day 5 Portsmouth

Day 5 Portsmouth Southsea castle was buffeted by high winds and waves this morning. The waves were crashing over the promenade so much that you had difficulty walking without getting wet. On the plus side the top of the keep was open and we got to stand in the footsteps of Henry VIII as he watched the Mary Rose sink in calm waters in the Solent. She would not have put to sea in weather like we had today, but we did see a small sailing boat trying to make way against the wind, seafaring folk are a bit hardy I think!

The Mary Rose Museum is being wound down in its present form and getting ready to transfer to the new purpose built ship hall and Museum just 400 meters away. Some sections were cordoned off so that some of the exhibits were being made ready for the move, not an easy thing to move a three ton 12 foot long cannon! I can’t wait to see the new museum open later this year. The Historic Dockyard has plenty to see in the way of maritime history, HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the battle of Trafalgar. And has many original artefacts from 1805. HMS Warrior the Navy’s first Iron Clad steamship and the most powerful ship afloat launched in 1860. It was made obsolete within two years. This time not by the French but by the Americans. Dining at The Still & West pub right at the mouth of the Harbour was a unique experience. You can just sit there and look out the window as the huge cross channel ferries sail into port so close that you could just reach out and touch them. They are 7 stories high and they sail right past the Spinnaker Tower all lit up and welcoming to their home port.

Day 4 Lewes and Michelham Priory

Day 4 Lewes and Michelham Priory

Michelham Priory near Hailsham in East Sussex has the distinction of having the longest moat in England. It survived the dissolution because when Thomas Cromwell turned up he rather liked the place so he paid the King a peppercorn rent for it. Yes just a single peppercorn! When he lost his head it, was given to Anne of Cleves as part of the divorce settlement and she got the proper rental income from it. The place is charming and tranquil, except that is one of the most haunted places in England and they have many Halloween events there. There is a working floor mill and you can walk around the gardens and meadows at peace with the world. It was a Crystal clear day when we climbed to the top of Lewes castle Keep, you could see for miles. The Downs looked so impressive and the chalk cliffs were bright white in the sunshine. Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about them and likened them to giant whales and they do too. Walking around Lewes you are never far from History, the Castle saw real action as a result of the Battle of Lewes in 1264. Right in the middle of town there is a memorial to the 10 Lewes martyrs burnt at the stake in one fire by Bloody Mary. They are remembered every November 5th at the annual Bonfire celebrations, each one has their name on a fiery cross that is paraded through the town. Tomas Paine’s house is in the High street and just down a narrow Twitten is Virginia Wolfe’s house. Lewes Priory was particularly singled out by Cromwell for destruction and its present ruins are but a quarter of what it once was. Anne of Cleves house is the only one of her houses remaining intact and open to the public that is not a place for something else such as a pub and it is now a museum, the list of historic sites goes on.

We had a wonderfully engaging talk by Hands on History where members of the group got to handle weapons of the period and got to try on the armour and helmets too!. Not only that artefacts from the period and items that were in everyday use such as leather, fox fur cow horn bowls and drinking vessels. The evening was finished off with a pint of Sussex ale at the White Hart hotel.

Day 3 Dover and Deal

Day 3 Dover & Deal castles

5 worlds in one are to be found at Dover Castle, Roman, Norman, Medieval, Napoleonic and World War II. You can spend many hours if not all day here, such as exploring the eerily quiet tunnels from the siege of 1216. The Norman keep dressed out as if Henry II was living here in 1190. The furniture and tapestries are faithfully recreated and as you wander about the Halls and galleries there are ghostly holograms to help guide you and tell the story. The World war II tunnels have a different exhibition telling the story of the build up to war and the dramatic rescue of 338,000 Allied troops from the French coast. Henry VIII passed through here on his way to the Field of the Cloth of Gold in France. There is a painting at Hampton Court Palace of the occasion with all the treasure ships just leaving England. Is this where Henry secretly married Anne Boleyn? Deal castle built in a hurry in 1540 by Henry VIII and has been maintained virtually intact ever since as a fortress to protect this part of the coastline. It is a clover leaf design so that wherever you are standing on the casements you have protective support fire from somewhere else. The castle is the middle one of three built at the same time to protect this vulnerable beach which is ideal to land an army. The range of the cannons overlap with each of the other two castles so they were well designed and sighted.

Anne of Cleves first set foot in England here after a long winter journey from the Rhineland. Anne still had a few days to travel yet before that fateful meeting with Henry VIII at Rochester . Somewhere in her entourage of 126 people was a violinist, such an instrument had never been seen in England before. So I think she should be credited with a lot more than just being the Kings Reject!

Day 2 Eltham Palace & the Tower of London

Eltham Palace and the Tower of London.

The boyhood home of Henry VIII is high on a hill with a commanding view of the city of London. The Great Hall of the old palace is the substantial structure still left from the great days of the Palace. The moat is still there running three quarters of the way round and there are huge carp lazily swimming around in the sunshine. It’s easy to imagine a young carefree Prince Henry running away from his sisters and tutors and trying to catch some fish. Henry grew up here in the company of his mother, grandmother and sisters until he was 10 then history came calling to Eltham. The Palace was substantially rebuilt in the 1930’s by Stephen and Virginia Caulthault in an Art Deco style that would not have been out of place in the first class lounge of the Titanic. There are inlaid marquetry panelled walls, specially commissioned furniture and carpets around the rooms. You can literally pass from one world to another just by stepping through a door. On to Central London and the Tower of London by river boat to see Traitors gate from water level as Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Elizabeth I would have seen it. The Tower is a great place to visit and on a Sunday afternoon when the crowds are going home is the ideal time to see the Crown Jewels . The new exhibition is really good , much better than the previous one and it really heightens your anticipation of seeing the incredible and magnificent Jewels of the Nation.

We walked over Tower bridge and for the first time in my life I saw workmen abseiling(rappelling) off the iron work, sooner them than me. The day was finished off with fish and chips in the George Inn Southwark the oldest galleried Pub in London and one where Shakespeare played. Is this the setting for Romeo and Juliet?

Finding Henry Tour

Day 1. Hever & Penshurst
A little colder than when we were here last but all the better to keep the crowds down. Hever was first visit today but we couldn’t have access to the castle itself until noon because there was a wedding on in the Hall. The bride looked lovely in a full length cream dress and pausing for the group photos outside the castle must have provided a fantastic memory album for the bride and groom.

Anne Boleyn herself was there to greet us as we entered the castle through the courtyard, complete with the famous drop pearl necklace with a gold capital B. Inside the castle there are a number of artefacts and portraits to view and there is also a large tapestry of the wedding of Henry’s sister Mary that is said to have the Boleyn sisters in the background.

The gardens are coming into bloom now with tulips and apple blossom all around the place. The gardens lead to the lake and a terrific walk. There were swans and ducks aplenty all around the lake the moat and the stream passing through the grounds.
Just a short drive away is Penshurst place, to my mind a better palace with a real Tudor soul. The gardens are also just coming to bloom with the yellow tulips in the ornamental garden in front of the house are simply glorious. The house was looking its best with the honey coloured stone almost glowing in the sunshine. The Barons hall built in 1341 is the scene for many period dramas and films as when you look around there isn’t modern looking building anywhere within sight, no phone masts or power lines either. The list of films made here is very long, but not as long as the list Dukes, Earls and barons that have lived here not to mention Royal visitors and owners.

We are staying the night in an old Tudor coaching inn in Tonbridge and just over the road is Tonbridge castle, originally built by the Normans and extended into a huge defensive structure dominating the local countryside.

Day 10 London

Our last day together was spent in London visiting the Tower and Westminster Abbey. The Tower is a world Heritage site right in the middle on London and steeped in England’s history. It has been a royal palace, an armoury, a prison, army barracks, a zoo, a jewel house and a place of execution for nearly a thousand years.

Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey, all three Queens of England, were executed here in private on Tower Green without the spectacle of the crowd on Tower Hill. When you listen to an actress on the audio guide quote Anne Boleyn’s last words, it really gives you a peculiar feeling of touching history.

Our Beefeater guided tour was momentarily interrupted when he bellowed, like the Sergeant Major that he is, for a group of students to BE QUIET! And they were too!
The three Queens are buried in St Peter-ad-Vincular chapel next to Tower Green under the Alter and there is only a small floor plaque to say that each one is there.

There was a new exhibition at the Crown Jewels opened that morning by Princess Anne. The rest of the tower has lots to see for the Tudor minded. The White Tower holds not one but two suits of armour of Henry VIII, one on a white horse. Around the other parts of the tower there is evidence of how long some prisoners were held as there is a great deal of graffiti and wall carvings by those unfortunates.

Elizabeth I and others were brought here to the Tower by boat through the infamous Traitors gate and you can see the steps they had to climb form water level.

Westminster Abbey, England’s parish church holds a special place in the nation’s heart. Most Royal weddings take place here, the last one last year with Prince William and Catherine Middleton. It also holds the last resting place of 10 Sovereigns, Henry V, Edward the Confessor, Henry VII, Elizabeth I and her sister Mary. Also residing in a most magnificent mausoleum is Mary Queen of Scots, it is her I think that has the last laugh on history. Sadly, tucked away in a corner and hardly noticeable, is Anne of Cleves just with some gold lettering to mark her tomb in wall.

Our tour finished with a right royal banquet in a crypt of St Katherine’s dock next to the Tower where we were entertained by jesters, acrobats and knights sword fighting for our honour.

Day 9 Lewes

Day 9 Anne of Cleves House Lewes East Sussex
Lewes is the county town of east Sussex where we spent the whole day. There are many historical sites around the town especially the Tudor period. A monument to the 17 Protestant martyrs burned at the stake by Mary Tudor is on the hillside, and a plaque right in the middle of town in the High street is where 10 people were burned in one fire is the first to be found. They are all remembered on the 5th November every year with torchlight processions through the town in a huge bonfire festival, where thousands of marchers dress in some fantastic costumes. Lewes grammar school was established in the reign of Henry VIII. Thomas Paine lived here and his house still exists as the headquarters of the Sussex Archaeological society.
Lewes castle, right in the middle of town, saw real action at the battle of Lewes in 1264. Simon De Montfort beat King Henry III and we had the beginnings of democratic rule, for a while.
Anne of Cleves house is on the edge of town, a small weald hall type house that was given to her as part of the divorce settlement. It is one of a few Anne of Cleves houses that remain but it’s the only one that is a dedicated museum.
Lewes Priory was huge and very prosperous in the Tudor period before Thomas Cromwell turned up in 1538 and gave it special attention to destroy it. The Church was huge, larger than Peterborough and the stones from the ruins were used to construct Southover Manor in 1575. The Manor is now a wedding and conference centre.
3 miles outside of town is Firle place and Church, the ancestral home of the Gage family. In the church lie members of the gage family, John gage was the Constable of the Tower of London and was responsible to organise the execution of Catherine Howard. His son was responsible to organise the burning of the Protestant heretics in Lewes. Dark deeds indeed in the Tudor century!

Day 8 Day 8 Kings College Cambridge & Peterborough Cathedral

My personal favourite of all the Buildings that Henry VIII left us. It started well before him of course but he finished it and in some style too. The stained glass windows are simply the most magnificent anywhere in the world, there is a whole guidebook devoted just to them alone! The sunshine through the south side windows played spectacular coloured patterns on the lower north side wall, I could just sit there for hours.
One of the windows has the only authenticated image of Catherine Howard, gazing up to Henry VIII as Solomon, but with ginger hair. Her initials can also be seen high up on the East window above the alter Curiously Anne Boleyn’s initials can be seen above the provosts stall in the choir, quite how they remained when all traces of her were obliterated remains a mystery.
Peterborough Cathedral is the last resting place of Catherine of Aragon. Mary Queen of Scots was buried here too before James I had her re-buried in Westminster Abbey. I Think she has the last laugh on history as not only does she have a grander tomb than Elizabeth but all our royal family is descended though her and not the Tudors.
We stayed for evensong and this time it was a boy’s choir that sang and it was just as beautiful as St Georges Chapel Windsor.

Day 7 The Vyne

Before travelling southwest out of London we walked around Southwark south of the river Thames to parts of London that both Shakespeare and Dickens would have known. There are lots of hidden gems to find, all with their own story to tell. Like Southwark Cathedral where Shakespeare’s brother is buried. The ruins of the Bishops of Winchester’s Palace great hall is where Henry VIII met with his council to decide what to do with Catherine Howard after her downfall. Crossbones graveyard where 12,000 paupers and prostitutes have been buried since the middle ages up until 1846. Nancy’s steps, (Oliver Twist)and the site of London Bridge where they would have set traitors heads on pikes.
We went aboard the replica of Sir Frances Drake’s Golden Hinde, mariners weren’t very tall people in those days. The ship is undergoing some major works to get it ready to take part in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee river pageant in June where over 1000 boats will take part in the biggest Thames Pageant for over 350 years.

The Vyne deep in rural Hampshire, home to Lord Sandys one of Henry VIII's courtiers and has the most magnificent oak panelled long gallery. There are many carved references to Henry and Catherine of Aragon. The Chapel holds stained glass windows to Catherine and Henry praying to their patron saints. The windows survived the attentions of Oliver Cromwell troops as there were hidden in a pond during the Civil War. It was beautiful to just stroll around the ornamental gardens and the lake was superb. We discovered though that the swans don’t like ginger biscuits a male and female just spat out Walkers ginger biscuits, the ungrateful pair!

Back in London we went on an early evening walk from Green park to the back entrance to St James Palace, Guardsmen were on ceremonial duty but we didn’t see anyone famous going in or out. We ended up in the oldest pub in London dating from 1514 before walking back to the Mad Hatters Hotel south of the river.

Day 6 Hever and Penshurst

A delightful day, with sunshine and fields of daffodils in peak bloom everywhere.
Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and where she was courted by Henry VIII. Many of the scenes form Anne of a Thousand Days were filmed here. Since the Boleyns, Hever has had a few owners. It was given to Anne of Cleves as part of the divorce settlement. The Astor family owned it for a couple of generations until the late 1960’s. JJ Astor, yes he that went down with the Titanic put a lot of work and money into the place and what we see today is largely thanks to him. Especially the Italian Garden and ornamental lake. He also acquired many artefacts of Anne Boleyn and fair play to him because he did a really good job!.
Penshurst Place only a few miles from Hever was also given to Anne of Cleves, It was subsequently given to the Sidney family by Edward VI and in whose ownership it has remained ever since. Penshurst had it’s most beautiful face on today and a troop of period entertainers were performing in the garden, they had music , dancing and singing from the Tudor period Visitors could dress up in costume to walk around the house and gardens for the day.
We were interviewed by some journalist students from City University for a short film they were making titled Anne Boleyn as a role model. In the background one of the performers fired a musket that made us all jump on camera! The video will be finished in may and we'll put it on Galliard

Day 5 Kenilworth and Coughton Court

We travelled to Kenilworth castle in Warwickshire for our next visit. Kenilworth has seen some very important events in its history. None more so than the great royal progress of 1575 when Robert Dudley spent huge sums of money trying to get Elizabeth I to marry him, all to no avail.
English Heritage spent £3million three years ago re-creating the privy garden of that grand progress, just think of how much Dudley spent as he built a new wing of the castle for her too. Henry VIII also has made his mark here. High up on the keep is the remains of one of the first public clocks that date from his time.
Our second visit of the day was to Coughton Court also in Warwickshire, The home of the Throckmorton family for 600 years. A catholic family that somehow survived through the ages as they were implicated in many plots to overthrow the crown. One was even called the Throckmorton plot. The Gunpowder plot can also be traced here indeed every year there is a Gunpowder plot dinner in the grand dining room.
There are two new exhibitions this year, one to the strong women of the family including Bess one time favourite of Elizabeth until she married Sir Walter Raleigh without permission. The other is about Shakespeare and his mysterious marriage to Ann Hathaway
But the real centre piece of the place is the Bishops Cope on display that was actually sewn by Catherine of Aragon and her ladies. It was found here hundreds of years being folded away in an attic here in the 1930’s.

Buckden & Kimbolton

A tranquil jewel in the Tudor crown awaits the visitor to Buckden Towers. Here Henry VIII banished Catherine of Aragon before moving her o to Kimbolton 6 miles away.
Buckden is formerly the Bishop of Lincoln’s palace and has many royal visitors but Catherine is the most enduring. The Duke of Suffolk tried to move her but the local people stood in his way so after a 5 day stand off, he went away to get some more men. The friends of Buckden have re-created the knot garden and in the summer even bring out some pomegranate trees.
Buckden is now owned by the Claretian Catholic missionaries and is a very peaceful place. Our guide for the afternoon also took us into the 700 year parish church right next door and showed us some unique wooden carvings of angels holding up the roof.
Kimbolton is now a private school but is where Catherine of Aragon lived for the last 20 months of her life keeping herself and a few trusted servants of just a couple of rooms. She died of a broken heart and it’s a real privilege to be in the room and hear the last letter she wrote to Henry from the very room in which she died. It’s now the Principals office.
Modern day school students are a bit less reverential, this being sport relief day, a national day of charity fundraising. Students came dressed up and one was even a banana!
The George hotel in Stamford was our inn for the night and it dates back to the year 947. The travelling fun fair was in town , there were waltzers and dodgems in the town square and of course lots of Catherine wheels.

Windsor castle Day 3

We were first through the doors again and had no crowds to bother us as we took a long look at St Georges Chapel. More Kings and queens are buried here than anywhere else except Westminster Abbey.
Henry VIII is buried here with his favourite wife Jane Seymour under a very black marble slab in the choir. A simple maker for the last resting place of England’s most majestic King.
We had a nice surprise in the State apartments , the semi state apartments were open as part of the tour. These are only open for a small part of the year and the new under croft cafe was open too. It gave one of the best views in England through the castle gates and right up the royal mile in Windsor park. Unfortunately photos are not permitted inside the castle so people will have to see it for themselves.
It was the Coldstream guards who were performing the changing of the guards and the music was played by the pipes and drums of the Irish Guards. There was a very unusual uniform in the castle, Standing next to the sentry guard, the one who gets his picture taken by countless tourists, was a US army fatigues but with a US cavalry officers Stetson hat complete with cross sabres.
We had time to travel into central London to go to the national Portrait Gallery and view the Tudor room. The portraits have been changed and there were many new ones on display so the visit was well worth it.

Day 2 Syon House

The Home of the Duke of Northumberland and no crowds of youngsters like yesterday. It was here in 1553 that Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen here in the Long gallery by her uncle the 1st Duke.
Situated right on the river Thames opposite Kew gardens and where the river is still tidal. The place is steeped in History. It was founded by Henry V in 1415 as a Brigettine Abbey. You can see the medieval crypt under the house and learn more about the history of the building. It came into royal possession as part of the dissolution in 1539 and was given to the 1st Duke by Edward VI. Catherine of Aragon came here often and Anne Boleyn railed against the Abbess and nuns for their wonton behaviour.
Catherine Howard was held here after her arrest a few miles upriver at Hampton Court Palace and whilst Henry VII decided what to do with her. Queen Victoria as a princess grew up here and her rooms are still intact.
The place is staying open while there is major works going on to repair the roof. After a walk around the gardens and the huge glass conservatory which was studied and used as the inspiration behind the Crystal Palace exhibition in 1851 we took our leave to travel to Windsor.
Arriving in plenty of time to attend evensong in the magnificent St Georges Chapel we walked straight in through Henry VIII’s gate. It was great to just walk past the police and say we were going to a service and the reply of “yes sir, just through there.”
We were treated to visiting choir from Ealing and Hammersmith Girls School and they sang beautifully their voices really soaring in the ancient chapel. We came away uplifted from the experience and knowing that a similar service has been performed there for 500 years

new season gets going

10 nights 6 wives of one King tour
Day one
On the first day of spring we were first through the gates of Hampton Court palace having stayed the night before in a riverside hotel right across the road from the palace gates. We went straight to the great hall where it was so quite that we were whispering to each other.
Hanging in the Great hall, are a series of magnificent tapestries commissioned by Henry VIII and made with real silver thread that mad them so expensive to make that each one cost more than a battleship to make at the time. They are, Crown jewels apart, the most valuable artefacts in the whole country.
Henry VIII himself was to be found walking about the Palace. It was great to see parties of school children fall absolutely silent as he walked past. The teachers had no difficulty in controlling their charges as they were in thrall to the King and he played the part very well indeed!
There was a story to follow throughout the day with costumed enactors speculating as to whether the King might marry again, very entertaining and engaging.
The gardens were just coming into spring bloom but the daffodils were everywhere carpeting the parkland around the palace.
We walked through Bushy Park next to the palace. Herds of dear still roam wild in the park, descendants of the dear that Henry would have hunted. In amongst the herd was a very rare sight, a white deer!