1116 days ago
The good news is that we should be up to 12 rogue bloggers for Woodlarks by the end of the weekend. The bad news is that Lucian Miers has walked the course and it is indeed 34 miles, not the usual 33, and the last 1.5 miles are all uphill, just when one is ready to collapse. And thus I must train ever harder as this walk is the most important I have ever done and I must finish.
1191 days ago
If you were to stick to the banks of the river Dee, I guess the castle is only c300 yards away. But that is not possible – one has to head up the lane and then down another, rather muddy, path to reach the ruin of what was once a great fortress. The stones from here were bought by the Duke of Westminster to build his pile down the road in the 1670s, the fortress itself having been largely destroyed after a Civil war siege. Almost certainly, stones from the castle were also used in building the Welsh Hovel.
1227 days ago
The big project at the Welsh Hovel this Autumn has been the restoration of an old kitchen from the 1600s. By Tuesday I hope to be able to show you something that is 90% complete but here is one piece of history now coming to life. The view is from the hall in the centre of the house into the kitchen; you can see the new Aga at the far end and the beams which we have exposed and got back towards their original condition.
