -2.7160

Hereford (ⁱ/ˈhɛrᵻfərd/) is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of the border with Wales, 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Worcester, and 23 miles (37 km) northwest of Gloucester. With a population of 53,516 people, it is the largest settlement in the county.

The name "Hereford" is said to come from the Anglo-Saxon "here", an army or formation of soldiers, and the "ford", a place for crossing a river. If this is the origin it suggests that Hereford was a place where a body of armed men forded or crossed the Wye. The Welsh name for Hereford is Henffordd, meaning "old road", and probably refers to the Roman road and Roman settlement at nearby Stretton Sugwas.

An early town charter from 1189 granted by Richard I of England describes it as "Hereford in Wales". Hereford has been recognised as a city since time immemorial, with the status being reconfirmed as recently as October 2000.

Hereford and Worcester

Hereford and Worcester /ˈhɛrəfərd ən ˈwʊstər/ was an English county created on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 from the area of the former administrative county of Herefordshire, most of Worcestershire (except Halesowen, Stourbridge and Warley, which became part of the West Midlands) and the county borough of Worcester. An aim of the act was to increase efficiency of local government, since the two counties are among England's smaller and least populous counties, particularly after the same act removed some of Worcestershire's most urbanised areas to the West Midlands. It aroused much opposition in the Herefordshire portion, which regarded it as not so much of a merger as a takeover by the Worcestershire side.

It bordered Shropshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands to the north, Warwickshire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south, and Gwent and Powys in Wales to the west. It was abolished in 1998 and reverted, with some trading of territory, to the two separate historic counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Worcester

Worcester (ⁱ/ˈwʊstər/ WUUS-tər) is a city and the county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some 17 miles (27 km) southwest of the southern suburbs of Birmingham and 23 miles (37 km) north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 100,000 people.

The River Severn flanks the western side of the city centre, overlooked by the 12th-century Worcester Cathedral. The site of the final battle of the Civil War, Worcester was where Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army defeated King Charles II's Cavaliers, cementing the English Interregnum, the eleven-year period during which England and Wales became a republic. Worcester was the home of Royal Worcester Porcelain and, for much of his life, the composer Sir Edward Elgar. It houses the Lea & Perrins factory where the traditional Worcestershire Sauce is made, and is home to one of the UK's fastest-growing universities, the University of Worcester.

History

The trade route past Worcester which later formed part of the Roman Ryknild Street dates to Neolithic times. The position commanded a ford over the River Severn (the river was tidal past Worcester prior to public works projects in the 1840s) and was fortified by the Britons around 400 BC. It would have been on the northern border of the Dobunni and probably subject to the larger communities of the Malvern hillforts. The Roman settlement at the site passes unmentioned by Ptolemy's Geography, the Antonine Itinerary, and the Register of Dignitaries but would have grown up on the road opened between Glevum (Gloucester) and Viroconium (Wroxeter) in the AD 40s and 50s. It may have been the "Vertis" mentioned in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography. Using charcoal from the Forest of Dean, the Romans operated pottery kilns and ironworks at the site and may have built a small fort.

Dennis Sabre

The Dennis Sabre is a purpose-built fire appliance introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, Surrey, England in the mid-1990s. The Sabre was available in three sizes, Sabre, Sabre ML, Sabre XL. Most of the coachbuilding on these chassis were undertaken by John Dennis Coachbuilders of Guildford, England. Production ceased in 2007. Over the Sabre's 13 year production run it underwent several subtle styling changes, mainly to the grille.

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