Step Into The Story

This is me, with Monty the dog, sitting in the courtyard of Skipton Castle under the yew tree that was planted in 1659 by Lady Anne Clifford to mark the repair of the castle after the English Civil War. Despite enduring a three year siege during the Civil War, Skipton is one of the most complete medieval castles in England. The yew tree stands in the Conduit Court (so called because it was where the spring water bubbled out) in the centre of the castle, surrounded by a range of early Tudor buildings that remain unaltered and intact. I've never seen a tree growing inside a castle courtyard like this before although my husband swears he has been somewhere else where there was a tree just like this - and he has been racking his brains ever since to try and remember where it was! It was very peaceful and cool to sit beneath this ancient tree on what was a very hot day and read all about the castle in the guidebook. It was also very nice to be able to take our very well-behaved dog int...

After we picked up our narrowboat we set off westward along the Leeds to Liverpool Canal. Our first stop was at Kildwick in the area known as Craven in Yorkshire. During the 1970s I sang in the choir of the parish church here with my grandparents and I had not been back since they left when I was 11 years old. It was exactly as I remembered it and I felt a very strong sense of nostalgia. The original Saxon church at Kildwick dated back to the 10th century. It had a heavy oak- timbered roof thatched with straw overlaid with turf and a very broad low tower. Some of the stone from the Saxon churchyard cross was found embedded in the wall of the current church chancel in the early 20th century. The rest of this early church has vanished, replaced by a medieval building that is very beautiful. In the same period the earliest bridge over the River Aire was built at Kildwick, costing £21.12.09. The box pews or ‘close pues’ or ‘privey closets’ as they were called in the 17th century with door...

This is Hardwick Hall on the border of Derbyshire and Yorkshire, a house described as "more window than wall." I'd never been to Hardwick Hall before last weekend, a shocking omission when I consider myself to be a fan of the Tudor period and of Bess of Hardwick in particular, that tough, shrewd woman who worked her way up society from her beginnings as the daughter of a poor gentry family and ended up founding a dynasty. One of the first historical novels I read was a fictional biography of Bess of Hardwick entitled only "Bess." It enthralled me and fostered my fascination with history and I dearly wish I had kept my copy or could at least remember the author's name. So last weekend, on the way to my research trip/canal boat holiday in Yorkshire, I finally made my pilgrimage to Hardwick Hall. When I came out of my tour of the house I was so stunned and over-awed I couldn't speak for about an hour. This happens to me sometimes when I've seen a play...

Last weekend I was out on a walk in Oxfordshire near Henley-on-Thames and came across something I never expected to see in the English countryside. This. I suppose I should have learned by now to expect the unexpected - Britain is eccentric in so many ways and so to find an Indian-style obelisk in a small village is not that surprising. This is The Maharajah's Well in the village of Stoke Row. It was a gift to the people of Stoke Row from the Maharajah of Benares, a friend of a prominent local landowner, Mr Edward Anderdon Reade. Mr Reade was Governor of the Northwest Provinces of India and during his time there presented a well to the people of India. As there was an absence of available water in the Stoke Row area, the Maharajah generously reciprocated the gesture to demonstrate his feelings for England and as a token of friendship with Mr Reade. Work on the well commenced in 1863 and it was officially opened just over a year later. It is 368 feet deep (taller than St Paul's...

A few weeks ago I bought a book called " Clean and Decent: The Fascinating History of the Bathroom and Water Closet ." It struck me that sanitation is so rarely mentioned in romance books unless there's a steamy scene in the baths such as I included in The Scandals of an Innocent . Perhaps this is because bathrooms and water closets are so determinedly unromantic; functional but not quite nice to talk about. And yet the history of sanitation is fascinating and without developments in sanitation engineering, where would be be today? I cannot do justice to the whole of Clean and Decent here but I would like to share some little gems that I have picked out. The bidet was first mentioned in 1710 when the Marquis d'Argenson was enchanted to be granted audience by Madame de Prie whilst she sat. What they talked about is not recorded. In the 19th century a novelty of the chamber pot was that some had concealed musical boxes which gave a concert of appropriate chamber music...

Now here is an idea for a story setting! I was reading my English Heritage magazine and came across a reference to the medieval vaulted passageways that lie beneath the City of Exeter. Apparently they were built to supply fresh drinking water to the city and are unique in the UK. These days they are a tourist attraction. Exeter's early water supply came from springs and the Roman garrison sourced water from two local springs and brought it into the city via an aqueduct. In the Middle Ages, Exeter became a great ecclesiastical centre and the earliest passage was built between 1346 and 1349 to serve the city's cathedral. The water pipes ended at a fountain in Cathedral Close that supplied clean water to Exeter's clergy. The same stonemasons who worked on the magnificent cathedral were also tasked with constructing the vaulted underground passageways and their masons' marks can be seen on the walls. The tunnels were constructed by digging a trench in the clay, lining it w...

Happy May Day! Today is the pagan festival of Beltane, marked by the lighting of bonfires, the first day of summer in the Celtic calendar. It is also a time of other festivities; bringing in the May, dancing around the maypole, and dressing up as a tree if you so wish. Also on this day: Arthur Wellesley, The Duke of Wellington, Irish-born soldier, statesman and Prime Minister was born in 1769. The Act of Union united England and Scotland in 1707. Betting shops became legal in the UK in 1961.