A Moody Visit to Minster Lovell Hall
Greetings my Fellow Adventurers!
Following my wife’s rather excellent post on the history of Minster Lovell Hall a few months ago, we decided it was high time for another visit – and what a atmospheric visit it was, with heavy skies, rain, wind and the occasional ray of sunshine all helping to create a very memorable half term afternoon.
- Location: Minster Lovell Hall, near Witney Oxfordshire
- Distance Travelled: 60 miles
- Time Taken: 50 min’s each way
- Map: (Click on the link for Google maps)
- Click here for my previous post from last year!
While we were there I took the opportunity to have a play with some gradient filters on my camera. I’m talking actual physical filters here – not apps or electotrickery. I’m pretty new to using them, but I’m so glad I had them on me to help capture a the ‘mood’ of the ruins as we explored them – the light was almost sepia!
Follow me and I’ll show you around…
Whilst we were exploring the tower, the heavens opened with a mighty deluge, followed almost immediately by blue sky and bright sunshine – it lead to the most wonderful rainbow!
Thanks to the wonderful weather, we had a fabulously moody and atmospheric wander around the ruins and I’m pretty certain we’ll be back for more – bring on the rain!
Farewell my friends & have a happy Halloween tomorrow!
A Stroll around Tusmore Park
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
During this year of turmoil, there have been a few places close by that have helped keep us sane. One of those is Tusmore Park near Bicester in Oxfordshire.
To give a bit of historical background – There has been a settlement at Tusmore since the Saxon period, and it was even mentioned in the Doomsday book. However the village, already the poorest in the Ploughley hundred, was decimated by the Black Death and then later abandoned. The empty land was finally turned over to grazing and parkland in the 1400s by the then owner Sir Roger de Cotesford, and it has remained this way to this day.
There have been a number of large manor houses built at Tusmore. The current was built in 2000 by it’s owner Wafic Rida Saïd, after pulling down the previous house built in the 1960’s by the 2nd Baron of Bicester.
The walk we follow starts in the little village of Hardwick just on the edge of the parkland. Its a relativity short stroll of around 2.5 miles and takes us across fields, through woodland, the parkland and around a lovely dirt road seemingly straight out of the middle ages.
Tusmore park is a great place for a short stroll, it’s one of those walks that feels longer than it actually is, mainly due to all the lovely little ‘areas’ you wander through. If you happen to be around Bicester and have spare hour or so, I’d recommend it!
We went to a CASTLE!!!!!!!!!!!
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
What a fantastic day – for the first time since January, my wife Alli and I finally had a chance to visit a Castle!!!
We took a trip to Kenilworth in Warwickshire, partly just for the hell of it, and partly to scout out what ‘social distancing’ measures were in place.
It was awesome to be there again, to have a cuppa from the tea rooms (I actually had my first Latte in 6 months!) and walk around the ruins and soak up the history, even in the drizzle (which thankfully made it lovely and quiet).
Kenilworth has some fantastic stories and is a very important castle in our history – I’m sure Alli will write a post about it before too long, so watch out for that.
The one-way system that had been put in place wasn’t too bad (they did pretty well keeping it as openly-accessible as possible) although some areas had been closed off due to ‘pinch points’…
…We may or may not have had a quick peek around the corner of one…
It really was a massive tonic, as was getting to spend some time with Alli again, sans Children. I think even Ratty enjoyed the blast up the motorway!
Farewell my friends.
Quick Stop – The Birth of Radar!
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
It always amazes me what you can find by the side of the road. Our countryside is peppered with little plaques, memorials and notice boards, all giving an insight into the rich and varied history of our country, the events big and small that helped form it and the people who created it. There is one such memorial just off the A5 near Daventry. It marks the spot where, in February 1935, two men drove a Flatnose Morris van into a field near Upper Stowe in Northamptonshire. They erected two sets of wooden poles, rigged wires between them, connected them to some receiving equipment in the back of the van and set to work, and in doing so they changed the course of history.
During the early 1930s, with the prospect of war growing ever greater, the Air Ministry became increasingly interested in applying science and technology to the defence of Britain from the threat of hostile aircraft. In November 1934, under the chair of Sir Henry Tizard, they formed the ‘Committee for the Scientific Survey of Air Defence‘, or the ‘Tizard Committee’ as it become known. It was tasked with reviewing all the current scientific knowledge and evaluating how it could be applied to issue of air defence.
Robert Watson-Watt, a recognised expert in the field of radio propagation and the then superintendent of the Radio Research Station, along with his scientific assistant Arnold F. ‘Skip’ Wilkins, become involved with the Tizard committee when they were asked for their opinion of a newspaper article about a supposed German ‘Death Ray’. They successfully disproved it, and whilst doing so also mentioned the subject of locating aircraft by the means of radio.
Following this, Wilkins, using Watson-Watt’s previous work on detecting lightning strikes, developed a method whereby radio waves sent out from an appropriately powered transmitter would bounce off an aircraft in the air. Then using a receiver linked to an oscilloscope, the difference in strength between the reflected radio waves and the source transmission could be measured and used to calculate its position. On 12th February 1935, Watt detailed this method in a secret report sent to the Air ministry titled ‘The Detection of Aircraft by Radio Methods‘. They were asked to prove it, which is how the ‘Daventry Experiment’ came about.
The site where this experiment was carried out is marked by the ‘Birth of Radar’ memorial. The location was chosen by Watson-Watt and Wilkins for it’s proximity to the BBC Daventry radio transmitter, but with enough hills in the way to reduce the strength of the transmission to the required levels. The initial set up took place on the 25th February and the final adjustments which, having taken longer then expected and due to the lack of lights in the van, Wilkins performed by match-light just before midnight.
On the morning of the 26th, Watson-Watt arrived from London with the secretary of the Tizard Committee, A.P. Rowe and Watt’s nephew Pat. They joined Wilkins at the site and settled themselves by the receiving equipment in the back of the van, whilst Pat and the van driver Dyer, owing to their lack of security clearance, made themselves scarce.
Shortly after their intended target, an RAF Handley Page Heyford Bomber (see my post about that here) piloted by Flight Lieutenant R. S. Blucke, flew over the site and along the path of the strongest signals from the radio tower. On the first attempt the bomber flew slightly off course and no variation was seen in the receiving equipment, but on the second attempt the line of the cathode ray tube fluctuated up and down – indicating a variance in the signal and that the Heyford had been seen – RADAR had been born!
Excited by the results of the experiment, Watt and Rowe then headed immediately back to London, leaving Pat behind for the night. Wilkins and Dyer packed up and followed later.
The success of this experiment paved the way for the development of the 20 radar stations built around the coast of Britain ready for the outbreak of war in 1939. These stations played a vital part of the Battle of Britain in 1940 without which, the hard pressed Fighter squadrons of the RAF would have been stretched too thinly and, with invasion looming, the outcome of the Battle – and the war – could have been very different indeed.
As an epilogue, In the late 90’s Rex Boys – a former Daventry student, decided that such a momentous event deserved to be marked and it was thanks to his efforts that the memorial was erected on this site in 2001. Funded by QinetiQ, it was unveiled in front of a crowd of some 80 people from the Radar world by Wilkin’s widow, Nancy.
So the next time you drink a toast to ‘The Few’, why not spare a thought and a glass for the Scientists that also helped in the defence of our country in its darkest hours.
As I said, it’s amazing what you can find by the side of the road.
The Spectral Mystery of Minster Lovell Hall
Just thought I’d share this great post my wife has written about a lovely little ruin down the road to us – enjoy!
A few weeks ago, after what seemed like eternity, I finally got to visit a medieval ruin again. Not a castle, but a rare example of a courtyard manor house built in the fifteenth century by one of the wealthiest men in England. And for a sleepy ruin in a quiet Oxfordshire backwater it has a lot to offer. For a start, it’s tucked away in an idyllic location beside the River Windrush amid beautiful, rolling countryside. It also has connections with the Scottish medieval history module I’ve just completed, and it has links with two of my favourite medieval kings, one of which came to stay at the manor. Perhaps even more intriguingly, some say that its most notable owner never left, that he still lingers around the ruins of his former home.
The approach to the 15th Century hall with the porch on the left
The village of…
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A Visit to Goodrich Castle
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
Back in the Autumn we found ourselves in major need of a a castle fix, so we took a trip down to Goodrich near Ross-on-Wye to visit one of our favourites.
The trip was a lot of fun, the drive down through the Cotswolds is always beautiful and after the two hours in the car we started off our visit with a much needed cup of tea and lunch. Although the menu in the café is a bit limited (it’s only a small place), the soup, cheese scone and cheese and onion pasty we ate were all delicious – the pasty alone was worth the drive!
Goodrich Castle is breathtakingly beautiful, a real Merlin-esque castle set in stunning countryside. There’s something about it that just says magic, maybe it’s the deep red stone or commanding position or the fact that it’s not in the middle of a town or village. Every time we walked around a corner, we wouldn’t have been surprised to see a fully armoured knight sitting on his horse.
The castle was originally built by the Normans after the conquest and was then significantly expanded over the 12th and 13th centuries. My wonderful wife Alli did a couple of great pieces earlier this year about Goodrich, so if you want to know more about it’s history (and why wouldn’t you) please do take a look at her posts ‘Castles from the Air: Glorious Goodrich‘ & ‘Goodrich on the Ground‘.
All in all it was a good day’s adventure – it certainly gave us our well needed Castle fix. (Here are a few more photo’s of the day for you to enjoy!)
Farewell my friends!
On this day – England Expects…
Ahoy there Fellow Adventurers!
Welcome to another quick installment of the ‘Maddie Templeton Maritime History’ series.
On this day, October the 21st in 1805, two imposing armadas fought for control of the seas – the combined French and the Spanish fleets on one side, and the Royal Navy on the other.
The battle would result in victory for the British fleet and would go down in the annals of our greatest naval history. It would also see the creation of a legend. One of our greatest national heroes would meet a tragic and untimely death. His name was Admiral Nelson, and that battle was ‘Trafalgar’!
From Wikipedia (with some edits!)
”The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement fought during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).
Twenty-seven British ships led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Villeneuve. The battle took place in the Atlantic Ocean off the southwest coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, and the British lost none.
The victory confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century, and it was achieved in part through Nelson’s departure from the prevailing naval tactical methods of the day. Conventional practice at the time was for opposing fleets to engage each other in single parallel lines in order to facilitate signalling and disengagement and to maximize fields of fire and target areas. Instead, Nelson arranged his ships into two columns to sail in perpendicular form into the enemy fleet’s line (and gave them a ruddy good pasting!).
During the battle, Nelson was shot by a French musketeer (smelling of garlic and cowardice), and he sadly died as the battle ended, living just long enough to hear that his revolutionary plan had paid off. The British had triumphed.”
The rest of the Wikipedia Article is here, and it’s well worth reading.
Farewell my friends, and remember…
”England expects that every man will do his duty”
(This was a signal sent to the British Fleet by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805), just before the battle.)
On this day – Happy Birthday Nelson!
Ahoy there Fellow Adventurers!
Welcome to another quick installment of the ‘Maddie Templeton’s Maritime History’ series.
On this day in 1758 an English national hero was born, none other than Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté) – Yes him, that bloke off the column!
An outstanding sailor and commander, he is most remembered for sticking it to the Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar where, aged only 47, he was also sadly killed, having been mortally wounded by a French sniper.
Famously brought back in the barrel of brandy, his body was interred at St Pauls Cathedral, within a sarcophagus originally carved for Cardinal Wolsey.
So please join us in raising a glass or two of rum, as we drink to the memory of Nelson, and wish him a happy 261st birthday!
Farewell my Friends!
A Day by the Sea
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
What with one thing and another, we’ve not had the chance to take Ratty out for an adventure drive over the summer, but thankfully last Saturday we were able to change that. Heading south, we visited Portchester Castle (near Portsmouth) followed by a few hours at Stokes bay near Gosport.
Our last visit to Portchester was back in February. It’s a fabulous little castle and Alli and I both wrote posts detailing our visit and the castles history at the time, so please do take a look at them if you fancy learning more.
https://smallcaradventures.com/2019/02/13/portchester-castle-and-stokes-bay/
Alli’s blog (much better than mine!):
https://medievalwanderings.com/2019/02/10/royal-ructions-at-portchester-castle/
Having more daylight to play with than last time, after we left the castle, we were able to spend a lot more time at the beach (much to Maddie’s delight). Having had quite an energetic visit to the castle, we started our visit by plonking ourselves down on the shingle bay by the Gosport and Fareham lifeboat station and having a good rest, making the most of the sea air and nice weather.
We followed our rest by walking along the seafront and enjoying the views over the Solent to the Isle of Wight. We were surprised by how much more shipping activity there appeared to be than during our last visit back in the winter. It did, however, give me ample opportunities to take photos.
After our walk, we nipped down the road to visit the ‘Lee on Solent Fish and Chippy’, an awarding winning chip shop recommended to us by Maddie’s sailing instructor. The food was, indeed, very good and I’m in no doubt we’ll be back soon for more. It certainly fuelled us up for the long drive home!
Farewell my friends…
Welsh Castle Quest day 12 – Caernarfon Castle
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
Today we finished off our walk from Conwy to Caernarfon, and finished with a visit to the magnificent Caernarfon Castle. For a fuller report on what we got up to – my wife has written another of her excellent posts about it here!
As it stands we had a nice last yomp along the WCP from Y Felinheli. The path was mainly set aside from the main road as it followed the same route as Cycleway No. 8, so the path was nicely tarmacked and the walking was easy.
The route took us through fields just set back from the Menai Straights and eventually brought us into the Harbour area of the town.
As always Maddie was pleased to be by the sea – LOOK, BOATS!!!
Caernarfon Castle was as wonderful as ever – we spent a merry couple of hours exploring and taking pictures, although we did have one issue with the local gulls pinching our multi-pack of Square crisps and making off with a bag.
The Castle really is huge!
It really is a Harbour town, with boats pretty much everywhere you look…
Once we’d finished, we rounded off our really enjoyable day with a glass of wine (of course) whilst we waited for a taxi to take us back to the car.
Until tomorrow my Friends!
On This Day, 26th July 1845 – SS Great Britain sets sail!
Greetings my Fellow Adventurers!
I’m going to take a quick break from Wales today for another of…
‘Maddie Templeton’s Maritime History Posts’
On this day in 1845 the SS Great Britain, then the worlds biggest ship, set sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to cross the Atlantic. Captained by James Hosken and carrying 45 passengers, she made the passage to her destination of New York in a very respectable 14 days and 21 hours.
At the time of her maiden voyage she was a ground breaking ship. Designed by the great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, she was the largest Iron hulled vessel afloat and the first passenger ship to utilise a propeller rather than paddles.
Commercially however, her first trip wasn’t a success. The Great Western Steamship Company paid £117,295 6 Shillings and 7 Pence to build her, hoping to gain a good profit from the sailing. But of the 360 tickets available, only the mentioned 45 were sold.
The SS Great Britain went on to have a very successful, if somewhat tumultuous working life. She had several accidents, refits, changes of configuration (even loosing her engines at one point), covered millions of miles of ocean and crossed the globe countless times. She was even abandoned in the Falkland Islands for over 30 years. It wasn’t all bad news though, thanks to the efforts of one Sir Jack Haward OBE, she was finally returned to her home port of Bristol. The day of her return coincided with the 127th anniversary of her launch, and she arrived to great applause from the thousands of spectators who turned up to witness the event.
Since 1970 she’s been painstakingly restored in her original dry-dock so that she now stands proud once again.
If you’d like to know more about her history, our friend EasyMalc has a great post on his website here. You could also take a look at the official SS GB Website here, or the Wikipedia page here.
There was also a song written about her – here!
Until tomorrow my friends
Welsh Castle Quest Day 9 – Castles, Conwy and Cameras!
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
Today we visited Conwy Castle and the fortified small town that surrounds it. The castle itself is stunning and a fascinating place wander around – but I’ll let my wife tell you all our visit on her upcoming blog post here.
Once we finished at the castle we walked out of the town to continue our Quest. Off around the headland that leads from Conwy Bay to the Menai Strights and onwards to more adventures!
On the way out of town we saw this little house – officially the smallest and probably most photographed in the whole of the UK.
Camera Quest.
Over the past few months I’ve been admiring the wonderful photography on ‘The Adventures of a Mountain Coward’ blog – all taken with an old manual Zenit film camera. Thusly inspired – I’ve brought my old 1970’s Olympus 35RC Rangefinder camera on holiday with me – an a few rolls of my favourite film. The intention is to take a few pictures whilst I’m here and get the films developed when I get home – once I get the scans back I’ll share some here. It’s been a while since I shot a fully manual camera so wish me luck.
Until tomorrow my Friends!
On this day 1545 – A Tragedy at Sea.
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
Whilst packing for our upcoming Welsh castle adventure, I went into my nautical-mad daughter’s bedroom to find some bits for her suitcase. However what I actually found was a display she’d put together as a tribute to the memory of Mary Rose, and the hundreds of crewmen lost when she sank.
Maddie then told me that, on this day in 1545, the Mary Rose – flagship of King Henry VIII’s Tudor navy and his pride and joy, suddenly sank in the Solent during a battle with the French. The ship went down literally in seconds, in mysterious circumstances, with the loss of nearly 500 sailors. Only 35 men survived.
Along with her display, my daughter had written a poem about the sad loss. I was so impressed by it and touched by her thoughtfulness and empathy, that I decided to share it with you all here.
Alli and I are very proud of her – I think this is a wonderful tribute.
Beneath The Waves Of Portsmouth
By Maddie Templeton (aged 15).
In 1545 in view of the King’s eye,
The Mary Rose, the flagship, sank,
beneath the waves of Portsmouth.
To heaven, you did fly,
but the Mary Rose was left to lie,
beneath the waves of Portsmouth.
The ropes of the top deck betrayed the crew,
dragged them into a shipwreck,
beneath the waves of Portsmouth.
As she turned a wind got up,
stirring heavy cannon, let through a porthole
water in, pulling the ship,
beneath the waves of Portsmouth.
Nearly five hundred years later,
(the same number as the lost crew)
the ship, brought back to life in 1982,
She was lifted from the bed, from
beneath the waves of Portsmouth.
Around the ship, a museum was built,
shaped like an oyster, the wreck the pearl,
preserved from the silt,
beneath the waves of Portsmouth.
Today the museum stands – since the year of 1982,
as a memorial for you, the crew,
and the dog named ‘Hatch’ too,
It now reminds those who live today
of the crew on the ship that lay,
beneath the waves of Portsmouth.
I think that about says it all. Personally I think she has a great future in front of her as a maritime historian and sailor.
Farewell my friends!
Almost Wordless Wednesday – Castles!!!
It’s been blooming ages since we last visited a castle and I have to say I’m missing them. Thankfully we’re off on our Welsh Castle Adventure next week, so my ‘low castle warning light’ will be fully recharged!
To follow our adventures and learn more about the history of these magnificent medieval structures please do go and take a look at my wife Alli’s medieval history blog – www.medievalwanderings.com. I’ll also be posting regular updates here.
In the meantime, just to keep you going, here’s a picture of the wonderful keep at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire.
Farewell my Friends – see you in Wales!
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