Historical weekend frolics

During yet another prolonged absence from my blog, this time due to work and DIY on my new house, I took a well-deserved weekend break with two friends. Over the weekend we visited Hatfield House, Blenheim Palace, the Rollright Stones, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle.

Hatfield House was the home of the son of Elizabeth I's advisor, Robert Cecil. I visited the house last year for Folk by the Oak and again two weeks ago for the annual Living Crafts Fayre.

Blenheim Palace was a gift to the first Duke of Marlborough to celebrate victory over the French during the Wars of Spanish Succession. Perhaps the most famous resident of Blenheim was Sir Winston Churchill, who was both at the Palace and spent much of his childhood there. Over the years the Palace has undergone numerous transitions, but is still the home of the current Duke of Marlborough and is now classified as a World Heritage Site.

The Rollright Stones consist of three Neolithic monuments, The Whispering Knights, The King's Men stone circle and The King Stone standing stone. The monuments date from around 3,500 and were built of natural limestone boulders found at the site. The King's Men stone circle was likely a gathering place, while the Whispering Knights are probably the remains of a Neolithic burial chamber. The name “Rollright” is believed to come from “Hrolla-landriht”, the land of Hrolla. Legends say the stones ae knights plotting against their King before a witch turned them to stone, and that the Knights go down to the brook in the valley to drink on New Year's Day or when the bells of Long Compton are heard. I am very drawn to the ancient neolithic monuments and stone circles of Britain, and consider them an important part of my heritage. This out of the way and secluded stone circle was particularly magical for me, all the more so with the fading light and peace of the evening. I could have stayed there all night, but sadly, we had places to be and family to visit!

Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town in , over 800-years old and best known as the birthplace of the great bard and playwright, William Shakespeare. We were lucky enough to visit the town on the hottest day of the year so far, and spent the day visiting Shakespeare's birthplace, his final home (Nash's House and New Place), his final resting place (The Church of the Holy Trinity) and the home of William's daughter and her doctor husband (Hall's Croft). Stratford is also home to the Royal Shakespeare Company, though sadly we did not have time to take in a play.

Warwick Castle has been in the hands of the Earls of Warwick since Henry de Newburgh in 1088. The original rampart was built in 914AD by Ethelfleda, the daughter of Alfred the Great, and developed into a fort by William the Conqueror in 1068. Today, the Castle is an example of how life would have been like throughout the ages and is very very well done. We visited during the Easter holidays, so the Castle abounded with characters from history, some historical (Henry VIII, Elizabeth I), some fictional (King Arthur, the plague-victims!), and numerous events were on offer, including falconry displays and the firing of the fully functional trebuchet (oh yes...with fireball!!). The most pleasantly surprisingly highlight however, had to be the musical performance of the plague victims themselves...possibly the hardest I have laughed in a long time. We also visited the new Dungeons exhibition, which was highly entertaining, though certainly not for the faint-hearted.

Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of the weekend, and very much in need of another holiday! Hopefully I will catch up with some of my reviews, but in the meantime I leave you with some photos of our trip..

Blenheim Palace

Spring at Blenheim

The King's Men, Rollright stones

The Whispering Knights, Rollright stones

Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Hall's Croft, Stratford-upon-Avon

The Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon

A watchful gargoyle overlooking the graveyard

William Shakespeare's grave

Warwick Castle

Walking along the castle ramparts

King Arthur

View from the ramparts (spot the trebuchet!)

Posing with the plague sufferers..."Milly Molly Manky", "Nostrildamus" and baby "Cillit Bang"!!

Ghost Hunter - Michelle Paver

All good things must eventually come to an end.

Those who read my review last year of books four and five, Outcast and Oathbreaker, will already know how excited I have been about the sixth and final installment of Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness.

Set 6,000 years ago, Paver's series follows the young Torak in his fight against the Soul Eaters and save the clans of the Forest, Mountains and Sea from evil. Torak is accompanied in his journey by his Raven clan friend, Renn, and his pack-brother, Wolf.

In the final novel, Torak finds himself up against the last and deadliest of the Soul Eaters, the Eagle Owl Mage, Eostra. Wolf is now a fully grown adult and has his own family and cubs with mate Darkfur. Eostra is casting a dark cloud of evil over the clans, and Torak leaves to stop the evil mage and exact revenge for his father's death. When Wolf's pack is mortally attacked, he too is forced to leave the Forest, and all three friends find themselves on a dark journey. Without giving anything away, suffice to say that Ghost Hunter is possibly the most exciting book of the series. With characters old and new, Paver expertly takes the story down new paths with Torak and his companions again forced to make some difficult choices.

It is the tangible nature of Paver's world that is so compelling. The smell of the trees, the feel of the earth, the method of making a bow, knife or skin paddle boat. These are not words pulled from thin air, but observations made by the author as she spent time with the Inuit and Sami peoples of the Arctic. Paver's storytelling is intricate, as she draws together these details while weaving a tale full of beauty and horror. Torak's plight is unimaginable. An orphan struggling to survive in a world he little understands, his mission against evil thrust upon him, Torak is forced to find his own way and confront his greatest fears.

I consider myself a spiritual person, one with a deep connection to the world around me, something I share with the clans in Paver's world. These hunter-gather tribes have a solemn reverence for and understanding of Nature, something which should appeal to the young audience that Paver is aiming for. I was never afraid that this series would disappoint, though I was very intrigued with how the series would be ended. With this wonderful tale carried expertly through six books, we are granted a finale so thrilling and heart-wrenching, that this particular reader considers well well worth the wait.

Although satisfied with the outcome of the tale, there is an inevitable sense of loss when such a beautifully crafted series comes to an end. I cannot recommend this fabulous series enough and hope that it will reach the wider audience that it deserves.

Mediaeval Weekend - Joust III at Hedingham Castle

Hedingham Castle

Jousting!

One-eyed hawk (yes!)

The banqueting hall (if only we'd had our party here!)

Sadly, our red team lost...

Mediaeval Spectacular - Pensthorpe

In the build up to our birthday banquet, I spent a fantastic weekend with mediaeval market stalls, crafts, cookery, weapons, fire-eating, fighting at the Mediaeval Spectacular at Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, followed by jousting and hawking at Hedingham Castle. I thought I would share a few photographs with you! Fun was had by all!

The Brothers of Conflagration

The story of the Ark

Lunch

The market

King Arthur and his court prepare for the tournament

The evil Mordred!

Battle commences

Arthur knocks Mordred to his knees

But the battle is not over...

Mordred resorts to dirty tactics, capturing Guinevere

Back to reality..

Well, things have been far more chaotic than I thought over the last few weeks. I have changed jobs which has given me more free time, which I have filled with all the things that I have been meaning to do over the last two years! It also means that I have not done a great deal of reading recently, until the last few days during which I have been struck by a nasty cold!

Below are some pictures of the farm where the Thirteen Moons festival and women's gathering was held on Dartmoor. Nigel Shaw and Carolyn Hillyer have spent the last 12+ years creating a beautiful home for themselves in the centre of the stunning and wild high moor, including the contruction of an Iron Age roundhouse, stone circle and several shrines, which are scattered over their land. The gathering itself was one of the most wonderful experiences I have had, being surrounded by over 200 women (and 2 men!) all sharing in our femininity and the power of the land around us, through craft, music, community and shared experience. My first women's gathering and a very powerful thing indeed, especially our pilgrimage across the moor before dawn, to meditate in an ancient neolithic shrine and stone row, watching the mist rise over the heathland. It was a very emotional and creative time for me, as well as a chance to meet up with old friends and meet many new ones. I made my own deer toe rattle as well as taking part in the festivities as a member of the drum moon clan...a curious coincidence as I am most attached to the drum as an instrument.

Unfortunately, my journey back home after the gathering somewhat marred my time away. I witnessed a particularly horrible accident in which a motorcylist was hit by a car and trapped beneath it. We managed to free the man from under the vehicle and he was rushed to hospital where I understand he is recovering after being in a critical condition for several days. I have experienced several minor accidents in my life (and one which could have been very serious) but nothing like this, and it has truly shaken me to my core. At the time of the accident I remained very calm and my mind leapt into practical action, but I have since struggled while driving whenever I see motorcylists, feeling this inexplicable panic rising within me. I truly feel sorry for the poor girl who was driving the car, she must be suffering so terribly. I have friends who ride motorcycles, and I can't say that I do not fear far more for them now than I did before.

On a more positive note..I am now another year older, and celebrated in truly immature style on Sunday with several friends, with a picnic, followed by rounders and trip to Go Ape, an extremely fun high wire forest adventure course in the trees...I shall try and post some photos tomorrow. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone (unless you do not like heights!), although I still ache now, several days later! So now I am spending my restful evenings recovering from my non-stop few weeks with my new copy of Brisingr by Christopher Paolini..yet another book to distract me from my challenges!

stone circle

iron age roundhouse

inside the roundhouse

bone shrine

pond with buddha and old flute shrine

offerings to the goddess

Brief travels in an ancient land

Last weekend I travelled to Dublin, Ireland to visit an old friend from university. Most of Friday was spent in the city, perusing Trinity College and the Book of Kells, the Chester Beatty Library and the National Museum of Ireland. And in the evening, the obligatory visit to an old pub to hear my companion's friend play some traditional Irish music, and obviously a pint (or few) of Guinness! Unfortunately my friend had to work, so Saturday I hired a car and visited a few places that I've wanted to go for many years. Needless to say, not a lot of reading was done!

The Boyne Valley or Brú Na Bóinne is known the world over for the iconic passage tomb of Newgrange, famed for its astronomical alignment with the winter solstice sunrise, but this particular tomb is only one of several ancient sites found in the present day County of Meath on the east coast of Ireland. The Boyne Valley mounds at Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth were built around 3200BC making them older than Stonehenge in England and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Built by Neolithic farming communities, these burial mounds are suspected to be places of astrological, spiritual, religious and ceremonial importance, much as present day cathedrals are places of worship where dignitaries may be laid to rest. The remains of over 150 people have been found in the region, but there is little evidence of anything else, leading to strong debate as to whether these megalithic structures were built primarily as burial tombs, or had some other religious or sacred significance.

Newgrange is the most famous ancient landmark in Ireland, allegedly attracting up to 200,000 visitors a year. Standing inside while the tour guides recreate the effect of the winter solstice is an unforgettable experience, surely only surpassed by being one of the lucky 50 people selected in the lottery each year to be present in the tomb during the actual solstice. At approx 8.58am on the winter solstice and two days either side, a shaft of sunlight shines through the roof box over the entrance and penetrates the passage to light up the chamber, including the Newgrange triskelion, a famed triple spiral.

Newgrange passage tomb

The entrance at Newgrange with the recognisable kerbstone

A fine example of kerbstone carvings at Newgrange

The famed Newgrange triskelion or triple spiral

However amazing Newgrange may be, for me, it really doesn't compare to the magic of Knowth. Far more underrated as a landmark, it is not possible to enter the passage at Knowth due to the fact that whole communities had lived on top of the mound for centuries, making the structure unstable. Built a few hundred years after Newgrange, and a short time before Dowth, Knowth has a far more interesting history. It is possible to track different communities living on and around Knowth since its construction, from the Neolithic period, through the Normans and even a Christian settlement. The beauty of Knowth is that the site gets very few visitors in comparison to Newgrange, and there were only 10 people in my group..quite magical. For a real piece of Irish history, this is the site to visit.

The passage tombs and tunnels at Knowth

Passage tombs at Knowth

Kerbstone carvings at Knowth

The Hill of Tara is believed to have been the seat of the High Kings of Ireland in the first millennium A.D., however Tara is also the site of a Passage Tomb known as the Mound of the Hostages that was built about 2,500 B.C. Far more impressive from the air, but there is still something quite eerie about this site. Unfortunately I arrived at the same time as a rather large tour group!

Aerial view of the Hill of Tara

I find it fascinating that such sites still exist today, and they can give us a really amazing insight into a world thousands of years ago. I try to make a point of visiting the many stone circles and burial mounds found in the countries I live and travel in. Nothing you read can ever compare to actually standing on these sites. So if anyone is planning on visiting Dublin or the eastern coast of Ireland, give these sites a visit! See here for more information.