Bustling shops, cleaner rivers, and cheaper houses in Hereford

The city has seen many changes over the years, and John Price, a member of our We Grew Up in Hereford Facebook group, has reminisced about days gone by.

He highlighted the crippling rising prices of houses compared to when he bought his first house in the 70s.

He said a person could buy a house for under £10,000, but the interest rate was 17.5 per cent.

Housing estate in Hereford in the 90s

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He bought his first house in 1979 for £12,000 in St Owen Street, just up from the fire station.

There was a pub, launderette, Mill Street stores and Castle Green over the road, as well as a barbers and butchers on the other corner, he said.

"A handy place to live but no garden only a yard," he said.

Two years later he sold it for £18.000 and bought one in Baysham Street with a garden.

Mr Pullen also remembered when Hereford was a bustling place to be – at one point you could even drive through the centre.

Shops in Hereford's High Town have changed over the years and during the pandemic many were forced to shut. Some were taken over by other businesses while some remain empty.

Hereford High Town in the 1950s

But Mr Pullen said there was a time when all the shops were doing well.

"At night all you could hear was loud music coming from the pubs."

Businesses across in Hereford have previously suffered with trying to find employees after the pandemic. But others saw it as somewhere to

Mr Pullen said there was plenty of work in the 70s.

"Most people seemed happy," he said.

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Mr Pullen spent most of the long hot summer of 1976 sunbathing and swimming in the river at Breinton Springs.

But in recent years the river Wye has become so polluted and Wye and Usk Foundation chief executive Simon Evans warned that the river Wye will be in irreversibly worse condition within two years unless swift action is taken.

The river Wye before it became as polluted as it is now Picture: Adam Fisher

This month a fisherman and business owner who has lived in Herefordshire for nearly 40 years has said he is concerned about the amount of human faeces, urine, and litter he has found along the river Wye.

Mr Pullen finished with an ode to his successful 46 yearlong marriage.

"The secret of a long marriage is selective hearing and agreeing with the other half," he joked.