Road Trip 2018 ; Visit to St Mawes Catle (1)

Two years ago on our last visit to Cornwall, we went to Pendennis Castle. This year we visited its partner, St Mawes Castle.

This map above I have copied from the English Heritage Guidebook to the two castles. They were built in the 1540's during the reign of Henry VIII to protect Carrick Roads.

Carrick Roads was formed during the last Ice Age so it somewhat fjord-like. It is the estuary of the River Fal and some other streams. During the 15th century there was a major naval base in Falmouth so Henry's engineers built the two forts which, as the crow flies, are only about a mile apart so they would create a crossfire to protect the Roads.

Carrick Roads is unbridged below Truro. We were travelling from the West and would have to drive through Truro to get to St Mawes. However, there is a ferry at King Henry Reach that saves about thirty miles off the journey.

The ferry has been in continuous use for centuries, the earliest written mention is around 1530. The current ferry was built in 2006 and can carry 30 - 35 cars. It is a vehicular chain ferry and it takes about 10 minutes to cross the river. The King Henry it is named after is thought not to be King Henry VIII, but King Henry VI as there is a small chapel nearby that is dedicated to Henry VI after he was murdered in the Tower of London, one of the two Princes allegedly killed on the orders of the future Richard III.

We arrived at St Mawes and could easily see Pendennis across the water.

Austin Seven

We live in a small country town, Easingwold, in North Yorkshire, population around 5000.

Twice or three times a month I see someone driving down the main street in an Austin Seven. These diminutive cars were made during the '20s and '30s and had a 747cc engine. The car was about half the size and weight of a Ford Model T. They were a very tight squeeze for four people, probably middle class families of two adults and two children.

Every time I see him, I want to stop the car and ask about the car and why and how much he drives it around. But I have not seen it parked anywhere and I wont try to stop the car as it goes down the street, there is a bit of a slope down the hill and I'm not sure how well the brakes work.

Road Trip 2018 : A day in Worcester & the Commandery

A day trip to Worcester, starting with the statue of Edward Elgar, previously listed, then the Cathedral.

Stained glass memorials from WW1

Colonel Ellis who was at the Battle of Waterloo

Tomb of Rt Hon Stanley Baldwin, three times UK Prime Minister

Tomb of King John

In his mouth, this lion has the tip of King John's sword, I don't know why

Tomb of Prince Arthur, older brother of the future King Henry VIII

Boat trip

Rowing club building

The museum we went to, The Commandery, was something of a surprise, a very nice surprise. This is quite a small museum with a few very good exhibits, but with lots of charm and enthusiasm.

In 1651, the future Charles II attempted to raise rebellion against the Parliamentary government. A Scots Army of around 16,000 moved down the West side of England and took Worcester. Parliamentary forces laid siege to the city. The Commandery was the headquarters of the Scots forces. These two photos are from Google Images.

There was a very interesting lecture on the weaponry of the period.

An introductory video

and a nice cafe

Delivery awaiting return

We are back from ten days in the South-West, Gloucester, Mousehole in Cornwall and Lynton, Devon. We visited a number of interesting places that I will share in future posts, but now I'd like to show a couple of purchases.

First though, a photo that I like from our visit to Worcester.

That's me at the feet of one of my music heroes, Edward Elgar. He is dressed in his Sunday best suit and college gown that he wore on receiving an honorary degree (I cannot remember the awarding college).

Back to the purchases. Dave Thomas has been listing a number of Ral Partha figures, so I left a bid for eight Ottoman Sipahis, sans chevaux, and I won with a bid of four pounds.

I have some spears but the horses are a little more difficult. The website, dndlead.com, has PDFs of Ral Partha catalogues, or catalogs as they call them. The sipahis are listed as part of their Condottieri range and a line drawing shows them on horses like these.

I have six of these but these were bought with six mounted janissaries that I am planning to paint soon. I have looked at the websites for Ral Partha Europe and the USA company but the horses are not listed. Maybe Minifigs or Essex will have something.

My second purchase was six palm trees from S&A Scenics, cost fifteen pounds plus postage.

Photo with flash on

Flash off, less detail but better colour.

I like these very much. The bases are too light in colour for me so I will darken them. To give an idea about their size, I have arranged them on the table with a few figures.

No flash

With flash

Irregular Miniatures Wallachian cavalry escorting a Hinchliffe bullock cart with an Essex driver.

"Christopher Robin"

This weekend's film outing in York. Lunch at Wagamama was good, particularly the BangBang Cauliflower which  was fantastic. Unfortunately, the film turned out to be a bad choice, a very muddled and disappointing film. Left me feeling like Eeyore, (not much of a film for not much of a donkey).

Back Garden Charnel House

Mr & Mrs Pheasant. In their pomp - Early April 

Comrade Foy recently wrote a nice, witty blog post about a wounded woodpigeon. Unfortunately, this year we have not been so fortunate. Yesterday B called me into our back garden as she had spotted a dead blackbird in the back border. This has been the fourth casualty.

On two occasions, greenfinches have flown into our conservatory windows and died.

Two months ago, I heard a very loud crash against the kitchen window. I went out to look and found Mrs Pheasant dead under the roses. B came out and we had a discussion as to what to do with the corpse. This is a large, meaty piece of game, a real shame to waste it but we are townies, we don't know how to dress a bird, how to pluck, gut and hang game. B had an idea. At her stables, there are lots of country folk who would have the necessary skills, she would put a message on the stables' Facebook page. Sure enough, within ten minutes some one had claimed the bird.

Last Monday, I travelled over the hills to visit my parents in Cheshire. I was telling them about the passing of Mrs Pheasant and my father said we should have asked him to dress it. He were a lad during the War and did not see service. He does not talk about the War very often but this time he told how his cousin was the Butchery Manager at the local Co-op store, responsible for ensuring the rationing regime was complied with but that the cousin was always on the lookout for a few extra shillings. He had a flock of chickens and my father had to look after them after school. On occasion this would involve the demise of a bird and my father learnt how to ring a neck and pluck and dress the bird. What he did not say was whether the bird was eaten by the family or went into the black market where it would have a good price tag. A nice little bit of history from my father.

Mr Pheasant continues to visit our garden for lunch, just not so frequently or noisily.

Mission : Impossible FALLOUT

Last weekend's trip to CityScreen cinema in York.

I thought it was excellent, a good piece of fun, very entertaining but definitely not to be taken seriously. B found it OK but boring in parts.