I hope people in town like my book

Jen Green, a former reporter on the Tenbury Wells Advertiser and Hereford Times, took nine months to write Changing Scenes, which was commissioned by the Tenbury Agricultural Society.

The society is one of the longest remaining and active in the country, and this month celebrated its 150th anniversary.

The book, which has a foreword by Herefordshire-based historian and writer Sir Roy Strong, was launched at the town’s annual countryside show earlier this month and relates the fascinating history of the Teme Valley.

Mrs Green, who conducted research in newspaper archives and museums and made use of interviews with farmers in the area by society member David Spilsbury, said she was proud of the finished work.

“It’s been a lot of work but all I care about is that the people of Tenbury like it. It’s a way of me putting something back into the town and recording its history,” she said.

The 200 pages of the book include farming stories that have been handed down through the generations, as well as more than 100 photographs from past and present.

Mrs Green said: “It really is all about the little town in the orchard and how it came to have that name.

“It includes everything from the farming history to information about the great estates and how the two wars affected life for the people of the area.”

Readers are able to also discover the history of the annual mistletoe festival, hear stories from the hop growers, and read about the more unusual and prominent people who lived and live in the community.

Mrs Green has dedicated the book to the memory of her friend and former colleague Pauline Clark-Walker, who was the news editor of the Ludlow and Tenbury Advertisers from 2001 until she died in 2003.

She said: “It’s been an eye-opener in many ways to write but it was really worth doing.”

l The book is available from Books, Books, Books and Tenbury News on High Street. To order copies of the book call 01584 810818.