170 



The Wood Vetch happily ornanipnts many of our Herefordshire woods. On the 

 present occasion it was quickly lost to sight by the train entering the tunnel. 



At Leominster the two large carriages waiting were insufficient to convey the 

 members, and several gentlemen, in the exulierance of a youthful energy that over- 

 balanced their patience, could not wait for others to be brought, and set off to 

 walk the four miles to the Bach Camp. On the carriages the ride was very enjoy- 

 able, and as the high ground of tlie district in which the camp is placed was 

 gained, the views were extensive on all sides. 



THE BACH CAMP 



(pronounced Bayche) is not on very high ground itself since it is commanded on 

 two, if not on three sides, with still higher ground, within easy rifle range. It 

 is oval in shape, with a double entrenchment of considerable strength, and occu- 

 pies altogether a space of about eleven acres. It has three entrances, one on each 

 of the southern and northern ends, and one on the western side. The position 

 of the camp is most exposed towards the north, and here the embankments are 

 very bold and strong ; with a broad internal ditch which would hold many men 

 or huts. The southern entrance is also well guarded and seems only to have ad- 

 mitted of approach in single file from each side, with a triangular vallum, hollow- 

 ed out to receive special guardians of the entrance. The camp within has been 

 cultivated as arable land and the inner embankment for two-thirds of its cir- 

 cumference ploughed down, but it is now laid down in grass. On the east and 

 west sides, the small streams which flow through the valley have wet and boggy 

 margins, which must have added greatly to the strength of the position. Tradi- 

 tion says there was a well within the camp, and it is quite possible that there 

 may have been, but the western entrance with curved and well guarded sides 

 would give a ready approach to the stream below and was probably used as a 

 water gate. The more the strength of this position is considered, and the vast 

 labour taken to fortify it, especially with the stockade in addition, the more prob- 

 able it seems that it was occupied for some considerable time, and was rather a 

 British fortified village or town than a simple encampment. It lies nearly two 

 miles east of the Roman road from Blackwardine to Bravinium. The camp is 

 entirely without history, and all that can be said of it must be gathered from its 

 position and entrenchments. Within a mile and a half to the east there is a 

 tumulus of some size, and another one still larger about four miles to the north, 

 beyond Ashton Camp, which bears sad and silent testimony to the battles fought 

 there. 



The camp was occupied on the present occasion by the Rev. Thomas Hut- 

 chinson, with Mrs. and Miss Hutchinson and a large party of their friends, and 

 the arrival of the Club was welcomed by butterfly nets waved in the act of moth- 

 catching. Mr. Hutchinson was one of the earliest members of the Club, and to 

 Mrs. Hutchinson the members were greatly indebted so far back as 1SG6, for a 

 list of the Lepidoptera of Herefordshire, published in the volume of Transactions 

 for that year. They gave the Club a hearty greeting on the present occasion. 



