Sunday 3 April 2011

To the castle

On the little green ride in March we stumbled upon a castle! Well, when I say, more an old house. And there isn't much left it (it fits into the corner of a farmyard).

Someries Castle is just outside Luton. In fact it is almost under the flight path of Luton Airport. The current building which is apparently one of the oldest brick buildings in the UK, was built in the fifteenth century and was a more a fortified manor house than a full blown castle. It was the home of Sir John Wenlock who fought on both sides in the War of the Roses, first for the Lancastrians, then for the Yorkists, before switching back again. He was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 possibly as a traitor. He has been called the Prince of Traitors by one historian.

Lunch had been at the Bright Star in Peters Green. The managers were moving on (to run a coffee shop at London Bridge) so there wasn't much food left, although they very kindly went out to get extra bread so they could lay on sandwiches for us.

The castle was near to Peters Green so we took a detour to see that after lunch before meandering on to Whitwell and Emily's tea room for a tea stop. Because there was so many of us (nearly twenty) and because of the detour, the ride took a little longer than usual. We didn't make it back to Stevenage station until gone five. However, it was nice rehearsal for those longer, more leisurely rides with the longer days ahead of us.

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