Then, as now, the 'Three Choirs' is an important musical event and was one which was associated with Elgar during his lifetime. Amongst his friends were the organists of these three Cathedrals: Ivor Atkins at Worcester, Herbert Brewer at Gloucester and George Robertson Sinclair at Hereford.
It was while on a visit to Hereford that Elgar and Sinclair were walking along the banks of the river Wye close to the Cathedral when Sinclair's dog, Dan, rolled down the bank and tumbled into the water. 'Set that to music!' remarked Sinclair. In due course this appeared as one of the Variations in the 'Enigma'. Elgar wrote: "The first few bars were suggested by his great bulldog, Dan, (a well-known character) falling down the steep bank into the River Wye; his paddling upstream to find a landing place and his rejoicing bark on landing!"
It is possibly here, at the spot shown in this photograph, that this episode, immortalised as Variation XI, occurred.
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