Boscobel House

Dating from the 16th century this house was built by John Giffard a local landowner from Chillington in Staffordshire. The house was built in a woodland and named Boscobel from bosco, bello or beautiful wood. As Giffard was a Catholic his house was designed and well suited to hiding catholics seeking refuge from religious persecution. There is a priest hole at the top of the stairs. The house was the hiding place for Charles II fleeing from the battle of Worcester. He hid in an Oak tree at Boscobel with his officer, William Careless and today there is a descent of the Royal Oak near the house. The tree is featured below.  I found the house a bit eerie and I was told by one of the staff that there is a ghost on the top floor of the house.  It is supposed to be the "look-out" man keeping watch for the soldiers, well no wonder I did not like being there on my own.

Marianne Ketting

Congratulations to my dear friend, Marianne who was decorated with Order of Orange-Nassau by the King of the Netherlands on 24th April 2015 for ‘life long achievements’.  It is a chivalric Order open to "everyone who has earned special merits for society". This is the military and civil Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the Queen Regent Emma of the Netherlands who was acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina.  I am proud to know you Marianne. 

Cambridge Camera Club Annual Competition

Ann very kindly photographed my prints that were hung at the CCC annual exhibition for my Mother to see.  (Right bottom first panel, top left and bottom right second panel and upper right third panel.) She follows a few CCC blogs.  Thank you Ann Mother was pleased to see it.

Orchid Day

Saffron Walden - Points of View

Saturday 11 April the Cambridge Camera Club held a competition entitled  "Points of View" in Saffron Walden.  Many turned up cameras in hand and were certainly not inconspicuous. The traders certainly spotted us and were curious to learn what we were up to that day.

St. Bartholomews Church, Tong, Shropshire

St Bartholomews is in Tong’s village church, Shropshire (Junction 3 M54)

There is a story related to Tong. It attracted many visitors from America which was deemed to be the result of a serialized  programme of Charles Dickens book, The Old Curiosity Shop. Charles Dickens visited Tong when his grandmother worked at Tong castle, which was demolished in 1954.  Little Nell’s grave was supposed to be in the churchyard as Dickens made reference to it in his novel. George H. Bowden, (1856 – 1943) a verger, and postmaster asked local people to pay for a headstone for Nell’s grave and forged an entry in the church register of burials using post office ink.   Visitors were then charged to see the grave! I understand that the grave is moved from time to time to make room for genuine graves. I did not see it.

The church has some imposing and dramatic memorials to the Vernon family and other village proprietors. Simon Jenkins, Oxford graduate, newspaper columnist, editor, and author who published “England’s Thousand Best Churches”, awarded the church three stars out of five. He referred to the tomb of Sir Richard Vernon (1390 -1451) as a masterpiece. (Speaker of the House of Commons in 1426)

The Bromlow Callow, Shropshire

The Bromlow Callow is a landscape marker and may have been a shelter for sheep and their shepherds whilst droving flocks to market in the valleys. The trees have a tranquil, if slightly eerie quality and would certainly have provided shelter for weary travellers. The landscape inspired the Shropshire author Mary Webb to write
“It was cold in the Callow, a spinney of silver birches and larches that
topped the hill.” ‘Gone to Earth’ Chapter 1

The Bromlow Callow’s location:

OS Explorer: 217

OS Landranger: 137 and 138