Last Updated on 30th July 2018Attempting to write anything about Richard III is somewhat daunting. He was king of England for little over two years, from July 1483 until being slaughtered at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485,…
The tale of the Bramley apple
Last Updated on 18th October 2019Here’s a story with a healthy bite. There are thousands of varieties of apple, but just one that is generally considered to be the cook’s favourite in the UK – the Bramley. Bramley apples are…
Thank God for Southwell Minster
Last Updated on 23rd January 2018There are so many reasons to visit Southwell Minster that it’s a good job someone decided to build it… A few miles north-west of Nottingham, in the English East Midlands, Southwell is neither on a…
The castle at Newark-on-Trent
So far, England has only had one King John, and he was a bad ‘un. However many times some historian suggests that this much-maligned monarch has been misrepresented, misunderstood, or was at least no worse than any other medieval king,…
Earls Barton, our finest Saxon church tower
Last Updated on 27th February 2017There’s no need to hurry to see the unique Saxon church at earls Barton in Northamptonshire; it’s been there for a thousand years or more and will probably wait for you. There was probably a…
Brixworth – All Saints’ church
Northamptonshire is blessed with some fine Saxon churches. And the largest – in fact the largest Anglo-Saxon church in Britain – is at Brixworth. Actually, a monastery was founded at Brixworth sometime before 675AD, more than 1300 years ago, when…
Terror plot planned in peaceful village
Last Updated on 9th December 2019It is hard to associate the Northamptonshire village of Ashby St Ledgers with one of the most notorious terrorist plots of all time. In fact, despite nestling between Dunstable’s tired industrial estates and the fearsome…
Althorp
Last Updated on 7th December 2016Althorp (sometimes pronounced ‘Awltrup’) is the Spencer family pile in Northamptonshire. Who amongst us lesser mortals had heard of either the estate or the family before Lady Diana Spencer shot into public awareness like a…
Sudbury Hall and the Museum of Childhood
Last Updated on 7th December 2016We all like a bit of nostalgia (well, I used to, but it’s not the same now) and I had long looked forward to a visit to this, the National Trust Museum of Childhood. Friends…
Geddington’s Queen Eleanor Cross
Last Updated on 7th December 2016There used to be a Royal Hunting Lodge by the ancient church of St Mary Magdalene, in the little Northamptonshire village of Geddington. There, on the night of 6th December 1290, the sombre party escorting…
Eleanor’s Cross, Hardingstone
Last Updated on 10th August 2019The above is not a statement about Eleanor’s mood, addressed to someone called Hardingstone (which I’m thinking is a good name for a butler); it’s a memorial to a dead queen beside a busy road…
The Battle of Bosworth
Last Updated on 27th July 2018The Battle of Bosworth is one of those events that changed the course of history. Fought on the 22 August 1485, Bosworth was the last significant armed encounter of the so-called Wars of the Roses,…