First stop was Stokesay, a fortified manor house, the unfortunate part was that the impressive gatehouse was undergoing restoration. Built in 1281 it nicely reflects the period of transition from castle to manor house
The second Goodrich was quite a contrast as it was very much a classic idea of a castle built on a rock spur overlooking the river Wye. The effect was enhanced by strong winds and snow shower just as we reached it and we sheltered from the blizzard in the gateway listening to the audio tour. From then on the weather improved and we left in bright sunshine It is certainly well worth a visit, especially for the ascent of the keep up very uneven steep and dark winding stairs.
Once in Bath I attempted to do some research in the Reference Library on the battle of Lansdown. In my late teens I spent days in the Reference Library, then in Queens Square, as they had an extensive military section, but all this seems to have disappeared, and they didn't even have a book on Landsdown in the collection, except at Frome(why there?). I found a few bits but I'll have to use Interlibrary loan to find more.
2 comments:
Such are the state of our modern libraries - I blame the internet - people seem to do all their research there these days..
For Landsdown I do recommend the Battlefields trust site though, very very good... and a long time ago I visited and posted on Landsdown... a nice simple battlefield to visit and navigate around...
Reminds me of a conversation I had with the librarian of my Alma Mater - the library had owned a complete run of the journal of the Irish Military History Society. I asked him where they had gone and he replied that they had been junked as such fascist warmongering didn't gel with the ethos of the college.
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