England 2025

No stories to tell, no history to teach, just two days of soaking up the glorious Welsh countryside, eating in cliched little Pubs and chatting up the locals. Actually, between you and me, it's been nice to have a break - not a Castle or a Cathedral in sight! I did Portmeirion yesterday morning, but it was boring so I went back to soaking up the greenery. This is outside the door of my Bed and Breakfast Foggy, rainy, wet and lovely

Bit longer driving today, so only one stop - Ludlow Castle. The traditional seat of the Prince of Wales - which I've never understood, because Ludlow is in Shropshire (England) and Welsh borders have never included Ludlow 🤷. Cute little Castle though, even if it did seem a little short in the Lucky Stakes. Prince Arthur (Henry VIII's older brother who should have been King) died here at age 15 and this is where Edward IV's son was when his father died, so he left to go back to London because he was now King, only to be waylaid, arrested by his Uncle (future Richard III) and become one of the two missing-presumed-murdered Princes in the Tower. Spoiler alert - Richard III killed them if you believe Shakespeare. Anyway, Ludlow was considered the ends of the earth, but I really liked it - except for the bit where I crawled up five stories of a tiny, narrow, dark and dingy staircase with a frighteningly wobbly handrail just so I could see the view of the Shropshire countryside ...

Warwick Castle, Kenilworth and The Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick today! Busy day! I remember walking around Warwick Castle with mum and dad and clinging to mum's skirts because it seemed very high up and very narrow and very, very serious. Not these days! Warwick is definitely aimed at engaging children. Lots of dragons everywhere and hidden mazes and games. I went on a tour of the Castle, which turned out to be a tour about how haunted Warwick Castle is, which ghosts are real and which are made up for the tourists. I mean, the ones that aren't made up they seem to be pretty invested in being real!  This is the seat of the Neville family. The Earl of Warwick (the Kingmaker) who helped Edward IV (House of York) knock off (literally, history seems to pretty much believe that Edward IV's brother, later Richard III knocked him off) the incumbent Lancastrian king, Henry VI. The Kingmaker married his two daughters to Edward IV's younger brothers and then tried to overthr...

A 49 minute commute today, so I had plenty of time to side-track along the way. I spent the morning at Sudeley Castle. This is the home of Katherine Parr (Henry's surviving widow, lucky girl) and her post-Henry husband, Thomas Seymour - and what a piece of work he was! Katherine made no secret of her love for Sudeley and you can see her mark all over it. It's hardly big enough to be a Castle, but the same could be said for Hever and I'll fight anyone who tries to take anything from Hever. Apart from anything else, Sudeley is in the Cotswolds, so of course the grounds and surrounds are just stunning. I visited Katherine's grave and paid my respects (if you wanna hear a story, ask me some time about what happened to her body 200 years after she died, wowzers!).Katherine is the only one of Henry VIII's wives to be buried on private land, although it is true that 2 of them are buried in the Tower of London after having their heads chopped off and actually, Anne of Cleve...