More about Bolingbroke Castle

 It was a warm, sunny afternoon when we visited.  The site was deserted so we had the place to ourselves.  The castle seemed hard to find.  We passed through Old Bolingbroke twice but then discovered we had missed a sign in the centre of the village and eventually, down a very narrow lane, we found the entrance by the lovely old cottage below.

The site is maintained by English Heritage.

The plan below shows the layout of the castle.  Most of the information boards were faded and hard to photograph.

The plan is based on discoveries made during excavations carried out between 1965 and 1973.  The great hall and kitchens have since been re-buried to protect them.

Above the view across the castle mound from the entrance we used. 

 The castle was built c. 1220 for Ranulf de Blundeville , Earl of Chester and Lincoln after his return from the Crusades.  It was one of three castles built for him the others being Beeston Castle in Cheshire and Chartley in Staffordshire.

Remains of the Auditor's Tower.

As I mentioned in my last post the castle was eventually inherited through his first marriage  by John of Gaunt the third son of Edward III.  He married Blanche, the daughter of Henry of Grosmont, the first Duke of Lancaster.  Blanche and her sister Maud were born at Bolingbroke Castle. 

Site of the Kitchen Tower

Henry of Bolingbroke later King Henry IV, the son of John of Gaunt and his wife Blanche was born at the castle in 1367.

During the 15th and 16th centuries the castle was used as an administrative centre for the estates of the Duchy of Lancaster.  Hence there being an Auditor's Tower and a Receiver's Tower.

The gatehouse towers by the main entrance to the castle.  These towers contained rooms for the guards and storerooms below.  These storerooms were later used as holding cells for prisoners awaiting trial at Bolingbroke Court house.

Again, as I also mentioned in my previous post, in the 17th century, during the Civil War, the castle was besieged and later destroyed by Parliamentarian troops. Below part of the castle moat.
 

When first built the castle was an enclosure castle, a typical 13th century castle, which had a courtyard within the curtain walls where there would have been timber framed structures including a Great Hall and service buildings as seen in the illustration below.

 

Below is a view from the Auditor's tower of the Rout Yard apparently there are several earthworks in the field and also the fishpond.
 

All for now. I hope you have enjoyed this little tour.  

 

Scenes from earlier this week

We managed to grab a couple of days away for Paul's birthday.  I coped with the journey and the walking which was good as I wanted to test what I could and couldn't do.

 

 

Sutton on Sea - yes I did take off my shoes and paddle, avoiding the many jellyfish stranded on the damp sand.  It rained, we got wet, we laughed and shared a late lunch of a bag of chips in the car.

Gunby Hall Gardens (NT)

 

The summer bedding was wonderful.  We had tea and cake as an afternoon treat.

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirby

The Avro Lancaster NX611 'Just Jane' taxied around the airfield for about 30 minutes.

Bolingbroke Castle at Old Bolingbroke,  The remains of the castle include part of the moat.  It was a hexagonal castle, built in the 13th century. 

 

The castle was inherited through marriage by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.  He and his first wife Blanche lived at the castle in the 1360s and their son Henry, later King Henry IV, was born there in 1367. The castle was besieged and destroyed in 1643 by Parliamentarian troops during the Civil War.  Parts of the church below were also destroyed at this time.

 

St Peter and St Paul, Old Bolingbroke 

 

I would have liked to have visited a friend who lives further south in Lincolnshire but there just wasn't time on this very short trip.  Next time, if you are reading this.

 

It was good to be somewhere else for a while before I find out what the next stage of my treatment may be. 

 

All for now.

A Welcome and a Farewell

Time to Welcome Spring

Daffodils blowing in the breeze at the side of the road, a warmer temperature in the air after our second bout of snow, bird song in the mornings, birds flying overhead with twigs in their beaks.  Buds on the shrubs and trees in the garden, also in the garden the first signs of wild garlic but no frog spawn in the pond as yet where only newts have been spotted so far.  I saw some wood anemones on our walk last week too.  Today we hit the heady heights of 7.5°C outdoors and we've turned the heating down a degree or two indoors.

I saw my first Comma butterfly of the year on Monday but probably not where you would expect.  We had travelled, part of the way in snow, to Spalding in Lincolnshire to attend the funeral and thanksgiving service of a dear friend, a friend of over thirty years.  Her funeral was held on what would have been her ninety third birthday.  She loved her town of Spalding and was proud of her Huguenot ancestry, she was a well known and loved figure in the town and the numbers in church reflected that.  As we sat awaiting the start of the service a bright orange butterfly flew up into the air, dancing above the heads of all of us, her friends, gathered there to say farewell.  It soared up into the dust motes highlighted by the sun which suddenly came streaming through the windows, its rays slanting down onto the stone slabbed floor. What a strange yet beautiful thing to see.

Above scenes from around Spalding the town our friend loved so much.

When we got home the snow we'd had all weekend had disappeared and today we were able to get out into the garden and start the clearing up needed after winter.  So farewell Winter, farewell dear friend and welcome Spring.  This weekend we must 'spring' forward into British Summer Time, the clocks will go forward an hour,  Spring is on the way!

To the Lighthouse

Saturday found us driving towards Lincolnshire to pick up a dear friend and take her to a place she had always wanted to visit.  It was somewhere we wanted to visit too.  The A50 took us through Derbyshire into Nottinghamshire where from Kegworth we travelled into Leicestershire through Melton Mowbray and out towards Spalding.  After we had collected our friend we travelled into the village of Gedney, where we had lunch at the Chestnuts farm shop and then out towards the Wash, through Long Sutton and over the bridge at Sutton Bridge.

We turned left and followed the narrow road down the east side of the River Nene until we came to the place we were aiming for, we came to the lighthouse!

Not just any lighthouse for this one is special as it was the home of the famous artist and naturalist Sir Peter Scott.

The lighthouse is now owned by Doug and Sue Hilton of the Snowgoose Wildlife Trust.  They  bought the property about two years ago and open it up to visitors at weekends in August.  This is the second year of the openings and this time visitors are allowed to go up to the lantern room at the top.

At this point I'll admit that the photos above and below aren't mine as I didn't dare scale the narrow ladders to get up there.  

The view from the top was amazing as you can see from the photo below which shows the first stretch of the Sir Peter Scott Walk and which I'll mention again later.

Paul ventured up to the top whilst I stayed downstairs with Marcia.  The owners came to talk to her as they were fascinated to hear her memories of the area and the fact that her elder brother had, many years ago, done some work at the lighthouse during Sir Peter Scott's time there.  We had e-mailed in advance of our visit as our friend is now 87 and quite frail and needs help walking.  We were allowed to drive right up to the building and we were welcomed in such a friendly, attentive way.

Later on whilst we were inside the lighthouse we were privileged to be invited to go through the barrier into the studio with its huge windows overlooking the river on one side and the pools on the other where many geese and other wildfowl were gathered.  This is where Peter Scott used to work.   The downstairs rooms consisted of studio, a dining room, small private kitchen and a bedroom.  On the next floor is the original living room before the studio was built.  Up above that was the original bedroom and right at the top is the lantern room.

I took the photo above from the studio window.  It shows two people on the Sir Peter Scott Walk which starts at the car park near the lighthouse and goes along the sea banks all the way to the River Great Ouse ferry which you can use to cross the river to the town of Kings Lynn.  There is, we were told, by one of the other visitors to the lighthouse, a halfway point at Ongar Hill but you have to be wary of the tides.  Here is a - link - to the walk details.

Down in the basement is where 'Samphire Charlie' lived with his little dog.  He was there when Peter Scott first came to the lighthouse in 1933 and he made his living gathering the samphire which grows on the shores of the wash from June to September.  Later the basement was used by Mackenzie Thorpe, a notorious wildfowler, whose paintings can be seen on the mantle piece in the photo above.  Whilst we were visiting at least two lots of people had come to talk to the owners about their memories of the rogue 'Kenzie' also known as the 'wild goose man.'

Above is the bell on the outside of the basement door.  Was it used to summon 'Samphire Charlie' or Kenzie Thorpe, I wonder?  On the opposite west bank of the Nene is an almost, but not quite, mirror image of the east bank lighthouse.  This one is in private hands.

The owners and the Trust are gradually restoring the lighthouse and the area around it and hope to build a visitor centre and museum nearby.  Here is a - link - to an article from the local newspaper which explains all about their mission.  They want to interpret the area and the life and work of  wildfowler turned conservationist Sir Peter Scott which will also include sections on the people of influence in his life including his famous father, Robert Falcon Scott the antarctic explorer and his mother the sculptor Kathleen Bruce  .  His friend Paul Gallico who wrote the novel 'The Snow Goose'  his first wife novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard and his second wife Phillipa Talbot-Ponsonby and, of course, Kenzie the  'Wild Goose Man'.

We had a lovely afternoon at the lighthouse, the weather was, again, perfect and the smile that lit up our friend's face made the long journey there and back worthwhile.

Up the Hill

We've just got back from a couple of days in Lincolnshire. The first day was spent with friends in and around Spalding where we used to live before we moved over here. After an overnight stay with one of those friends we drove up to Lincoln. The last time we visited was in 2004 and there are a few changes since we were last in the city.

We parked at Brayford Waterfront which is all very smart with lots of whizzy and chic places to eat and drink along this side of the marina. The University of Lincoln is on the other side.

We headed along the river towards the city centre. The old building over the River Witham is Stokes coffee shop, bakery and cafe with wonderful creaking floors and staircases inside.

Down a little alley next to the coffee shop and out onto the main shopping street in the lower part of the city.

This is the start of what is known in Lincoln as Steep Hill - are you ready for the climb? Hope you have your sturdy, comfy shoes on as the cobbles can make your feet sore!

Up past this old building knows as Jews Court - it used to be the headquarters of the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology and I've been to one or two meetings here in the past.

Let's take a diversion into Temple Gardens before it rains!

The Usher Art Gallery is closed for refurbishment but we can visit the new museum called simply 'The Collection' - the interior is quite stunning - this is the foyer. The displays are on the early history of the area - stone, iron and bronze ages through to Roman and Viking invasions up to Anglo Saxon and early medieval times.

The sun is out again so let's venture further up the hill.

Go on, get those legs working!

You have the right idea, Mr Puss!

Let's look back and see how far we have walked - quite a way! That's a lovely old second hand book shop on the corner.

Time for another diversion. This is the Pot Shop where the owner makes replica pottery from all the ages mentioned above. I have one of his jugs bought ages ago at the Lincolnshire Show when the museum I worked for had a stand there. Well, as you've probably guessed I bought another one to go with it. I'll show it to you in another post.

Here is The Arbour florists where you can buy herbs and lavender and rose petals and hops and fresh larkspur - I was slightly worried about the last one as I thought larkspur was poisonous - perhaps someone with knowledge of plants and herbs will tell me.

Past the famous Wig and Mitre pub - sorry I didn't take a photo as I was clutching my newly purchased jug and trying not to fall on the cobbles and break it!

The magnificent west front of Lincoln Cathedral - we didn't have time to go in on this visit although we have been inside several times in the past. We always have to search for the Lincoln Imp when we go inside.

Ditto Lincoln Castle - there is a copy of the Magna Carta here which we have seen on a previous visit it is one of only four remaining and is the property of Lincoln Cathedral.

View from the castle to the cathedral.

The bunting was blowing brightly in the strong breeze - time to return to the car and find somewhere to have a very late lunch.

Here is a - link - to Paul's post on our visit to Lincoln.