A strange old pic from "The Graphic" 1873. A walk with the Hereford Fungus Eaters.The picture shows what could be local dignitaries and various locations in and around Herefordshire.Holme Lacy House can be seen on the right centre of picture and some sort of meeting held in Hereford Shire Hall can also be seen towards bottom of picture.Additional Information
Around the 1870s and 1880s each autumn the Woolhope Club had annual
Fungus Forays. The Fungus Forays lasted about a week and members of
the Woolhope Club - and their visitors who came from far and wide -
toured around the Herefordshire countryside looking for fungi to
identify and investigate. This was very gentlemanly scientific
research. The week's efforts finished with a clebratory meal at the
Green Dragon in Hereford. This cartoon of the fungus foray was almost
certainly drawn by Worthington George Smith (who was the chief
illustrator of the Gardeners Chronicle). Not a Herefordian, he is an
interesting character in his own right. Top left you can see Dr Henry
Graves Bull, quite a Victorian polymath. As well as fungi he was
interested in birds and apples. He was joint author of The
Herefordshire Pomona - one of the finest books, if not the finest book
about apples and pears ever published. (The cider museum displays
some of the original artwork for the colour plates - Bull's daughter
Edith Elizabeth was one of the artists responsible). Fuller details
of all the Fungus Forays can be found in the Transactions of the
Wollhope Club although the cartoons do not appear there - you will
need to read through the Graphic for other years. The club still has
its library at Hereford Library and it is open, I believe, on
Thursdays.
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