A picnic at Minster Lovell

Returning from London my friend and I did a little stop at the romantic ruins of Minster Lovell Hall, it seemed fitting as we were coming back from a Richard III event, yes that King that I am rather fond of.....

So this pretty place was the residence of one of Richard's main men - Francis Lovell and indeed Richard may have stayed here. Built in the 1440's by Lord William Lovell, the hall was then extended by his grandson Francis. 

 We sat perched on a little wall, eating our little picnic, just quietly soaking the atmosphere up and watched the families around us, kids playing,  running in and out of the ruins and climbing  - one too high and my heart was pounding until his father got him down.

My friend told me tales around Minster Lovell, of skeletons in secret chambers found, perhaps the remains of Francis Lovell whose fate was unknown. One story is that he fled here to hide and a loyal servant was bringing him food and water but something happened and he did not return leaving Francis imprisoned here. In the 18th century it is said that bones were found in a secret chamber but upon meeting with the air they crumbled to dust.

Also of the Mistletoe Bride as this is one of the locations that the story is associated with. Actually my favourite ghost story!



 Ghosts aside, the place has a wonderful ambiance and it's a free stop off with the children to have a run about and learn about some medieval history, a couple of pubs too in the village for food.   The River Windrush murmurs in the background and the church of St Kenelm peeks through the ruined hall, go in there as it's lovely too.

Minster Lovell is looked after by English Heritage and it is an open site. A medieval dovecote is to be found here too. 

The history girls

Back on a sunny October weekend in London with the history girls and for Richard III. Laugh -  never stopped all weekend with my best friends who inspire me so much. We had a quick look around Southwark Cathedral before having a couple of drinks by the Thames, waving at the boats going past. Yeah spot the country bumpkins, whooping and marvelling at everything.   The evening was to be spent meeting our London friends for a birthday party for Richard III, 563 years old and still winning the hearts of ladies. Well he is the best king in British history after all. Into the George Inn near Borough Market we went where we took over the top level, had a great meal, a Medieval quiz and a few glasses of wine raised  - To Richard, without whom we never would have met. We sound crackers don't we. As my friend Marion says - we are amiable lunatics. Nobody would eat Richard's face so it's probably tucked up somewhere by a bedside. 

I should add that this 17th century inn is spectacular and you must go if you are in London - the only galleried pub left in the city. Food is really nice and absolutely the whole experience is very atmospheric.
 The next day was the Societies' AGM where I purchased my own weight in books and we laughed some more. The talk was all about the arming of a knight complete with demonstration so just my thing. When you've found your tribe it just all fits together and the weirdness that makes your little heart soar is in good company. 

Lunch at the castle

 Deep in Cheshire along winding lanes and with views across the plains stands a castle that was built for a wealthy landowner John Tollemache in a medieval style in the 1840's. He had 24 children by two wives so no wonder he needed a castle!

Castle Gardens Leicester

 Well due to the hideous weather of dull days, chilling to the bone coldness with gusts of wind sending half the garden pots in different directions like skittles, I am looking back to the warm day we had in Leicester doing King type things and immersing ourselves in Medieval history.

In between waiting for His Royal Richardness we visited Castle Gardens. Sunshine. Proper Spring. Now departed almost as soon as the tombstone was placed but no matter, this was our day and one that will always stay with me. And I nearly didn't go! Had one of those weird wake up at 3am moments and thought got so much work to do, best stay home but the sun through the curtains said, 'Ah forget the work, get to the Midlands'

This week they are the King's swans

 A colony of swans in the River Soar / Grand Union Canal in Leicester. As we walked around the city for the Richard III reburial events we spent some time in Castle Park overlooking the river.

Happy Yorkshire Day

I love Yorkshire but have only really explored such a small portion of it. We had our wonderful holiday to Scarborough and Whitby when Little Bird was younger where we sang sea shanty's and enjoyed the beach. Happy memories of both a typical English seaside and a gothic coastal town. Perfect places and one of Little Bird's favourite television programmes was filmed at Staithes in Yorkshire - Old Jack's Boat.

Philip Bird / Shutterstock.com 

Today the first of August is Yorkshire Day so I have been having a look to see where might be next on the list to visit in the county over the summer.

Firstly, I've been long wanting to visit Aysgarth Falls in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales. It looks amazing and was featured in the Robin Hood-Prince of Thieves film. Totally magical and I'd love to spend some time on the many walks in this area.  Also not far away from Bolton Castle so my history interest is reignited as the ill fated Mary Queen of Scots was held here.

Aysgarth Falls in Summer from Shutterstock

Harrogate has been a favourite place of mine forever. I first went there with my mum on a coach trip and have been back many times since. Love the period houses here and a place I would most definitely consider living. Have tea and cake in Betty's Tearoom and walk it off around Valley Gardens. Not too far away near Ripon is Lightwater Valley where we went last year and had a lot of fun on the rides and in the  Angry Birds play area.

RHS Harlow Carr is also close by for some horticultural exploration and plenty of castles and historical sights from Fountains Abbey to Knaresborough Castle.

Jason Batterham / Shutterstock.com

I still need to visit Middleham Castle for my Richard III infatuation as it was his childhood home. Barnard and Richmond Castles are close by too! Yorkshire is simply full of great castles to visit. 

Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, in the county of North Yorkshire, England from Shutterstock

Of course Yorkshire is still buzzing from the Tour de France so it has been a great year for them so even better to celebrate Yorkshire Day.

Grzegorz Petrykowski / Shutterstock.com

I must add that this not a sponsored post! I just love Yorkshire and wanted to tell everyone about Yorkshire Day. I have a Yorkshire surname so I'm sure we started out there as a family :) There's quite a lot of events on here such as markets, Medieval events and a Mad Hatters Tea Party. Let me know if you get to any of them.

Snapshots of my Spring so far

 It has been a busy few weeks with birthdays - mine and my mum's either side of Mother's Day, so plenty of cake and treats. I've had some lovely bunches of flowers brightening the house and my favourite had to be the purple hues of the Cape Flora bouquet from M&S with the exquisite Protea in it.  They are still going strong now and make a nice change from my usual roses. I do still love roses though and received another bouquet with yellow roses, chrysanthemums and what I think is Bishop's flower (Ammi majus), a beautiful cow parsley-like white umbellifer. I need to grow this! Such a great filler in a posy.Some of my birthday treats were the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, a kitsch unicorn that you fill with cake sprinkles, tea-towels, a frame for my book map, an owl mug cosy and a cute stripy plant pot. Mustn't forget my Graham Turner Battle of Bosworth cards too. Being a Richard III enthusiast shall we say, well I joined my local group (more on that here) I therefore always receive something related to my favourite king.Thrilled to have my book map finally up on the wall. Highly recommend this poster for any book enthusiasts. I can spend ages looking at it, searching for my favourites. Run past Jurassic Park, peer in Tom's Midnight Garden, cross the estuary to Treasure Island and around the corner to the Enchanted Wood.......Of course there have been a few rainy days where we have cuddled up, dogs included and played or watched Cbeebies. Plenty of cups of tea and some plans put together for the rest of the year. Despite the cake, I have started to eat healthier and clean up my diet. I've reached the stage where I am annoyed with myself for being so unhealthy so changes are happening......Happy Monday to you all.This will be a busy week for me. Lots of blog posts to write, allotments to tend to, Easter to sort for Little Bird - a sensory tub with Easter Grass and some Easter games to help him understand more about this time of year xx

A treasure trove

Ambling for hours in a wonderful treasure trove, different floors to explore. I didn't know which way to turn.

Antiques, junk, retro fun and items that made me all nostalgic.

Knick-knacks, unusual trinkets and collectables. Items forgotten, some a little tacky but you will find something you love. One mines rubbish is another's treasure as they say.

I would love some of the old railway signs to put on the garden wall as my grandfather who I never met worked on the trains and it would have some meaning to me as well as looking pretty. A big station sign with patio fruit trees either side. 

Looking back at these pictures I wish I had purchased the Christmas in .... plates as they remind me of folklore and of the book I'm reading at the moment, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - I recommend it, pure magic.

See the boars head? He ended up being a gift for me. I had no idea when we were picking him up that he was in fact mine. A gift for helping with a website for a local group of the Richard III Society and the the boar is one of our symbols so he was very appropriate. He's in my kitchen at the moment, Lovell is his name and I'm waiting until spring to get him secured to the wall. I do love my eclectic garden items.