Herefordshire - History, Cities, Towns and villages, Agriculture, Places of interest, Transport

pop (2004e) 177 800; area 2180 km²/841 sq mi. County in WC England, UK (formerly Hereford and Worcester, 1974–98); bounded W by Monmouthshire and Powys in Wales; drained by Wye and Lugg Rivers; Malvern Hills to E; county town Hereford; chief towns include Leominster, Ledbury, Ross-On-Wye, Kington, Bromyard; rich farming and fruit growing area, famous for apple and pear orchards; hops, cider production, cattle (Herefords); Hereford Cathedral, Dore Abbey (12th-c), Goodrich Castle (12th-c), Eastnor Castle (19th-c), cider museum; international book fair at Hay-on-Wye (May/June), regular farmers markets.

Not to be confused with Hertfordshire.

County of Herefordshire
Geography
Status	Unitary district Ceremonial county
Origin	Historic
Region	West Midlands
Area: - Total - District	Ranked 26th 2,180 km² Ranked 3rd
Admin HQ	Hereford
ISO 3166-2	GB-HEF
ONS code	00GA
NUTS 3	UKG11
Demographics
Population - Total (2005 est.) - Density - District	Ranked 45th 178,800 82 / km² Ranked 84th
Ethnicity	99.1% White
Politics
Herefordshire Council http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative / Independent
MPs	Paul Keetch Bill Wiggin

Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county and unitary district (known as County of Herefordshire) in the West Midlands region of England.

Herefordshire is a very rural county best known for its fruit growing and cider production in particular.

Herefordshire's county flower is the Mistletoe.

History

See main article History of Herefordshire.

Cities, Towns and villages

See main article list of places in Herefordshire.

The major settlements in the county include the City of Hereford, which is the county town, as well as Leominster, Ledbury, Ross On Wye, Kington and Bromyard.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	1,622	218	567	836
2000	1,885	155	643	1,087
2003	2,216	185	708	1,323

↑  Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Agriculture

Agriculture has changed massively in recent years within the county.

Fruit

The county is famous for its apple and pear orchards, and of course its cider.

In the last few years, soft fruits such as strawberries have become a new and rapidly expanding area of the agricultural economy of the county.

Dairy

There was a time when the majority of farms in the county would have had dairy cattle for milk production.

Potatoes

As mentioned above, the county is historically pastoral.

Places of interest

Berrington Hall Dore Abbey Hereford Cathedral Malvern Hills

Transport

Road

The M50, one of the first motorways to be built in the UK, runs through the south of the county and, with the A40 dual carriageway, forms part of the major route linking South Wales and the West Midlands.

The hilly nature of the terrain in Mid Wales means that the main ground transport links between North Wales and South Wales run through Herefordshire.

Rail

The Welsh Marches Railway Line also runs north - south with passenger trains operated by Arriva Trains Wales offering links to North West and South West England as well as to North and South Wales.

Air

There are no airports with scheduled air services in Herefordshire though Birmingham, Cardiff and Bristol International Airports are all within reach and the RailAir coach operated by First Great Western provides connections from Heathrow via Reading station.

Waterways

Historically, the Rivers Wye and Lugg were navigable but the wide seasonal variations in water levels mean that few craft larger than canoes and coracles are now used.