Off to the Tower With Ya

Today we're off to visit the Tower of London.  This is a little of a misnomer, since the Tower really isn't just one tower but a complex of buildings some dating back to medieval times.  I think most of us think of the Tower as a place where prisoners where held and heads were chopped off.  Well, this did happen here, but it was also served as working government facility.  Oh, and did I mention the Crown Jewels are housed here?  That was the first stop on our tour since they are hugely popular and the crowds can get overwhelming as the day goes on.  They have devised a conveyor belt system to keep the tourists moving past the more popular exhibits.  I have to say, they really are quite stunning.  They also look to be quite heavy which may be why the newly crowned king or queen usually only wears the crown for less than 30 minutes or so before removing it for lighter fare.  The largest diamond in the world decorates the royal sword.  The jewels in the crowns aren't shabby either.

Our next stop was the White Tower, so named because it was painted white at some point in the past.  This is a large building in the middle of the complex and has several large displays of armaments from various periods including jewel crusted pistols.  This is definitely a testosterone rich environment!  There's also several displays of armor including Henry VIII when he's girth was quite a bit smaller than at his death.

Speaking of death, this was the sight of some pretty famous executions including some associated with the above mentioned king.  Anne Boleyn and Thomas Moore both meet their maker in the Tower.  There were also rumors about the fate of Richard's nephews, which was the subject of our visit to the Bloody Tower.  As part of the presentation, visitors are asked to pick who they think did away with the young princes.  One of our tour members recruited a group of school boys to push the Tudor button over and over to help give Richard a break.  After all, it really seemed only fitting that our tour try to help our hero out.

After lunch we had the opportunity to visit Crosby Hall, the only medieval wooden structure still around.  This is where Richard III stayed while in London, although it is not in its original location.  It is now in private hands but we were able to visit thanks to the generosity of the owner, who some think is a bit of a cad.  We were allowed to take pictures but we were asked not to post them on a public sight.  You'll just have to take my word for it that it has been beautifully restored.  There was wonderful artwork displayed along with some exquisite antique furniture.  It really is quite a sight.

Tonight was our final dinner which was fittingly held in a pub where we were served fish and chips with mushy peas.  It was a yummy finale to our trip.  Our guides were thanked along with kind words for Sharon without who would we not be gathered.  We topped off the evening with a pint shared among friends.  It has been a delightful week with this group of Ricardians!

Our journey today took us into the Shropshire hills to the charming town and castle of Ludlow.  The castle was being prepare for a food festival occurring this weekend, which meant the castle wasn't quite as scenic as it usually is but we still had the opportunity to see a very historic castle. Our tour was led by the quite humorous Lady Catherine.  While not 100% accurate she did an excellent job describing the living conditions at the time, which weren't very good to say the least.  The castle did have a form of indoor plumbing, but you really didn't want to be standing at the other end of the pipe, if you know what I mean.

After the tour we had time for lunch and a walk around the town.  If you know me, you know I'm drawn to food, so the market in the square was an immediate draw for me.  The produce was lovely and the people friendly.  There was also a rather cute dog that I had to snap on my way by.

Right before we got back on the bus, I ducked into a little antique store where I found a obviously English carousel horse.  Notice the buck teeth, which helped to identify his heritage for me...

On to Tewkesbury, where Edward defeated the forces of Margaret of Anjou and ended any hopes of Henry VI retaking the crown.  We started at a cute (but not terribly well done) museum.  The staff however was quite enthusiastic and had spent a couple of days preparing for our arrival.  We then walked to the Tewkesbury Abby where the defeated Lancastrians sought shelter only to find that this church was not actually able to shelter them from Edward's forces.  Not a very happy ending for them.  

Elizabeth, our tour guide, met her match with the Abby guide.  He absolutely refused to wear a microphone to talk to our group.  Our other local guide wasn't too great at using it either.  Let's just say, technology hasn't really found it's was to this part of the world.

Our museum guide walked us down to the actually battlefield to look at the bloody meadow.  What he lacked in knowledge he certainly made up for with enthusiasm!  It was enough for us to get an idea of where the battle occurred.  Tewkesbury is an absolutely lovely little town with some of the prettiest gardens I've seen on the trip so far.  It was a very nice day of touring.

Death of a King

Today, our travels are dedicated to Richard's death, first at the sight of his fall and then at the car park where his remains were found just this year.  It seems there was more black worn today by my fellow travelers than usual.

Our first stop today was at Bosworth Field, where the Plantagenet dynasty came to an end August 22, 1485. We had a very knowledgeable guide show us around the field and tell the story of that tragic day.  Richard should have won the day, but one of his battle commanders held back to see how the battle was going before choosing which side to join.  Stanley's treachery  spelled defeat for Richard.

Richard's White Boar 

The knights wore armor and helmets as protection

The Well Richard drank from before battle

Medieval Armaments

Henry Tudor was victorious on this day.  This was the last battle in The War of the Roses, the struggle between the Lancasters and the Yorks.  Richard was slain on the battlefield, which rarely happened to kings because they were well armed and usually rode to battle on horseback. It was a very sad ending.  The sight was very well down and a highlight of our trip.

I don't know if you followed the news last spring but Richard's remains were found and identified in Leicester under a car park.  We were lucky enough to meet with Phillippa Langley, the woman who's responsible for believing that he could be found.  This was a several year journey for her which involved talking a city into allowing the dig, convincing archaeologists that he could possibly be there, find funding, find more funding and even more funding.  She's an amazing person with an amazing story to tell.

Matthew Morris was in charge of the dig and took us to the sight where he was found.  It was raining, but we were all excited to see exactly where he was uncovered.  The King and the Car Park is a documentary taken during the discovery.  A film crew from this original production is back in Leicester filming a follow-up. They followed us to the sight and also talked to some of our group afterwards.  Who knows, we may all be famous.

After the visit to the sight, Matthew and Phillippa told us their story.  One of the big discoveries was that Richard had scoliosis but was not a humpback as Shakespeare portrayed  him.  Ricardians everywhere feel vindicated that Richard was not the villain Shakespeare made him out to be.

This was a very emotional day for all of us.  It was so special to spend time with Phillippa and Matthew.  It was wonderful to be able to spend it with a group that really appreciated everything that was done to find Richard.

Let's Take This Show On the Road

Today, we're visiting Middleham Castle which holds a very important place in the life of Richard III.  It was a lovely drive out into the Yorkshire countryside, with rolling hills and lots of sheep.  The sheep are of the eating variety as their wool is not very soft.  This is also horse racing country which means there's a constant parade of stable boys (and girls) exercising the horses up and down the street all day long.

The castle served as Richard's home in his youth when he was sent to live in his cousin's care, something quite common among the nobility.  He also called it home after his brother, Edward IV, became King and became the Lord of the Manor so to speak.  This was his wife, Anne's, home also growing up so this group was extremely excited to spend some quality time here.

The castle is in ruins which gives you a much better perspective of the size of the structure.  There are walls and remains of fireplaces that are easily identifiable. A stairway leads to a point where the surrounding area is visible.  The castle sets on a high point which would have made it an excellent point to see a great distance. It was cool and windy during our visit.

We had just enough time to grab a pint before climbing back on the bus.  It was a quite cute pub and they were quite accommodating to open a little early for us.

Our next stop was at Sheriff Hutton near York where there's remains of a castle and also the church where it's believed that Richard and Anne's son is buried.  Several of us opted to stay out of the mist and visit another pub (see a pattern here???).  There was actually a patron there that had spent time at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.  You just never know...

We had a little time when we got back to York, so we visited the York Minster.  This church is the second largest in Europe and sits on top of Roman ruins.  These ruins are actually viewable in  the basement.  The other attraction is the stain glass windows in the church, particularly The Five Sisters, which are indeed very old and very lovely.

Since we really had not eaten lunch, we stopped in at the Evil Eye where we caught a bit of Thai food and The Beatles' St. Peppers playing with a Reggae twist.  Somehow it seemed right.

Tonight, Sharon had a reading and a reception where the newly re-released Sunne was on sale and available for signing.  Some locals joined us for the event and seemed quite thrilled to get to meet Sharon (not so much the tour group since we bought up all the books!).  I think several tour members may have to pay an overweight luggage charge going back with the addition of one or more thousand page books.  I'm sure we all think it is worth it.