"On the Road" - Lest We Forget

"On the road..." is a series of posts about our Discovery of Britain's highways and byways.  Whether it be some family fun, a surprising connection or just a beautiful spot we want to share our love for this country with you.  

Today we visit Ledbury's War Memorial

This Sunday is Remembrance Sunday and around the country thousands will pay their respects to those who died protecting our freedom.   Today we visit just one such memorial to conduct an exercise of more detailed remembrance.

Opposite the gateway to the alms houses is a war memorial commemorating Ledbury’s dead from both World Wars.  On the lower First World War section are some charming mosaics of an angel, a seaman, and a soldier.   The upper Second World War section adds an airman. 

It is easy to walk on by our country’s war memorials without considering what they represent.  Let me give you a small sampling of what I mean.  On the World War One Section you will find:

Thomas Andrews – a 42 year old bricklayer.    Frank Davies: a 21 year old footman.  Leonard Hathaway: 21. Baker.    Victor Henley:  19. Grocer’s assistant.   William Ranford: 25. Fruit farmer.  And John Watts 23. Bank clerk. 

It is easy to just see names and forget that they all had simple lives in a small, English market town.  

The youngest was 18 years old.  The oldest 55, with an average age of 26. 

It is easy to forget they were husbands, fathers and sons.  21 were married, 58 were single -a generation of young men wiped out. 

For instance:  David Evan Owens aged 34 was a monumental mason and had a six year old daughter.

Walter Bradley was just 19 - unmarried with his whole life ahead of him.   His step-brother Thomas Pritchard aged 26, was married and died two years later. 

Benjamin Chadd aged 33 and Robert Chadd aged 19 were the oldest and youngest sons of James and Emma Chadd.  Both sons were killed at sea - one in 1914 and the other in 1918.   A third son, Walter Clifford Chad aged 27, died in Egypt. 

These men are all buried near to where they fell – scattered around the world in Turkey, France, Italy, Israel, in Flanders fields and some, like James Theakstone, aged 20, are lost at sea – he was aboard a ship mined off the coast of Ireland killing 350.

Only three of these World War One names made it home, but even they did not survive long.  Ledbury cemetery contains the graves of Frank Walters (19) who died of his wounds in England along with Harold Wilks (27) and Archibald Chadd. 

A similar exercise could be done with the World War Two names, but the message would be the same:  these are not just names engraved on a pretty plaque.  These were very Real people who made a very real sacrifice.   In the words of Laurence Binyon (1914):

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

This is an excerpt from the tour Ledbury which explores this medieval market town.  The full tour is found on www.obelisktours.co.uk

"Literary Links" - Herefordshire Poets

"Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.

Ledbury is rightly proud of their homegrown poet Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, but she is not the only poet to emerge from Herefordshire's influence.

·         William Langland (1332-1386) was born in Ledbury and wrote the famous medieval poem Piers Plowman (1379), which relates the tale of a man falling asleep on Malvern Hills and dreaming of the true Christian life.   The poem was influential in its day, and was often connected with the 1381 Peasant’s Revolt - though the text seeks reform of the church and society it was not advocating rebellion. 

Robert Frost

·         The American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) lived in England during 1912 to 1915.  He often went walking around Ledbury with Edward Thomas (1878-1917) who was consistently indecisive about which route they should take.  That inspired Frost to write the poem “The Road Not Taken”…

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The poem was meant to be playful, but Thomas took it seriously and decided to enlist to fight in World War One.   That road certainly made a difference for two years later he was killed in action leaving a widow and three children.  

John Masefield

  

·         John Masefield (1878-1967) was born in Ledbury where, as a young man, he became acutely aware of the beauty around him and the power of using his imagination to create stories in minute detail.   After the early loss of his parents he joined the navy at age 13, enjoyed living in the "dazzling, beautiful exciting city" of New York at age 17, and returned to live in England at age 19.  After marriage (1903) and fathering two children (1904 & 1910) he rekindled his creative voice and finally found success in 1911 with the release of the narrative poem "Everlasting Mercy".  He had a prolific creative career writing poems, novels, plays and non-fiction.  Some of his poems drew heavily on his childhood such as "Reynard the Fox" describing fox hunting around Ledbury, and "The Widow of Bye Street" - Bye Street being a major street in the town.   In 1930 he was made Poet Laureate.

This poetical tradition along with the nearby Dymock Poets influenced the founding of the annual Ledbury Poetry Festival in 1997 which is held over ten days each July.  It is claimed to be Britain’s largest Poetry Festival.

This is an excerpt from the tour Ledbury which explores this medieval market town.  The full tour is found on www.obelisktours.co.uk

"Literary Links" - Winchester Geese

"Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.

Brothels were all part of Southwark’s entertainment facilities and surprisingly they were under the stewardship of the Bishops of Winchester whose palace once stood here.  

Remains of  Winchester Palace

The Bishop collected rents or a licensing fee from the pimps or stewhouses.  In 1161 you would have found 22 licensed brothels – Bankside was notorious as a den of vice – and the prostitutes became known as the Winchester Geese.   

Rose Window, Winchester Palace

Shakespeare refers to this unusual alliance in the play Henry VI.  The Duke of Gloucester confronts the Bishop of Winchester about the morality of the church profiting from prostitution. 

Gloucester:  “Thou that givest whores indulgences to sin,I’ll canvas thee in thy broad Cardinal’s Hat,If thou proceed in this, thy insolence…Under my feet I’ll stamp thy Cardinal’s Hat,In spite of Pope or dignities of Church,Here by thy cheeks I’ll drag thee up and down.”
Winchester:  “Gloucester thou wilt answer this before the Pope.”
Gloucester:   “Winchester goose  I cry, a rope! a rope!’…Thee I’ll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep’s array.Out, tawny coats! Out, scarlet hypocrite!

If you caught syphilis or other sexual diseases it would often be referred to as being “bit by a Winchester Goose” or “getting goose bumps”.   Shakespeare makes use of this threat of infection in his play Troilus and Cressida.  The following use of the word “galled” refers to a sore on the skin made very sore or uncomfortable by constant rubbing.

“… but that my fear is this, some galled goose of Winchester would hiss,Till then I’ll sweat and seek about for eases,And at that time, bequeath you my diseases.” 

To Shakespeare’s contemporary audience this reference would have made perfect sense.  

This is an excerpt from the tour London River Walks - South Bank which explores the southern bank of the River Thames.  The full tour is found on  www.obelisktours.co.uk

"Literary Links" - Oscar Wilde in Oxford

"Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.

·         Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wils Wilde  (1854-1900) found a confidence in Oxford that ignited him.  He was a brilliant student but craved an audience to perform to.  Oxford’s ancient walls had served their preparatory purpose, but now he yearned to break out and please the world.  He became a playwright, novelist, essayist, poet and wit.  Some of his more well known works include The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).  He was prone to shock, and was imprisoned for being homosexual (1895).  He said, “The two great turning points of my life were when my father sent me to Oxford, and when society sent me to prison.”   He continued to love Oxford:

“I envy you going to Oxford: it is the most flower-like time of one’s life.  One sees the shadow of things in silver mirrors.”

 “In spite of the roaring of the young lions at the Union, and the screaming of the rabbits in the home of the vivisect, in spite of Keble College, and the tramways, and the sporting prints, Oxford still remains the most beautiful thing in England, and nowhere else are life and art so exquisitely blended, so perfectly made one.”

This is an excerpt from the tour Oxford’s Noble and Great Ones - Part 1  which explores around the southern part of Oxford.  The full tour is found on www.obelisktours.co.uk

"Literary Links" - London - 'How Green was my... Love Bug'

"Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.

Quaintly snuggled between the Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre is a surprising row of 18^th Century homes - surprising in that they have even survived on this busy waterfront. 

The ornate plaque on number 49 declares that Christopher Wren (1632-1723) stayed here while working on St Paul’s Cathedral opposite (between 1675-1710), but this is a dubious claim.  We do know that as the head of the Office of Works he had a house in New Scotland Yard near Trafalgar Square.  We also know he went on to have a home near Hampton Court, leased to him by Queen Anne, and a London home in St James’s Street where he died.  The assertion that he lived here at number 49 is not supported, particularly since this building was not built until 1710 – the same year St Paul’s was finished!

However, there is a claim that the plaque once stood on a home east of here which was demolished, and the ceramic plaque was saved and put here.  

Despite debunking the claim for one famous resident number 49 can still lay claim to be the home for five years (1934-1939) of the English Actor and film director Robert Stevenson (1905-1986) and his wife the actress Anna Lee (1913-2004).

Robert Stevenson

  Robert’s name may not be as recognisable as Wrens, but you will instantly know his work.  He directed over 50 movies including King Solmon’s Mines (1937), Mary Poppins (1964), The Love Bug (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and Herbie Rides Again (1974).  

Anna Lee

Anna Lee was in over 60 films including How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), The Sound of Music (1965) and in the American soap opera General Hospital.  

This is an excerpt from the tour London River Walks - South Bank which explores the southern bank of the River Thames.  The full tour is found on  www.obelisktours.co.uk

"Literary Links" - Elizabeth Barrett-Browning

"Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.

Ledbury's Clock Tower and old Library building were constructed in 1892 and are named The Barrett- Browning Institute in honour of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861). 

Mr Edward Moulton Barrett (1785-1857) lived just outside of Ledbury near the village of Colwall.   He was the wealthy owner of Jamaican sugar plantations run by slave labour.   His oldest daughter Elizabeth was cursed with poor health, but found great solace in reading and composing her own poems from an early age – poems which were good enough to be published and acclaimed.    Some of her poems actively opposed slavery – which was an awkward position to be in to advocate the end of your own father’s business. 

In 1844, now 38 years old, she published a volume simply called ‘Poems’.  It caught the eye of a fellow poet Robert Browning (1812-1889) who started corresponding.  Letters turned to love and love turned to marriage.   Her father was horrified at such a match.  He never forgave Elizabeth when she secretly married, and he disinherited her.   His embittered soul was finally laid to rest in Ledbury parish church where a memorial depicts him ascending into the heavens.   It is such a pity that he did not put aside his anger, and forgive and move on. 

Elizabeth’s words influenced other poets like Edgar Allan Poe, and Emily Dickinson.  One of Elizabeth’s most oft quoted poems is:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.

This is an excerpt from the tour Ledbury which explores this medieval market town.  The full tour is found on www.obelisktours.co.uk

"Literary Links" - Wordsworth's Ledbury Bells

"Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.

Our visit today is the site of St Katherine’s Hospital in Ledbury.  A plan of how the hospital complex would have looked is engraved in the pavement and shows an assortment of hospital and farm buildings including the remaining Chapel, Hall, and almshouses.

St Katherine's Chapel & Hall, Ledbury
The Master's House stands behind this building

The hospital was named after Katherine Audley (1272-1322) the cousin of King Edward II (1284-1327).   Her husband had died and local legend claims she heard the bells of Ledbury ringing without any bell ringers and took it as a sign that she and her attendant Mabel should settle here and establish a hospital for the poor.  William Wordsworth (1770-1850) captured her experience in his poem St. Catherine of Ledbury (1835)   ....

Ledbury bells Broke forth in concert flung adown the dells,
And upward, high as Malvern’s cloudy crest;
Sweet tones, and caught by a noble Lady blest
To rapture! Mabel listened at the side
Of her loved mistress: soon the music died,

And Catherine said, “Here I set up my rest.”
Warned in a dream, the Wanderer long had sought
A home that by such miracle of sound
Must be revealed: --she heard it now, or felt
The deep, deep joy of a confiding thought;
And there, a saintly Anchoress, she dwelt
Till she exchanged for heaven that happy ground.

In fact the hospital was founded in 1232 - some 80 years before Katherine's arrival - by Bishop Hugh Foliot (1155-1234), Bishop of Hereford, but Katherine’s will of 1313 helped it to expand and, quite fittingly, was named after her. 

Master's House during renovation

The Masters House is looking very fresh after its modern refurbishment.  The original timber framed open hall house was erected around 1487 and had additions added in the 16^th, 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries.  In recent years (2011-2015) the whole building was protected and hidden away under a huge umbrella of scaffolding and tarpaulin.   Underneath this watertight cocoon the whole place was gutted – over 450 skips of waste were removed!  The roof was stripped of its tiles and the long process of carefully restoring the ancient roof timbers began.   The stripping back to the bare medieval structure revealed some great original features the best of which has to be the fabulous roof which has to be seen from inside to be appreciated. 

 The building now houses Ledbury's public library so is open most days for you to enjoy these timber delights. 

This is an excerpt from the tour Ledbury  which explores this delightful medieval market town.  The full tour is found on www.obelisktours.co.uk