Brucato's Go Museum Hopping!: Oh, dear, Richard III!

Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Hello!

Snow Drops

Well, today has certainly been an interesting day! But to start at the beginning…Stew, our friend and neighbor, has asked that we include more photos of where we’re staying. So, I took a string of pictures on our Bibury cottage; hope they can convey the spirit of the place…we slept on the top floor, which was great, as heat rises and it was really nice and warm. The only tricky part is getting from the top floor to the first floor in the middle of the night … one wrong step, and down we’ll go! However, going down to the ground floor – brrrr…and it is SO cold out today; I am wearing my shoes on the ground floor at all times, as the stone floor won’t warm up until JULY – and I’m not sure I mean 2013!

Bosworth Field - First Guess

Bosworth Field - Current Candidate

Leicester Cathedral & Guild Hall

In Leicester Cathedral

Leicester Cathedral

Leicester Cathedral Hammer Beam Angel Roof

Up about 7, breakfast here and out the door a bit after 8. We’ve decided to head to Bosworth Battlefield today, as it is supposed to be getting colder and wetter as the days go on. Bosworth is where the final battle in the War of the Roses took place – between King Richard III and Henry Tudor, and where Richard III was killed in battle in 1485. There has been a great deal of excitement in the Leicester area lately, as the group looking for the tomb of Richard III actually found it several months ago. It has been verified by two different sets of DNA; relatives – I think a great-nephew 17 times removed – and another lady in the same family. The vertebrae were also very much marked by scoliosis, which was also a sign of Richard III. At any rate, Richard slept in Leicester (at the Blur Boar Inn) the night before the battle, and his body was brought back to Leicester after the battle; the folks there are very partial to Richard III (in fact, there is a Richard III Society that defends his name and reputation) and they are planning on re-interring his remains in the church as soon as the scientists are finished with them. (Although apparently the city of York is also getting into the battle, saying Richard belongs to them rather than Leicester…) But the fact that his remains were discovered at all – they were discovered in the parking lot of the county council (like our city council) underneath the parking lot, is truly amazing. They have a very good archaeology department at the University of Leicester, and there is some wonderful footage of the archeologists as they were uncovering the bones; really great stuff!

At any rate, we headed to the battlefield first. Too many years ago to count, Robert and I were up this way, (again, in the winter) and we walked what was then known as Bosworth Field. Well…apparently, it has moved since then! The exact location of the battlefield was finally confirmed in 2010! At that time, the university and the local council decided to make an exact study – and voila, the battlefield site moved by several miles! There is now an exhibition center there (but on the wrong site!), with some interesting exhibits for both adults and kids. To be honest, it was breathtakingly cold with a great wind blowing – so we looked and did a little bit of walking, but did not do like the last time – walk all around the battlefield.

We had some great tomato soup in their canteen, and then pushed off into Leicester. Having never been there before, it was interesting to visit. Next door to the cathedral they have set up a free exhibition including all sorts of details about the dig and the finding of Richard III’s remains. The queue was fairly short – we only had to wait about 20 minutes or so, and we very much enjoyed it. After that, we went through the cathedral; a really spectacular place, including a stunning angel roof!

By now it was after 3:30 p.m. so we decided to head back to Bibury. Between Emmy (our GPS) and Robert, we got home about 5.

Crab & Salmon Fish Cakes

Wild Mushroom & Poached Egg on Toast

We decided to go back to the Catherine Wheel for dinner tonight, as we had had such a wonderful dinner there last night. Got there a bit early – about 5:45 p.m. (the dining room opens at 6 p.m.) so spent some time in the bar with glasses of wine. At 6 we got our “usual” table and ordered dinner. Robert started with crab and salmon fish cakes with salad. I had wild mushrooms and poached egg on toast; terrific! As it was “pie night” I had the chicken-leek-bacon pie, with a mound of peas, potatoes, leek and carrots. Robert had his favorite fish – plaice – again, but this time simply grilled, again served with the peas, carrots, potatoes and leeks. Dessert was amazing – chocolate torte with honey vanilla ice cream for me, and apple crumble for Robert (I got his ice cream).