Best thing: This beautiful and mostly rural county is celebrated for its ancient apple orchards
Local food: Teme Vale’s Malvern Victorian sausage; Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce; Malvern water; hops
Events: Oak Apple Day at Guildhall, Worcester; Pershore Plum Festival; the Asparagus Auction at the Fleece Inn; Malvern Fringe Festival; Three Choirs Festival; Three Counties Show, Malvern
Heroes: Lt Herbert James VC; Nigel Mansell; Stanley Baldwin; Sheila Scott, aviator
Invention: Rowland Hill, reformer of the postage system and the penny stamp, was born in Kidderminster in 1795
Battle: Battle of Worcester, September 3, 1651, was the last battle of the English Civil War and secured Cromwell’s dominant position politically and militarily What they say: ‘Who travels Worcester county takes any road that comes when April tosses bounty to the cherries and the plums’ (John Drinkwater)
Artistic connections: Edward Elgar; Geoffrey Hill; Samuel Butler; Piers Plowman; Charles Dance; actor Cedric Hardwicke; Fay Weldon
One for the road: The Nags Head, Malvern, is The Good Pub Guide 2008’s Pub of the Year
Oldest: Worcester’s Berrows Journal is the oldest continually published newspaper in the world; Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb is the oldest motor-sport event in the world staged on the original course
Local products: Morgan sports car, first made in Malvern; Royal Worcester Porcelain; gloves from Worcester
Houses and churches: Hagley Hall; Hanbury Hall, the Vernon seat with Thornhill ceilings; Harvington Hall, which survives virtually unaltered from Elizabeth’s time; Madresfield Court; Worcester Cathedral, where King John is buried; Witley Church at Witley Court, the finest Baroque church in England
Titbits: St Wulfstan of Worcester, patron saint of vegetarians, was distracted from his devotions by a roasting goose and so gave up meat
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Curious Questions: Where did the viral Instagram Shaker kitchen come from — and how is it linked to Quakerism?The traditional and incredibly versatile Shaker kitchen is looked up to the world over, but where did it actually come from?
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Curiosity abounds in Kent at Flimwell Grange, where an old brandy vat is now a pool houseThis period delight is full of curious treasures, and offers outstanding views of the Garden of England.
