There and Back

Tuesday dawned rather dull and it was difficult to guess what the weather would do. However as the sun began to peep through, we headed out to Raglan Castle. First impressions were spot on - the place is huge!  It is a magnificent Tudor-period sandstone structure, which was not built specifically as a defence as the other great castles of Wales had been. Instead, it was designed mainly as a statement of wealth and influence.  A manor had existed on the site before William ap Thomas acquired the property through marriage in 1406. A veteran of Agincourt in 1415, ap Thomas enjoyed the favour of King Henry VI and was knighted in 1426. He wanted to demonstrate his upwardly-mobile status, so set out on an ambitious building plan for Raglan. In 1435 he began work on the Great Tower, also known as the Yellow Tower of Gwent, but he was never to see it completed, as ap Thomas died in 1445. The building work was continued by his son, William, who took the surname Herbert.  Herbert continu

These images were taken over a weekend when we did a tour of these local villages. You can see what a wonderful part of the world in which we live!. The Lavenham houses are not all named but give a sample of the village in general. Unfortunately, because of tourism, the streets are often clogged with traffic but that is the price we pay in today's world.  Lavenham is one of the United Kingdom’s best-kept medieval villages with over three hundred listed buildings.  The Crooked House The Swan Hotel. The building started life as a guildhall. It belonged to the Guild of the Blessed Virgin, one of the four medieval guilds in Lavenham. It was converted into a Wool Hall in the late seventeenth century. It was restored by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll around 1911 who then transferred it to Mrs Culver and it became the Railway Women's Convalescent Home. It was incorporated into the Swan Hotel in 1963. The Guildhall, also known as the Guildhall