Royal Progress day 17

Day 17 Anne of Cleves For The last day we spend together we started at Anne of Cleves house in Lewes. It’s a very small place that was given to her as part of the divorce settlement. But we had a special interactive talk by Hands on History. For the last two weeks we have seen artefacts, books, armour and weapons but always either behind glass or beyond touching behind a rope. Hands on History offers the chance to touch feel look smell and even taste the real thing. We were treated to an entertaining, educational and enthralling talk given by Martin Patterson. He showed us armour & weapons from the Tudor period and I even got to put on a helmet with chain mail attached. There was also fabrics, linens, leather, horn, wood, nothing was left to waste in the everyday lives of the Tudor people. There were pots with lanolin, wool, sinew and even stinging nettle string, All useful items in days gone by. A special mention must be made of a prayer book dating from 1385. It was hand written by monks on vellum and just holding an old book with it’s aged pages a bit worn was a it has been thumbed many times in it’s life time. After a hearty local lunch we set off to London by train for the final night in England at the Gore Hotel Kensington.

Royal Progress day 16

Day 16 Leeds castle and Lewes Leeds castle in Kent is perhaps the most beautiful and romantic looking castles in the whole world. Set on two little islands surrounded by water evokes the medieval period with very little imagination. The castle is set in the middle of 500 acres of parkland and gardens, it is a most beautiful surroundings. King Henry VIII owned the place and stayed here on his way to France in 1520, since then it has many different owners and is now owned by a charitable trust. The inside of the castle has been remodelled in the 1920’s and not to my taste have to say. They were setting the parklands up for a Bonfire fireworks display at the weekend so let’s hope it stays dry for the event. Our final drive of this tour is to the most southerly point on our Royal Progress. Lewes the county town of East Sussex. The town has many features, old buildings and a lot of History. Henry III lost the battle of Lewes in 1264 to Simon De Montfort and was forced to sign the Mise of Lewes, effectively creating the Parliament system we know today. In the Town museum there were a group of Ladies hard at work creating a tapestry of the event to be they had been working for over a year and they expect to finish by Christmas next year. We finished the day with a splendid curry meal at the Spice merchant Indian restaurant in Lewes.

Royal Progress day 15

Day 15 Dover On to the south coast today to see the magnificent Dover castle perched high on the famous white cliffs. It was very, very windy today and we had our breath taken away by some of the gusts. It was a clear day and we could see France 22 miles away. Dover castle is huge and it has been a defensive fort since Roman times. There are really five worlds in one at Dover castle. A Roman light house, still the highest Roman structure in England today, stands right next to a Saxon Church within a Saxon walled enclosure. There are medieval tunnels dating back to the early 1200’s and scene of the siege during the barons war of 1216. There are Napoleonic era tunnels that were used in WWII as a hospital and as the headquarters of one of the most famous periods in WWII, The evacuation of the entire British Army of 338,000 men from Dunkirk in Northern France. We visited the Hospital but did not have time to see the Dunkirk part of the network. There is an exciting new addition now, there are special guided tours of the Cold war tunnels beneath all the rest of the tunnel levels, I look forward to seeing these on a future planned visit. But it was the castle keep that we came to see today, a huge imposing building built by Henry II in 1180. The setting is for Henry in residence with tapestries,beds and furniture faithfully recreated and with the log fire blazing it gave you a real feeling of what it must have been like living in those times. Today being Halloween there were kids everywhere dressed as ghosts and ghouls. They were having fun flowing the ghost trail a series of character guides telling awful tales of ghosts and murder within the castle. On to the medieval village of Lenham to spend the night in and old Tudor coaching inn and right next door there is a fabulous old pub with oak beam and log fires. Our meal was stone steaks, yes slabs of raw meat delivered sizzling to your table on a very hot granite stone. You cook it yourself as you are sitting there, no orders to the chef just you and how you want it.

Royal Progress Day 14

Day 14 Rochester There has been a church on the site of Rochester Cathedral since 604AD. The present cathedral building dates from the late 1100s. It has some of the oldest choir stalls in England but the Victorian restoration around the choir and chancel has changed the character of the place a little. As cathedrals go it’s not very large but it’s still third in the hierarchy of the Church of England. It was in the Bishops Palace on 1 January 1540 that Henry VIII first set eyes on Anne of Cleves. He was in disguise and she was not informed as to how she should react. To say that Henry was not best pleased was an understatement and he stormed out, shouting “I like her not!” He came back in a few minutes later and you can imagine that he must have had a face like thunder. Right next door to the cathedral is Rochester Castle. It was built around the same time and besieged by King John in during the Barons War which led to Magna Carta. He managed to undermine the castle keep by setting fire to pit props which had been smeared with the fat of 40 pigs and the heat made the side of the keep come crashing down. As an aside Rochester is famous for Charles Dickens. It seems that every shop in the High St is Great Expectations this, and Sweet Expectations that or Mrs Peagotti tea rooms. There are old buildings that have plaques stating they are as described in Dicken’s works. A couple of miles away from Rochester lies Upnor Castle, the only Castle Elizabeth ordered to be built during her entire 45 years on the throne. The castle is very small and saw real action in the Dutch raid of 1667 when the Dutch fleet blew the Royal Navy out of the water as they were anchored in the river Medway. The main first floor block house room is used today as a wedding venue where guests watch the wedding ceremony whilst sitting on barrels of gunpowder (empty of course!) The thought of exploding guests made us laugh out loud. The poor bride would have had to have walked through the ground floor barrack room past exhibits of cannons and more barrels of gunpowder before climbing a narrow wooden spiral staircase. Not to be undertaken if she’s wearing full wedding skirts! We had a beer in the delightful Kings Arms before heading back for our second night in the Astor Wing at Hever Castle.

Royal Progress Day 13

Day 13 Hever and Penshurst place Travelling south east out of London to Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Set on the edge of the High Weald in Kent, we are taking advantage of the recent development of the Astor Wing of the Castle now offering B&B for the casual visitor. The ornamental gardens at Hever were set up by J J Astor in 1910 and are superb. The formal ornate Italian gardens are so called because Astor imported many sculptures and stone features from Italy. They are to be found all around the gardens leading to the huge lake. Even in October there were still flowers in bloom and grapes on the vines. It’s rather special, as a resident, to be able to walk around the gardens before the tourists are allowed in. You can easily appreciate the special magic that these gardens have. The Castle itself is quite small and had many owners in its time, before and after the Boleyn family. It was even given to Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce settlement but it lay derelict for over a century before Astor come along and saved it by renovating it to a high standard. It has some artefacts belonging to Anne Boleyn including two of her prayer books, one of which is supposed to have been held by her on the way to the scaffold. Just a few miles away lies Penshurst Place, which for me is the southern pleasure palace of Queen Elizabeth I. Henry VIII confiscated it from the Duke of Buckingham and so it was a royal palace until 1556 when Edward VI gave it to the Sidney family. It has been their family home ever. We know that Elizabeth came here many times and it was here in the Solar where the infamous painting depicts her dancing the scandalous La Volta with Robert Dudley. There are some hugely important women in the Sidney family such as Lady Mary Wroth, poet, writer, literary leader and, some arguments had it, actually wrote Shakespeare’s plays. Just outside the gates of Penshurst is a wonderful old church. In the Sidney chapel lies someone who is not usually recorded in history tales, Anne Boleyn’s younger brother Thomas, who died in infancy. Anne’s father was superintendent at Penshurst when it was a royal palace and when Thomas was born. We had a beer in the Leicester Arms in Penshurst village before heading back to Hever Castle for the evening where we had dinner in the Wheatsheaf pub surrounded by an eclectic mixture of collectables from around the world.

Royal progress day 12

Day 12 Hampton Court Palace The world knows this Palace to be the home of Henry VIII. We were staying right across the road from the main gates of the Palace. We had an early appointment for a “real” tennis lesson, the game that Henry played on this very court! We were first in when the doors opened and headed straight for the Great Hall with its fantastic tapestries that Henry commissioned. Each one cost as much as a battleship at the time! We were the only ones in there for a few moments and the place was silent. It has a special magic when no one else is there: so much so that you actually whisper to each other, not wanting to break the spell. The Great Hall is the centrepiece of the Tudor Palace that still remains. It has a fantastic hammer-beam roof with painted eave droppers: human faces that look down on you just as a reminder that there are eyes and ears all about the Palace so be careful what you say. Today’s series of plays was all about a peace treaty between France and Henry in October of 1546. It featured some new characters: his daughter Mary, the French Ambassador and the Spanish Ambassador. The final playlet of the day involved Henry wearing his crown. This crown has been specially recreated from paintings and tapestries and is an incredible work of art. The crown was on display in the Royal Pew, part of the Chapel Royal but only for an hour. It was a privilege to view it though and I hope it will be on display for many months yet. The ornamental and privy gardens are fantastic and there was still a lot of colour to be seen. Many flowers were late blooming including wild strawberries and roses. The world famous Hampton Court maze is today only a quarter of the size it used to be but this being half-term there were lots of children running around, lost. But I know the secret of how to find your way!

Royal Progress day 11

Day 11 The Vyne and Syon House The Vyne is set in deepest Hampshire in peaceful countryside the house just appears out of the woods as you drive along narrow roads of the county. The Vyne is a Tudor mansion and home to the Sandys family, Henry VIII visited here at least four times during his lifetime and the oak panelled long gallery has many emblems of Henry and Catherine Of Aragon carved and intertwined. It takes little imagination to see Henry VIII and Catherine being very pleased indeed to see this gallery on their visits. The Chapel has some fine stained glass windows that predate the great windows of Kings College chapel in Cambridge. The windows at the Vyne are of Henry VIII Catherine of Aragon and Henry’s sister Margaret praying to their respective patron saints. The detail on these windows is incredible and it’s a wonder they have survived to this day. In fact there is a story that these were in a local church and were taken down, hidden on a pond so that Oliver Cromwell’s troops could not smash them up after the Civil war in the 1640’s. The place we see today is only one sixth of what was there in Tudor times, Tastes change, living standards improved and there was no need for a house to be a defensive structure either. On to Syon House on the river Thames only 16 miles form the centre of London. Syon is a very important place in Tudor time. Originally an Abbey founded by Henry V in 1415 it was taken over during the dissolution. Anne Boleyn was said to have railed against the nuns for their wonton habits. Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen here in the Long gallery by her Uncle the Duke of Northumberland. Catherine Howard was imprisoned here for a few days on her way to the Tower of London. Henry VIII’s body rested here on his final journey to Windsor, his coffin burst open and some dogs licked his leaking blood a gruesome tale indeed yeuk! We finished the day with a pub meal in the Kings Arms hotel right outside the park gates of Hampton Court Palace

Royal Progress day 10

Day 10 Windsor Windsor Castle is huge, it’s the largest inhabited castle in the world and the home to our present Queen though she wasn’t in today. We were lucky enough to see the semi State Apartments a series of rooms that the Queen will use privately for entertaining visitors. These rooms are not generally open and this is only the second time I have been in there. Richly decorated and rebuilt after the fire in 1992 and with great views over Windsor great park. Viewing these rooms made up for a slight disappointment that many of the Tudor portraits have been moved to special exhibition at the Queens Gallery in Buckingham palace. St Georges Chapel is where many of our Sovereigns are buried up to the present day. Henry VIII is here in a vault in the centre of the quire. There is only a plain black marble slab with brass lettering in the floor to mark the place here perhaps England’s greatest king lies alongside his favourite wife Jane Seymour. The chapel is a grand building with a high vaulted ceiling but in comparison with Kings College Cambridge is not as grand. We had a dinner in a great family run Greek restaurant in Windsor and walking around Windsor at night we realised that the Queen is now in residence as the Royal Standard is flyimng over the great Round tower.

Royal progress day 9

Day 9 Peterborough Cathedral and Cambridge Peterborough Cathedral is where Catherine of Aragon was buried, her grave was destroyed by Cromwell’s troops but in the 1800’s a national newspaper led a campaign and asked all women called Catherine to donate a penny to build a better memorial and now there’s a suitable place for a Queen of England. The people loved her when she was alive and the people love her still, hardly a day goes by that there isn’t some fresh flowers on her grave. We took a sprig of Rosemary sprig of rosemary from Catherine’s garden at Buckden and laid it on her grave. Kings College chapel Cambridge is my personal favourite single building left to us by Henry VIII. It was started 100 years before Henry but he finished it and I some style. It has the largest fan vaulted roof in the world and has the most fantastic stained glass windows. There is a guide book just for the windows. I could stay in the building for hours and when the organ is playing there is almost a sensory overload. There is evidence of two of Henry’s wives here, Anne Boleyn’s initials can be found carved in the provosts stall and Catherine Howard can be seen in one of the stained glass windows looking up at Henry. Her initials are also to be found high up on the great east window. We went into Trinity college chapel and were privileged to be allowed into the chapel built in 1555 and has some stained glass windows to Elizabeth, Mary, Edward VI and even Isaac Newton. He was the chair of Mathematics here. There is an apple tree a daughter descended from the original tree where Newton realised what gravity was. We ended the day in Windsor and our by now customary wander around a few hostelries.

Royal Progress day 8

Day 8 Kenilworth Castle & Buckden Towers Kenilworth castle, the largest ruined castle in England and is significant In English history for several important events. Henry V was here in 1415 when the French King sent him a present of tennis balls an insult that led to Henry defeating the French at the battle of Agincourt. The centrepiece now is the privy garden English Heritage have faithfully recreated that Robert Dudley built to amuse Elizabeth I in that grand progress of 1575. He spent millions in today’s money to get Elizabeth to marry him all to no avail. She remained the Virgin queen married to England. The castle was destroyed after our civil war by Oliver Cromwell to prevent it being used as a rallying point for Royalist forces. Everywhere you look there are spectacular views if the ruins, angles and arches, empty windows and great stone walls. Onto Buckden Towers a tranquil jewel once a bishops palace and is where Catherine of Aragon was held for nearly two years before being moved on by Henry VIII. Once again the place is in the ownership of the church, The Claretian missionaries now own it after many years in private hands. The friends of Buckden have created a replica knot garden of type that Catherine would have known. It’s a beautiful peaceful setting and somehow a fitting tribute to Buckden’s most famous resident. We finished the day with a stroll around the Town of Stamford visiting a few hostelries before having dinner in our hotel. The George claiming to be the oldest hotel in England dating from 947. A hotel of great character and where our guests enjoyed their first taste of Pimms

Royal Progress day 7

St Mary’s Church Warwick dominates the whole town with it’s square tower at 174 feet high, you can see it on any approach to the town. The church can trace it’s history back to Norman times and the crypt under the high alter hold a number of tombs as well as a medieval ducking stool. There are many tombs here among them is the brother of Katherine Parr on the high alter but in the Beauchamp chapels lies the Dudley brothers. Robert and Ambrose, Robert the court favourite of Elizabeth lies with his second wife Lettice in very grand style and Ambrose also in a style befitting a great land owner in the county. Lord Leyster Hospital endowed by Robert Dudley in 1571 for the retirement of the Queens old soldiers and still in use as such today. Looking at the building it is a wonder that it still stands. It survived the fire in 1698 that destroyed a large part of the town including half of St Mary’s church. The Timber of the hospital has warped over the centuries and the building leans over the pavement. In the tearoom there is a a fraction of a curtain and a needlepoint embroidery of the Bear with the Ragged Staff sewn by Amy Robsart Robert Dudley’s first wife. We spent the rest of the day at Warwick castle, now owned by the Merlin entertainments group, it’s good for kids not for the real study of history. I think it’s very expensive for families, as after you have paid your entrance fee you find that there are other places that charge entry, it must make for some disappointed kids and unhappy parents who have to keep digging into their pockets. The castle does have a few redeeming features, it was the first building in England to be powered by hydro-electricity and the machinery is still there dating back to 1902. The huge trebuchet catapult, a copy of a medieval siege machine fired a fire ball, it was fantastic to see a huge fire ball arcing across the sky and yes it does sound like it does on the movies. We finished the day by visiting a few more pubs around old Kenilworth before having dinner in the Famous Virgins and Castle pub dating from the 1540’s

Royal Progress day 6

Day 6 Sudeley and Baddesley Clinton Sudeley Home of Katherine Parr after Henry VIII died and she married Thomas Seymour. It was here that she died a few days after childbirth. Sudeley is a delightful place partly in ruins after Oliver Cromwell troops destroyed it during our civil war and the family home of the Ashcroft family. This year is a special year, the 500th anniversary of Katherine’s birth so there are many special items on display like her prayer book and a copy of the book she wrote and one of her teeth and a lock of her hair taken from her grave in the late 1700’s (a very odd story). Katherine now lies peacefully in the church within the grounds of the Castle in a splendid tomb befitting a queen of England and only Queen of England to be buried on private land. Onto Baddesley Clinton, one of the very few fully moated manor houses left in England. It dates from the late 1400’s and was home to the Ferrers family, a Catholic family though not one involved is plots like the Throckmortons. The place does have three priest holes for hiding in and who knows there may be more to be found in the future. The family has had some characters in the past and we were entertained by stories of the “Quartet” two men and two women who lived in the house in what we can only describe as an unconventional relationship! We finished the day with a minor pub crawl around Old Kenilworth in Warwickshire where we are staying for the next two nights in a hotel built around an Oak tree in 1538 and there are some great old pubs.

Royal Progress day 5

Day 5 Coughton Court Today was a single visit to Coughton court (pronounced coat-en) the home of the Throckmorton family for over 600 years and they still live there. The family is one of the principal Catholic families in the land and have been implicated in plots against the king or Queen, indeed the Throckmorton plot was one of the plots to assassinate Elizabeth I. The family was also involved in the Gunpowder plot in 1605, still commemorated to this day in the 5th November fireworks and Bonfire night. The family has had some formidable and notable women down the centuries perhaps the most famous being Bess Throckmorton, one time favourite lady in waiting to Elizabeth I until she secretly married Sir Walter Raleigh and was banished from court. Walter was locked up in the Tower of London for a long time until King James got tired of his writing and had him executed. Now a strange tale takes place in that Bess was said to have carried Walter’s embalmed head in a silk sack around with her for the rest of her life another 21 years! Sir Walters Head can be found in the room of consequence, I kid you not! one person jumped and on seeing a head in a sack.( it's not real) Coughton has many features that are worth a mention, it is a great Tudor manor house and all the rooms have been given names like the room of hope and the room of requirements… but to my mind the best room in the house is the one where the chemise that Mary Queen of Scots wore at her execution and a bishops mantle sewn by Catherine of Aragon and her court ladies. It is a magnificent piece of work all velvet and gold with Catherine’s personal symbol of a pomegranate sewn on, it gave me palpitations the first time I saw it and it’s still exciting to see it. We finished the day with a pub crawl around Stow on the Wold the highest town on the Cotswolds, we had dinner in the Queens head and great pub that you will find on trip advisor.

Royal Progress day 4

Day 4 Oxford Colleges Walking around the city of dreaming spires on a Saturday is quite and experience. There is a great deal of street theatre and to be encouraged by people dressed as tigers, alligators, dragons and zebras to give money for Meningitis research was a bit surreal. But we cam to see the Oxford Colleges and first up was Magdalen. It was here that a young master Wolsey went to school and the president here was the chap who was sent to escort Catherine of Aragon from Spain to marry Prince Arthur. They have a tapestry of that event but it’s behind where the public are allowed to go and they won’t let me see it. The college chapel has the largest sepia stained glass window I know of and it tells the story of life everlasting. Christchurch College perhaps the most famous of them all, originally an Abbey and endowed by Cardinal Wolsey as a college but he never got to finish it. Henry VIII carried it on and called it Kings college but it then changed to what we know now ad Christ Church. It has many famous people associated with it. In The Cathedral, there is a stained glass window, part of the shrine to Thomas a Beckett. Henry VIII ordered all such shrines to be destroyed in 1538. The face of Thomas was just removed and the rest remains. Elizabeth I stayed here. Other famous people are King Charles I he lodged here when Oxford was his capital during our civil war in the 1640’s. Lewis Carrol author of Alice in wonderland was her and there is a stained glass window of all the characters in the books. Walking along further In the middle of Cornmarket street there is a monument to Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, burnt at the stake by bloody Mary for refusing to covert back to the true faith. Oxford also has the oldest museum and library in the world and there are many other things to see but tucked away in a church which today was surrounded by scaffolding and undergoing major restoration work, on the alter steps is a simple slab showing the last resting place of Amy Robsart, first wife of Robert Dudley, did she fall or was she pushed? the enduring mystery of her death lasts to this day and we shall here more of her later in the week.

Royal Progress day 3

Hatfield Old Palace, Houses of Parliament and Banquet. Hatifield Old Palace, the home of Elizabeth I and where she held her first Privy council meeting after being informed that she was now finally queen. The great Hall is magnificent, It is all that remains of the old palace and is still in great demand today for weddings and banquets, it is silent today as we were the only people in there and our footsteps echoed on the bare oak floor. We were very lucky to be allowed to go into the knot garden and see intricate designs layout of the garden. Just outside the gates of the old place is St Ethereda’s church, quite an odd church that holds one of the most strangest tombs I have seen. It’s Robert Cecil Elizabeth’s chief minister otherwise known as the elf because he was so small. It’s a white marble tomb with four angels holding a canopy over a bare skeleton, really very odd indeed. After we got back to London we had an hour in the national portrait gallery, and just lost ourselves in the Tudor room, nothing but Tudor portraits and I love going there as the exhibition changes often so you never know what you are going to see which I think id great. Today we saw Anne Boleyn, Robert Dudley several of Elizabeth and of course Henry VIII. We had a special guided tour of the Houses of Parliament, courtesy of our local MP and it’s a great sensation to stand in places where history took place. The House of Lords is all red coloured and the House of Commons is all Green and where the sovereign is allowed to go, has blue carpet. The chambers themselves are much smaller than they look on TV or the movies and to go ‘backstage’ was a real, privilege. The day was rounded off by a medieval banquet held in crypt near top the tower of London, it was great entertainment, with jugglers dancers, singers, acrobats and of course some very good sword fighting, well almost a brawl really. Henry VIII himself presided over the festivities, a larger than life character in more ways than one.

Royal Progress Day 2

Day 2 Westminster Abbey & the Tower of London Westminster, the nation’s parish church, has stood on this spot for over a thousand years and all the kings and queens of England have been crowned here except 1 since 1066. Intertwined with the nation’s history there are over 450 tombs here and all started by Edward the Confessor, his shrine built by Henry III stands in pride of place just behind the high alter and it was a rare privilege to be allowed to go up to the shrine and sit for a while and listen to a short service. Elizabeth I and Mary are buried here in the lady chapel and opposite lies Mary Queen of Scots, in a much grander tomb, she must be having the last chuckle on history I think. Many of our Sovereigns are here, Henry VII and his grandson Edward VI lie in the lady chapel. Anne of Cleves is very hard to find just some simple gold lettering on a wall at the side of the high alter. We travelled down to the Tower of London by river as Royalty would have done and saw traitors gate from water level as Elizabeth I her mother Anne Boleyn and countless others would have done. The Tower is in fact many towers around two concentric walls but the largest and most is the White tower that holds some great exhibitions of Henry VIII armour and weapons. Unfortunately we couldn’t go into the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincular as they were tuning the organ. Inside are the graves of Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane grey all three queens of England and all three executed on tower green. The day was finished off with fish and chips in The George, and old coaching Inn known and the oldest galleried pub in London to be frequented by Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.

Royal Progress day 1

On a warm autumn afternoon we started the tour with a slow stroll around London just north of the Thames into Holborn and Lincoln Inn fields. Lincoln Inn is where Sir Thomas more practiced law and there is a quiet calm around the one of the Inns of Court. We visited the Old Curiosity Shop, made famous by Charles Dickens and Sir John Soanes museum. A place so individual it almost defies a description, he was an architect of some talent and grandeur and his collection of artefacts and paintings is unrivalled. A single room holds original Canneletto, Turner and Hogarth paintings. We completed a pub crawl of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese a pub frequented by Samuel Johnson he who wrote the first English dictionary. The Citie of Yorke London’s oldest pub dating from 1540, the Mitre dating from 1546 just off Hatton Garden, the Punch Tavern on Fleet street the haunt of journalists, finally the Black Friar a pub just by Blackfriars bridge , it is the site of Baynard’s castle where Catherine of Aragon had her marriage annulment trial. A good start to a long Royal Progress tour

Battle of Boswotrh 1485

Battle of Bosworth This day 1485 Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth thus ended the Plantagenet dynasty of 400 years and the Tudor age began which was to last over 100 years. Henry Tudor had an army almost half the size of Richards and there were also the Stanley Brothers just waiting on the sidelines just to see how things went and they were ready to jump in on the winning side at the right moment. Henry won the day and was given the crown which tradition says was found in a thorn bush There was the battle re-enactment last weekend on the battlefield which was great fun to watch. The whole weekend was given over to re-enactors of all types, blacksmiths, armourers, archers, mounted knights, cannons, musicians and falconers. All in all there were over 400 on the battlefield including Richard himself on a horse. There were enough archers to show what it would have been like at the time with lots of arrows being shot into the air towards the enemy side. The cannon fire was marvellous lots of noise and smoke there were thought to be 100 pieces of ordnance on the day. There mounted skills with knights showing their skills with weapons and even a joust! to keep the crowd entertained We went on a guided walk around the batted field and English Heritage have done a really good job with interpretation boards all around with commentary. Our guide was very good knowledgeable entertaining and funny, He used simple props of banners an arrow, a sword, a pike and a shield which he gave to people to act as the protagonists and even two young lads to act as the Princes in the Tower. Who History has recorded as being done to death by RichardIII The whole day was great fun and the weather was perfect too.

Tudor Women day 5

Tudor Women day 5 Today we had an extra little trip to the Parish Church in Great Bedwyn to see where Jane Seymour’s father lies. She grew up around the village as her father was the warden of Severnake forest a minor branch of the great Seymour family. The main places to see today were the Vyne near Basingstoke followed by Syon House on the Thames opposite Kew gardens. We had arranged a private tour of the house with just us before the public got in. The Vyne was a great Tudor mansion and we know that Henry VIII stayed there on 4 occasions, twice with Catherine of Aragon and once with Anne Boleyn. The long gallery is the finest oak panelled gallery left intact from the Tudor period and has many carved motifs on the panels some rather curios, a Tudor rose and a pomegranate growing from the same stem for example. The other incredible thing at the Vyne are the stained glass windows in the chapel. There are of Henry Catherine and Henry’s sister Margaret each has their own panel and they are kneeling down with the own patron saint looking down on them. These windows actually come from the nearby church and were taken down during the civil war and hidden in a pond to prevent Cromwells troops from smashing them to pieces. They are said to be the finest in England outside the Kings college chapel in Cambridge. We then travelled up the M3into London to Syon house, the home of the Duke of Northumberland since 1547. Originally an Abbey dating from 1415, The place has been re-modelled a lot over the centuries and the long gallery has been transformed into a ladies withdrawing room. It was here that the Duke proclaimed Lady Jane Grey as Queen, she didn’t want the job and eventually paid with her life. I always try to talk to the room guides wherever we go and today something quite extraordinary happened. One of the guides turned out to the father of the bride who we saw coming out of St Peters chapel in the Tower of London on Saturday! How incredible is that!

Tudor women day 4

The sun shone a little today as we left Kenilworth and headed south to Warwick to see St Mary’s Church. In a magnificent Gothic Chapel lies Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester and favourite of Elizabeth I. The church is huge and Dudley lies with his second wife Lettice Knollys, also here lies Ambrose Roberts’s brother, and the brother of Katherine Parr who we shall see as we head south

Coughton Court, home of the Throckmorton family for over 600 years and will be for at least the next 300. The property is held now by the National Trust but the family had a lease for the next 300 years. The Throckmortons’ are a Catholic family and over the centuries who have been subjected to all sorts of abuse, arrest and ignominies. They have been at the centre of plots against the Sovereign and there is even a Throckmorton plot against Elizabeth I. Bess Throckmorton is perhaps the most well know of the family, she was the court favourite of Elizabeth until she got married to Sir Walter Raleigh and got banished from court. Sir Walter Raleigh got himself executed and Bess was said to have carried his mummified head around with her for the rest of her life in a silk sack another 25 years. His head is in the room of consequences.

Coughton has some beautiful gardens and an ornamental lake, sheep with a curious dark brown mottled fleece graze in the meadows all around the place. Heading further south we come to Sudeley castle the home of Katherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII. This year is the 500th birthday of Katherine and they have some special plans for September which we will hope to attend. For now there are some special exhibitions of Katherine and her time. She now resst peacefully in the chapel in the grounds the only Queen of England buried on private property. It wasn’t always thus,she has been disturbed over the centuries and items taken from her person including a tooth and a lock of her hair. These items are on display in the special exhibition in the castle. The castle was destroyed in our civil war and lay derelict for 200 years until the Victorian era when it was restored to something approaching its former glory by Emma Dent. Her descendants own the castle now. We got to stand in the ante rooms that Katherine Parr would have known, there is a costumed figure of Lady Herbert, Katherine’s sister standing in these rooms that looks quite ghostly from the outside. Katherine now lies peacefully in the church amid the well kept gardens.

Tudor Women day 3

Today it was Baddesley Clinton, hidden in the countryside a moated manor house dating back to the 1400’s. It was the home to the Ferrers family for over 500years and the house holds many artefacts of the family. One of the important artefacts is a tapestry made in 1585 that depicts the Grand royal progress of 1575 at Kenilworth castle. The Ferrers were a recusant Catholic family in the Tudor period and were constantly in danger of being summarily arrested or troops knocking on the door. There are a number of priest holes in the house, hidden places where priest could hide at a moment’s notice one was down a rope into the sewer. We know of one documented occasion that 9 priest hid there yeuk! But I suppose better there than the alternative of a grisly execution. From there the weather got better in the afternoon where we were at Kenilworth castle just a few miles away. A huge castle, mostly ruins courtesy of Oliver Cromwell , but very important in English history. It was here that Elizabeth was entertained by Robert Dudley in 1575. He spent millions in todays money to get Elizabeth to marry him but to no avail. The ruins are huge and to wander around parts of history and imagine what it would have been like. Dudley also added another wing to the castle and this wing also lies in ruins Cromwell did so much cultural damage. Not only were the buildings destroyed but records and all the family archives also went up in smoke. It’s easy to think that somewhere in these ruins a letter from Elizabeth to Robert Dudley that would have confirmed that they were lovers. I always try to talk to the room guides wherever we go and this time we were treated to an amazing story. The locals had used the castle as a ready source of building materials over the centuries and there are a couple of stained glass windows in the gate house that were returned some time ago but a couple of weeks ago a local resident brought back a large cannon ball. What was anybody doing with a cannonball in their house? The staff were grateful and surprised but they don’t know exactly what to do with it at the present time, Next time we go there I will find out.

Tudor Women day 2

Tudor Women day 2 Travelling north out of London we managed to find some sunshine for our visit to Hatfield House the home of Elizabeth I and the place where she was told that she was Queen of England. The big house was built in 1611 by Robert Cecil Elizabeth’s chief minister. King James swapped the Palace with him for Theobalds nearby and it has remained in the hands of the same family ever since. The house has many great portraits and tapestries including the Rainbow and Ermine portraits of Elizabeth. The place is used for filming too, Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchette was made here though the script writers made a complete hash of the Armada speech in that film. The great hall of the old palace still stands which is used for weddings and banquets now but the splendour of the building remains with it’s high beamed ceiling. The formal gardens are a delight to just wander around and some sculptures can be found all about you. We were very lucky and privileged to catch a little rehearsal time of the Hatfield chamber orchestra in St Ethelreda’s church right outside the gate by the old palace. The music was beautiful in that old church. Moving on we saw something a bit more energetic 2 masters of the game of Real tennis in one of the few real Tennis courts in the country. We had plenty of time to walk the parkland of the estate and see some magnificent old Oak trees that would not have been out of place in the Lord of the Rings. We headed off to Warwickshire for our next days sightseeing.

Tudor Women day 1

Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London The Olympic temperature is rising in London with banners on all the street lamps and rail stations No more so than Westminster Abbey, it was playing host to large groups of troops being guided around this great Church. The troops are there to help protect the Games and just before they have to go on duty they are being shown the great historical heritage that the capital city has. The weather was not too kind, a lot of rain showers, but we managed to dodge most of them going in and out of the separate exhibitions and other towers around the place . Tower bridge right next to the Tower has the Olympic rings logo suspended over the Thames, just to remind people in case they forget.

We managed to get the last Beefeater tour in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula before it closed for a wedding. Not many people are entitled to get married in the Tower and this one was an officer in the Royal Fusilier regiment. Much later on in the afternoon, the sun shone a little bit and as luck would have it the happy couple came out of the church as we were nearby .For the first time I saw a ceremonial honour guard of officers holding their swords up for the couple to walk under. What photos they will have for their wedding album. One of the great new features of the Tower is the animal sculptures around the place, life sized animals just appear all over the place. Just as you walk along there might be Baboons, lions, a polar bear and even an elephant.

Later on after dinner at the George in Southwark, a place that both Shakespeare and Charles Dickens would have known, we had a gentle stroll along the Thames back to our hotel past some landmarks old and new like Southwark Cathedral, the Globe Theatre and the Shard.

Lady Jane Grey

July 10th 1553 Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen by her father in law the Duke of Northumberland in the Long gallery at Syon House. We will be going to Syon house next week on our Tudor Women tour so I'll talk about the place when we get there. Lady Jane Grey, the nine days Queen, a teenage pawn in the great survival game of powerful Tudor families. She had married Guidford Dudley only a couple of months ago but had not become pregnant yet. She didn't want the title believing that the Lady Mary was the rightful heir to Henry VIII after King Edward VI died in his teens. Edward had resolved that the Lady Jane was to be the heir and inherit the title so had the Act of Succession changed as he believed that Jane would be a good protestant Queen whereas Mary was a catholic and Edward didn't want the kingdom to revert to Rome. The Lady Mary, unsure of exactly what to do but gathering her forces at Framlingham in Suffolk and eventually marched on London. Support for Lady Jane fell away and she was arrested, held in the Tower of London and eventually executed some 10 months later. There are a couple of good films about Lady Jane Grey, one is with Helena Bonham Carter (Belatrix la Strange in Harry Potter)and Patrick Stewart. She appeared in a many films as sombody's daughter in costume epics.

Taming of the Shrew

We went to see The Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare's Globe theatre yesterday. In bright sunshine we sat on the middle gallery and watched the matinee performance of the superb comedy one of Shakepeare's finest. The actors were excellent and action takes place all around the theatre. Characters were entering the hard and walking ammoung the groundlings, the groundlings are the people in the audience that stand all the time or lean on edge of the stage. It was an experience for some at the front when they were treated to a naked male backside, not a pretty sight at all. At one point the actress playing Kate was storming around the groundlings in a high dudgeon and the people were jumping out of her way. Kate was played by Samantha Spiro a double Olivier award winner and was great giving full voice to the part. Afterwards we were sitting at a bar along the River Thames and she walked past so I asked her to sign my program and yes I did feel like a bit of a groupie at that point. we finished the night with a great dinner at the swan at the Globe restaurant.

Defender Henry day 5

An amazing start to the day when I pulled back the curtains at the Queens hotel on Southsea Common and there was an Aircraft carrier going right past into the harbour, not a sight that you see every day.

We set off early to travel to Hampton Court Palace, the masterpiece that is the only one of more than 60 palaces that Henry VIII left us with.The place is huge and if you get in as the doors open and go straight to the Great hall there is a special magic about the place, it' so quiet that you whisper to each other even when there is no body else in the place. There are some magnificent tapestries hanging in the Hall, each one made cost the same as a battleship at the time for Henry VIII. We saw Henry about the palace, this time the theme of the day was Anne Boleyn being courted, none too sucessfully, by Henry. The characters are perfect, we chatted to Lady Rochford as she went about the palace trying to catch Anne Boleyn, talk to her husband and please the King all at the same time. There is a temporary exhibition of the Wild the Beautiful and the Damned. Potraits of King Charles II mistresses, there were a great many beautiful women at court in the late 1600's. Nell Gwynne was perhaps the most famous and she appears a few times both clothed and nude, no prudery in the Stuart court of King Charles II. The gardens of Hampton Court are delight to wander around and we had pleanty of time on a fine day to take in the sights and smells of the formal gardens and the privy gardens, there is even a floral tribute to her Majesty the Queen's diamond Jubilee laid out.

Onto Windsor where at the end of the day on a Friday is one of the best times to see the castle as all the tourists have left and we had little difficulty viewing the State apartments. The Queen was in residence as te Royal standsard was flying above the round tower. (we didn't see her though. Many fine Tudor portraits are on display but the real art is in the building and rooms themselves particularly the repaired great hall destroyed in the fire in 1997. The design and supervison of the renovation works was undertaken by the Duke of Edinburgh and he did a great job of it! We finished the last night of our tour at a great family run Greek restaurant in the heart of Windsor with some suitable Cypriot wine.

Defender Henry day 4

Defender Henry day 4 Portsmouth and Southsea A journey along the main south coast highway brought us to Portsmouth which is the home of the Royal Navy. First we saw Southsea castle which is part of the fortifications that Henry built all around the coast of England. Southsea castle is where Henry was standing when he saw the Mary Rose, the pride of Henry’s Navy, sink just a quarter of a mile off shore with a great loss of life. Today we saw a school group that were being entertained and enthralled by a group of live history players. These players had the children totally under rapt attention, the kids even curtseying to the Lord.

The players even fired a cannon in the keep and the gunsmoke hung around for a long time afterwards. They finished off with music and dance and the kids were led off in a long conga so we took our leave to go to the historic dockyard. The Mary Rose ship hall will be open to the public early next year to enable more of the 22,000 artefacts to be displayed on site. The ship hall will be magnificent and I can’t wait to see it, the half of the ship will be matched by a replica construction that you will be able to walk in and just turn to look at the existing ship Also in the Dockyard is HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the battle of Trafalgar. HMS Warrior, the Navy’s first iron clad steam/ sail powered ship and the most powerful ship afloat in 1860. A visit to the clouds was next, just a short walk from the Dockyard stands the Spinnaker tower, 588 feet high with a viewing platform that you can see over 20 miles. The clouds were a bit low today so our viewing was down to 5 miles. The platform has a glass floor that you can see waht seems to be a mile stright down.

The day was finished off with fish and chips at the Still & West pub, built in 1700 right on the mouth of the harbour. We watched huge cross channel ferries sailing in and out so close that you felt that you could reach out and touch them. Not only that there was a group of Morris dancers on the courtyard, traditional folk dancing with bells on their knees.

Defender Henry day 3

Defender Henry day 3 Michelham Priory and Lewes Travelling west from our stay in the medieval village of Lenham we arrived Michelham Priory deep in the woods north of Eastbourne in Sussex. The Priory was built in 1229 and has passed through many owners including Thomas Cromwell and Ann of Cleves, it still has some of it’s original features intact. There is a new Tudor wing added in the late 1500’s. It has the longest moat in England and today we saw a family of swans on the moat feeding peacefully and serenely.

There were four school parties working in the great tithe barn all the morning we were there. We able to view the house very quietly whilst they were all in the barn working, wandering around the grounds was a delight too. Moving on to the county town of Lewes, we first went to Lewes castle built by the Normans and dominating the countryside, we climbed the keep whilst another group of school students were in the courtyard below. On to Anne of Cleves house, the only one of her houses that is a museum open to the public and where we had a hugely entertaining talk and demonstration by Hands on History. As the name suggests you get your hands on history, actually touching and putting on armour and weapons together with every-day items such as leather tankards, wool clothing, cow horn jugs and bowls. The making of all these items were explained and who used them. Finally we walked to Lewes Priory that was destroyed by Thomas Cromwell in the dissolution and the place has been plundered for stone for centuries. The Priory was huge and the only parts of it are left standing. We paused for a few moments to help the police deal with a couple of youths who had climbed on the unstable walls of the ruins, the madness of youth I suppose but they go down and ran off. The day was finished off with a really great Indian curry and we retired for the night at the White Hart hotel.

Defender Henry day 2

Defender Henry day 2 We set of from Tonbridge to the south coast and Dover castle, high on the famous white cliffs. The castle built in 1180 by Henry II, looked every bit the strong fortress in the summer sunshine with the union flag flying proudly over the battlements . The whole castle in 5 worlds in one, it has a Roman lighthouse, the tallest Roman structure standing in England. The Keep is set out as though Henry II was staying there. The great halls decked out in tapestries, wall hangings, furniture and feasting tables. From the top of the keep you can easily see the coast of France 22 miles away, large car ferries playing their trade across this narrow seaway. There’s medieval tunnels dating from 1200 to explore and Napoleonic tunnels too that have been upgraded through the centuries since then right up to the 1980’s. Finally there is the new exhibition of the WWII operation Dynamo, the evacuation of 338,000 men from the beaches of Dunkirk. Only the British could snatch a victory from the jaws of a defeat.

A short drive from Dover along the coast are the forts of Deal and Walmer castles. Only a mile apart and built in a hurry by Henry VIII in 1540 to protect this part of the coastline, they are both a similar clover leaf design but both are different today. Deal is very much the same as Henry would have known it and it was here the Anne of Cleves first set foot in England on her way to marry the King. She is to be credited with bringing the violin to England as well as keeping her head and as we shall see a little later was made a very wealthy woman. The feel of the place is very much as it was in 1540 being right on the beach and bristling with cannons. Walmer feels very different, it’s the residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque ports and has been lived in for far longer than Deal. Here the Duke of Wellington died and a couple of rooms are set in in his memory. There are gardens here on set out by The Queen Mother and the roses are beautiful, it must be a good year for roses. From Walmer e travelled inland to stay the night in a lovely village called Lenham in a hotel dating back to 1600’ and Queen Anne was known to have stayed here in 1702.

Defender Henry day 1

Day 1 Defender Henry tour We set out to journey south from the centre of London to the high Weald of Kent , the garden of England. Here we spent time at Hever castle the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and Penshurst Place, the home of the Sidney family for 450 years. The weather was fine and sunny after a few days period of intense rain so we were very pleased to walk around the splendid gardens of Hever castle in warm sunshine. The Italian gardens were in full bloom and roses of every colour were all over, every corner you turned around the colour was simply beautiful. The rose garden was superb and the aroma of scented roses was intoxicating. One flower bed was set out in red white and blue flowers to match the union flag and celebrate the jubilee. The Italian gardens were set out just over 100years ago by JJ Astor and a team of 9 gardeners maintain them in peak condition all year round. After lunch by the castle moat and looking at the fine honey coloured stone castle we set of only a few miles to Penshurst Place. Set in grand parkland, Penshurst has for me a special magic about it, I think because it has been in the ownership of the same family for 450 years that the place has a real soul. Henry VIII confiscated the place after he executed it’s owner at the time, the Duke of Buckingham. The house itself is much larger than Hever and the ground s are larger too. The walled garden area is an absolute delight to wander around, deep yew hedge rows hide so many surprises. You can walk through an archway and there’s a pond with water lilies and a fountain, walk through another and there’s an apple orchard, another reveals a knot garden. The pleasure just goes on and on but the real highlight is the new Jubilee walkway. Only opened on the 7th June to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee and it’s a magnificent piece of natural artwork. In full colour along its length, are flowers of all type, in fact the colours of the rainbow starting from red orange, yellow, blue to indigo it’s a real masterpiece. Both Hever and Penshurst were crown property for some time before being given to Anne of Cleves as part of the Divorce settlement. She did very well indeed out of not being married to Henry any more, as well as keeping her head. To me though, Penshurst is Elizabeth and Dudley, it was here that they both spent time on holiday and here it is that the famous La Volta painting is on display in the very room that the event took place.

six wives of One king day 10

Six wives of one king day 10 Our last day together started with a short drive of only 40 minutes along the south coast from Lewes to Arundel castle, the home of the Duke of Norfolk. It’s a castle on a grand scale and the very idea of a fairy tale castle, it’s the second largest inhabited castle in the country and has been a centre of the Howard family for centuries. It makes you want to dress up and just wander around the place in costume. There are gardens to wander around that were opened by Prince Charles in 2008, the layout of which was inspired by a portrait hanging in the castle drawing room. The castle has a Norman keep built with a commanding view of the whole of the Arun valley, the keep has many steps to get to the top but the effort is well worth it. There are medieval parts of the castle too with towers and rooms set out as it was hundreds of years ago. For the Tudor purists there are many portraits of the Howards on the walls and in a glass case almost missed are the pearl necklace and the gold girdle once owned by Mary Queen of Scots. The 4th Duke lost his head for plotting to marry her without permission for Elizabeth I. The Duke is the hereditary Earl Marshall of England and is responsible for the organisation of all state occasions and he must have been very busy over the jubilee weekend. The Duke’s diary was on display and open for the 2 &3rd of June 1953, it simply said 'Coronation'. On display in the Great hall are the retired helms of the order of the Garter, that means when a member of the order passes away his or her helm in St Georges chapel Windsor are retired and taken down and kept for ever. The Duke, as the Earl Marshall has the responsibility to keep them safe, where better than in a large castle. On to London for our last night grand banquet in a medieval crypt at St Katherine’s dock near the Tower of London. It’ s great fun with music and performers, jugglers and some very good sword fighting in the crypt. Where else can you get to dress up and meet King Henry VIII for some royal entertainment? Our final night together was in a boutique hotel in Kensington near to Hyde Park, the V&A museum and Kensington Palace.

six wives of One King day 9

Day 9 Michelham and Lewes Whilst travelling through the high Weald to East Sussex we stopped for a cup of tea at Pooh corner. Yes, Winnie the Pooh is real, he lives in Hartfield, all the places in the books are real places and you can have a long walk around Ashdown Forrest see them including Pooh sticks bridge. On to East Sussex where at Michelham priory we had a very peaceful few hours wandering around the house and grounds. Michelham was due for destruction during the dissolution but when Thomas Cromwell saw it he kept it and paid just a peppercorn in rent to the King. It was later given to Anne of Cleves and she received a proper rent for it. We had a really simple but savoury picnic of Cheese bread and one of our group had bought some mead, it went down very well indeed. From Michelham we travelled to Lewes the county town of East Sussex to Anne of Cleves house, yes she really did very well out of the divorce. At Anne of Cleves house we were entertained by Hands on History talk and demonstration of Tudor weapons, armour and everyday objects. We have been seeing things like this all week but either behind a rope or in a glass case but this time we got up close and personal. Some of our group were able to put on armour and helmets of the period. We were also able to handle everyday objects such as drinking horns and horn bowls. One highlight though was being able to handle and smell a prayer book that was form the late 1th early 14th century, a prayer book probably 700 years old. We finished the night with an Indian curry at a restaurant near to the White Hart Hotel. The White Hart is a Tudor coaching inn and is steeped in history being where Thomas Paine debated the Rights of man.

Six wives of One King day 8

Day 8 Hever castle & Penshurst place Today we travelled out of London into the Kent the garden of England, to the town of Tonbridge and where the Australian Olympic team will be staying before the Games in London. Just a few miles away is Hever castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Hever had it’s most beautiful face on today as the sun shone and the gardens were in full bloom. JJ Astor renovated the castle and saved it for posterity and I think he did a pretty fine job of it. The Italian garden is superb just to walk around and there is plenty for everyone to do and see here. There are some real historical objects here like Anne Boleyn’s prayer book and some portraits too. Together with some tapestries the collection is worth seeing. Just outside the gate in the Church lies Anne Boleyn’s father though rather curiously the sig says the Grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I. From Hever we went to Penshurst Place the home of the Sidney family for over 450 years. Both these places were given to Anne of Cleves as part of the Divorce settlement so she did alright out of it. Penshurst has a huge walled garden with an apple orchard, a fish pond, a theatre stage, beautifully kept flower borders and an Elizabethan garden. All these lead up to a grand view of the west side of the house and in the sunshine it just glows a golden honey colour. Penshurst is where a great many of the period films are made as not only does the house look fantastic there are no other buildings in the background that look out of place from the period. We recreated the scene form Anne of a thousand days in the garden where Anne Boleyn comes up to Henry who is taking with Cardinal Wolsey and says (somethng like)“My Lord Cardinal I Think you have more Titles than my lord the King” it took us two takes and we still didn’t get it right. Taking our leave of Penshurst we spent the night in old Tudor coaching Inn in Tonbridge, but no leper pit.

six wives of One King day 7

Day 7 Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. Just a short ride on the tube to Westminster Abbey and see inside the Nations’ Parish Church. The Abbey holds many treasures and more sovereigns than anywhere else. There is Elizabeth I and her half sister Mary in the same tomb. Mary Queen of Scots lies opposite the Lady Chapel in a much grander tomb. Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Henry V & Edward the Confessor are all in suitably grand or venerable tombs. Anne of Cleves is the odd one out she just has a simple epitaph written in gold letters in a wall near Poets corner. We travelled by river boat on the Thames from Westminster to the Tower of London along the same route to traitors’ gate that Elizabeth I and Catherine Howard travelled. The Tower is not just one Tower, everybody thinks that the White Tower is the Tower but there are a number of others that hold significant items if history. Prisoners form the Tudor period created elaborate graffiti whilst awaiting execution or freedom. The Jewel Tower holds an exhibition of the making of the Crown Jewels, but there was a little bit missing so I asked the staff member on duty where the Cullinan diamond was, he took us up a closed staircase to have a private look at the copy of the largest rough diamond ever found and the one that provided the largest ever cut diamond that lies in the state Sceptre on display in the Crown Jewel. That diamond has the power to mesmerise, I think it’s almost alive and twinkles away under the glass. We had dinner at the Globe theatre overlooking followed by an experience that will live long in the memory. As part of the Globe to Globe festival, w were here to see the Merchant of Venice....in Hebrew!!. by an Israeli theatre group. The security was intense, huge numbers of Police and security guards were present just in case there was any disruption. Full baggage search and x-ray machines were in the foyer and also stewards were inside the theatre, big chaps that I wouldn’t like to tangle with. In the event there were 12 ejections during the performance but that didn’t halt the flow of the play. It didn’t matter that we couldn’t understand exactly what was being said there was a couple of message boards that kept you informed of the gist of what was going on.

Six wives of One King day 6

Day 6 Peterborough & Cambridge. After a fabulous night at the George hotel in Stamford and dinner in the Oak room we set off for Peterborough Cathedral where Catherine of Aragon lies buried. We had a personal guided tour and were shown parts of the Cathedral that the ordinary visitor would not see. The place is huge and has the most unique painted ceiling in the Nave and a fan vaulted ceiling in the extension built in 1505 by the architect John Wastell, the same man who is responsible for the masterpiece that is Kings College chapel in Cambridge. The real reason to visit here is to pay our respects to Catherine of Aragon and she lies under a simple black marble slab by the side of the Alter. I had taken some rosemary from Catherine’s Garden at Buckden yesterday and each one of our group had a private moment laying a sprig of fresh rosemary on her last resting place. Opposite Catherine on the other side of the Alter is the former grave of Mary Queen of Scots before she was taken to Westminster when her son James I was made King of England. At Cambridge and inside Kings College chapel we were treated to music from the great organ, (well it was being tuned). The place is simply magnificent, by far the best single building that Henry VIII left us. It has the largest fan vaulted roof in the world and has breathtaking stained glass windows. There is a whole guide book just for the windows. In the days when people could not read and write is was a way of telling those people what the glory of God was all about and in these windows there appears King Henry VIII as Soloman. Also looking up at him is Catherine Howard in profile. We finished our daily travel in London, at a Hotel very near the Thames and alson near the Globe Theatre. We had a very pleasant walk around Southwark taking in some places that the ordinary visitor would not see. We had fish and chips at the George Inn, the oldest galleried pub in England and where Dickens and Shakespeare would have known

Six wives on One King day 5

Day 5 Today we had to backtrack to Sudeley castle becuase it was closed yesterday. You can’t have a six wives tour without all the six wives and Katherine Parr is the last wife. The only Queen of England buried on private property and lies peacefully in the Church alongside the castle. The castle was blown up by Oliver Cromwell ( we really don’t like him)and lay derelict for over 200 years until Emma Dent bought it and restored it to something approaching its former glory. There is a new exhibition in the south hall, a part of the castle that was Katherine’s private apartments. There are some interesting portraits on display and the rooms themselves are very small but heavy with history. In the church, Katherine lies in the corner she died in childbirth here at Sudeley but I’m a bit sorry to report that there is a display of her “lying in state” in the Lady Chapel, it’s a bit out of keeping with a church setting. There are also some really good artefacts on display in the main museum such as Her Prayer book. From there we had a long journey to catch up with the tour at Buckden Towers. Though along the journey we were very surpised to have the only airworthy WWII Lancaster baomber fly directltly over us. Buckden the place where Catherine of Aragon was held before being moved to Kimbolton. Charles Brandon the Duke of Suffolk came here to move her but the local men who loved her dearly, stood menacingly in his way for 5 days. Charles went away and come back with more men and eventually brought her to Kimbolton. The friends of Buckden Towrs have recreated a garden of the typoe that Ctaherine woulkd have known here and it is a really lovely peaceful place. I think Henry had her sent to Buckden as it was at the edge of the fens and there was malaria around at the time, a case of assination by natural causes. Kimbolton has much changed since 1536 and the place that Catherine would have known. It has been a private school since 1956. Here it was that she spent the last 20 months of her life confined to just a small suite of 2 rooms with her personal maids. To stand in those rooms, which incidentally is the head masters office, and to hear the last letter she wrote to Henry VIII read out is a very moving moment. A reflective afternoon in all and one of the points on the tour that makes you think of the hard life that Catherine had once Henry had decided to divorce her.

Six wives of one King day 4

Day 4 A late start today as we only had about 6 miles to travel from Stow to Sudeley. Imagine my heart as it sank when we arrived at the gate to see it padlocked shut and a small notice pinned on saying closed for a private event we regret any inconvenience caused. Ye gods and little fishes !! Closed! And both the telephone numbers on the sign board were recorded messages. We just have to come back tomorrow and yes we are inconvenienced. From there we travelled to Coughton Court (pronounced coat-en) the home of the Catholic Throckmorton family for over 600 years. Here we find Bess Throckmorton favourite lady in waiting to Elizabeth I until she married Sir Walter Raleigh in secret and was banished from Court. Now a curious tale about her is that when Sir Walter was beheaded, she carried his head about with her for the rest of her life, just about 25 years. By the way his head can be found in a velvet sack in the room of consequences. The real reason to visit Coughton is the Tudor artefacts, the chemise worn by Mary Queen of Scots at her execution and the Bishops mantle sewn by Catherine of Aragon. Both are together in a darkened room but it is the Bishops mantle that sets the heart racing, actually handled by a loved Queen of England. From Coughton we travelled to Kenilworth castle and where we are to spend the night. Kenilworth is such and important place in the history of England it’s hard to know where to start. In Tudor terms, Henry VIII came here but the royal progress of 1575 beats that hand down. Robert Dudley the Earl of Leicester spent millions on today’s money to get Elizabeth to marry him, all to no avail. Henry V was given a chest of Tennis balls by the French king in March of 1415 an insult that backfired spectacularly at the Battle of Agincourt in October of that year. I had some tennis balls form Hampton court palace that I gave to people so that we could say that we have played with tennis balls in the great hall of Kenilworth Castle We finished off the day with dinner in a pub called the famous Virgins and Castle, built in 1565. Some great beer and good food and a discussion of the day’s highs and lows.

Six wives of one King day 3

Day 3 Windsor and Windsor castle today in a day of glorious sunshine. The little issue with good sunshine is that it does tend to bring out the tourist in a place like this, but your reporter has all this in hand. We already had our entry tickets so no queuing to get into the castle in the first place and when inside everybody goes straight to the State Apartments first. We headed in the other direction and were the very first to go into St Georges chapel where the organist was still practicing and to be there all alone hearing that music is an experience that gives you goose pimples even after witnessing evensong last night. St Georges has great architecture and finished by Henry VIII, he is buried in the quire in a vault under a plain black marble slab with his favourite wife Jane Seymour, hardly an end befitting England’s greatest Monarch. There are many other Sovereigns buried here including our present Queens Mother and Father. After St Georges Chapel we were ideally placed to witness close up the changing of the guard on the parade square. This time it was the Coldstream Guards. Just to make a point here they are real soldiers and the ceremonial guard is part of their rotation duties, they probably will be off to Afghanistan next. The State apartments is where everybody wants to see but they all queue up to see the Queen Mary’s dolls house first, ever the canny guide we walked right past them all through another door into the State rooms. The flow of visitors can be held up in places but some of the rooms are glorious and the repairs after the great fire are better that the original. So nearly two hours later we emerged blinking, into the bright sunlight. After some free time around the town we set off later in the day to Stow on the Wold in the heart of the Cotswolds to stay at the Royalist hotel, the oldest hotel in England( more about that later). I can honestly say that having dinner on a trapdoor in the ancient bar room is one of the most surreal experiences I have ever had. Why a trapdoor I hear you say, well it leads down to what was once a leper pit!!

six wives of one king day 2

Day 2 Our first full day on tour, and it was memorable. We only had to walk across the road to Hampton Court Palace to immerse ourselves in the heart of Tudor Britain. The Palace is the only one left out of the 60 Palaces that Henry VIII built or confiscated. It is a vast place with many parts to see form the Tudor period. There are the Kitchens, or really a food factory for 700 meals twice a day. The Great Hall is wonderful and when there is nobody else in there you can hear a pin drop. The Young Henry exhibition follows the life of Henry, and along the Gallery that resonates with Tudor events, Catherine Parr married Henry here and Catherine Howard ran screaming after Henry after her arrest. The Chapel Royal also holds an important place, here Henry received the letter damning Catherine Howards infidelity. There are many other exhibitions to see not in the Tudor period such as the Wild the Beautiful and the Damned. Portraits of the mistresses and courtesans of Charles II are on display, some incredibly beautiful women and one huge one of Charles II in full royal regalia. The real joy of the day though is little play-lets running throughout the day, and today’s theme was Henry VIII trying to woo and placate Anne Boleyn, it is hugely entertaining and a great way to get schoolchildren engaged in history. We managed to catch up with Henry and Anne and get a royal photo.It was great fun and we got involved in the action, Cromwell was a great character and the King can command silence from any group of school children. We the travelled to Windsor only 16 miles away but along the river Thames and again there is history all around you, we passed the site of the signing of Magna Carta in 1215 the first written bill of human rights. At Windsor we were just on time to attend the evensong service in St Georges Chapel. It’s a great feeling when challenged where you’re going at the gates of Windsor Castle to reply evensong and be shown the way to go. We finished the day and a fine Greek restaurant and some Greek beer.

day 1

Six Wives of One King, day 1 Before the official start of the tour we travelled southwest tour of London by train to the Vyne at Basingstoke in Hampshire. The Vyne is a beautiful place full of Tudor history, but long before that time the Romans first planted grape vines here in England and it’s been called the Vyne ever since for 1600 years. The place was once owned by the Sandys family who are courtiers of Henry VIII and we started at the Vyne for two reasons which will become very much clearer as the tour progresses. The first is the Oak panelled long gallery. Still in it’s original condition, there are carvings of pomegranates, and other symbols relating to Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII and it’s a truly remarkable place to stand in and realise that this is where Henry stood. The second reason is the stained glass windows in the Chapel, There are three windows, one is of Henry VIII, one for Catherine of Aragon and Henry’s sister Margaret each with their own patron saint. The Windows are superb and also remarkable that they survived Oliver Cromwell during our civil war in the 1640’s. They were in fact hidden in a pond for several years to keep them safe. After the Vyne we drove to Hampton Court, no not to go to the Palace but to just leave our luggage at the hotel before we set of on the first real leg of the tour to Syon House about 6 miles away. Syon is a very important Tudor house, it’s been the home of the Percy family for over 450 years. Here in the long gallery is where Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen. The gallery has been remodelled since the Tudor period, but if you keep in mind the image of the long Gallery at the Vyne then you get a true picture of what it looked like in 1553, where for just 9 days Lady Jane Grey was Queen. We then came back to Hampton Court to go to Palace and have a lesson of real tennis, nothing like lawn tennis that Roger Federer or Nadal play today but the game that Henry VIII played actually on this very site, indoors and with galleries, sloping roofs, a bell and a played with a hard ball made of cork, leather and string binding. It’s a very difficult game to master with complicated rules and lots of different lines on the court. We finished the day with a splendid dinner and wine at the hotel overlooking the river Thames

day minus 1

Day Minus 1 We’re still a day to go before the tour starts properly but today we went on a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. Courtesy of our local Member of Parliament we enjoyed a personal guided tour around the inside of one of the World’s most recognised buildings. Westminster Great Hall dates from the 1200’ and is the largest space in medieval England. The Palace of Westminster was a royal palace on the side of the Thames and since that time and Henry VIII wanted a better Palace so he built Whitehall Palace. The Great Hall apart, the present Parliament buildings date from the mid 1800’s after the Old Palace burnt down. We were taken through the House of Lords, the Queens room where she puts on the State Regalia for the State opening of Parliament. The red benches of the House of Lords are a stark contrast to the Green of the House of Commons, the green some say is because the commons are green with envy towards the House of Lords. In the audience chamber there are two huge paintings one is the Battle of Waterloo 1815 and the other is the Battle of Trafalgar 1805 both times when the British beat the French. They can be covered up if a French president comes to make a speech. We had tea with our MP Stephen Lloyds who made some time for us out of his busy day in the Pugin room, named after the Architect who built the New Houses of Parliament. Afterwards we had a brief stop in the sunshine on the Terrace of the Houses of Parliament. A great way to spend a morning and we are eagerly awaiting the start proper tomorrow.

Six wives of one King

Day Minus 2 We haven't started yet still two days to go but I picked up a client who arrived in England from the USA 2 days early this morning from Heathrow Airport. We got to the Mad Hatter Hotel by 11 am but needless to say the room wasn’t ready so after a cup of coffee in the bar we decided to go for a little walk. I say a little walk, we were out for a little over 3 hours! The hotel is in Southwark just on the south side of Blackfriars Bridge over the river Thames, so we walked over the bridge to Blackfriars where Baynards castle once stood and on the site of the Blackfriars pub is where the great hall was, here Catherine of Aragon had her annulment trial. From there we walked up Ludgate to St Pauls Cathedral and picked up some leaflets from the Tourist information centre and then went to the Old Bailey which was once the site of the infamous Newgate prison. There was a couple of Barristers in their gown and wigs talking to their clients outside, Just over the road is St Sepulcre’s church . It is here that there is the world’s first public drinking water fountain with cups still chained to the railings. Nearby is the site of the Fortunes of War pub. Grave robbers used to display their stolen bodies waiting for the surgeons to come out of St Bart’s hospital to buy them. In the wall there is a little monument to the edge of the great fire of London, a little fat boy painted gold to remind the people what can happen Just along from there is Ely Place and St Ethelreda’s church, converted back to the Catholic faith in 1874 and is one of the very few churches in the country to say Mass in Latin. Pausing momentarily in Hatton Garden to admire the centre of the World’s diamond trade, ( if you have to ask the cost you can’t afford it) we had lunch in the Citie of Yorke pub, the oldest in London and a very nice Chicken & mushroom pie it was too. After lunch we walked through Lincolns Inn fields, passing the Old Curiosity shop and the back of the Royal Courts of Justice. Lincolns Inn is where St Thomas More practiced Law. Tucked away in a little corner is one of the most historic buildings in England. It’s where the Bank of England was first set up in 1693 by the King and some influential Merchants. A walk through Chancery Lane led us to Dr Johnson’s House, the person who wrote the first English Dictionary in 1755 His favourite pub is Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street and still a spit & sawdust establishment. Our final place to pause was St Brides Church just to look at the tiered Spire, built by Sir Christopher Wren, it is the inspiration behind every wedding cake in the Christian world. Finally back over Blackfriars Bridge to the Hotel and about 3 miles the room was ready.

May 15th 1536 Anne Boleyn was found guilty of her alleged crimes of Treason, adultery, incest and others. The Jury was stacked and even her uncle the Duke of Norfolk was presiding. I think the message was clear, get rid of her and quick. Henry couldn't face the prospect of a another divorced wife. Catherine of Aragon had only just died of a broken heart in January and she had continually maintained that she was his one true wife, for 10years! So he didn't want another one doing the same thing. One other curious aspect of the whole thing. She was entenced to be burnt to death or beheaded. The King in his mercy decided that the headsman from Calais should do the deed. Why was that? and when did he decide?

Day 7 Hampton Court Palace

Day 7 Hampton Court Palace.

Only a short journey to get here today so we had the Great hall to ourselves right after the door opened. It’s great to be in there with nobody else, you can really feel the centuries falling away as you look at the Kings tapestries hanging there, each one as costly as a battleship and a magnificent work of art. The story of the series of playlets today was the King chasing Jayne Seymour around the Palace to try and woo her with poetry money. It was the time that Anne Boleyn was in disgrace and the actor playing Thomas Cromwell was especially creepy and unctuous, he even threw two us out of the council chamber! To the great enjoyment of the people gathered there. You just never knew when you would round a corner and there would be Jayne desperately trying to distance herself from the Kings presence and seeking your aid in her endeavours. Great entertainment and a history lesson in one go.

There is much to see in and around Hampton court Palace, the Gardens, the Maze, the Great vine, the kitchens, Young Henry, the history of the palace, and others, not to mention the drop dead excellent pot bellied pies in the kitchen cafe. We kept moving all day with the Tudor parts that we did not have time to visit the new exhibition of the Wild the Beautiful and the damned portraits of King Charles II principle Mistresses, so I well make a special effort to see them next time we’re there in May. We headed off into Central London where we finished off the tour in grand style with a Tudor Banquet in the medieval crypt in St Katherine’s Dock. It’s a hugely enjoyable show and finally exhausted after trying to find Henry all week, we found him here singing Greensleeves to us as we supped our ale and wine.