that of Chester Cathedral. The
town also far less attractive than
Chester. More modern, & commonplace.
Less birdy too. A few Swifts and Jackdaws
about Cathedral & one Blackbird & Thrush
singing. 
  At 5.30 P.M. started for a walk. Crossed
the Wye bridge and took a foot path
up the further bank of the river. Large
numbers of Sand Martins & a few Swallows
skimming over the water. A swarm of
Swifts careering [sic] over the house tops. Turned
down a lane bordered by perfect masses
of elder in bloom. An orchard on the 
right. Parus major chirping, holding
a small green worm in her bill, evidently
with young. A Willow Warbler & Throstles
singing. Crossed a field & thence through
two stiles into the road. Boys found a 
toad; smooth skinned, pinkish or flesh
colored on back. Took another lane. Chaffinch
singing. Back through alley. Two Spotted
Flycatchers on house top & chimneys.
June 30 Hereford to Tintern Abbey.
  Cloudy & showery with occasional bursts
of sunshine.
  Left Hereford at 9.45 and reached
Tintern at 1 P.M. changing cars at Ross 
and Monmouth. Scenery very beautiful
the road following the Wye down a winding
valley with high, rocky & more or less wooded
ridges on each side not unlike the
Dunfield Valley but less wild. Many 
Rooks but no Lapwings today.
  To the royal George Hotel at
Tintern Abbey, the abbey in front &
below, a wonderfully impressive and
beautiful ruin. Jackdaws nesting in
the walls in large numbers, also many
Swifts and Starlings.
  My hip aching badly so I stayed
about the hotel through P.M. sitting
for one hour or more on a seat under
some overhanging ivy. A pair of
Spotted Flycatchers feeding young in
nest among ivy stems of wall of house.
A Redstart ([male]) flitting about &