Woke to a glorious Cardiff morning:
Went to
Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, bastion of Simon de Montfort, John of Gaunt (Father of the Lancasterians), and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who wooed or not Elizabeth I (It depends on what "woo" means, not to mention "virgin" Queen).
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| We approach Kenilworth, a beautiful, red-sandstone castle. |
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| The Gatehouse at Kenilworth, at least, was kept up. |
Then we edged into the suburbs of Birmingham to visit J.R.R. Tolkien's stomping grounds as a youth. He had this really great wood to explore just out from his house. Wait. I had one of those too! It really did remind me of the woods across 84th Ave. on Finn Hill, Kirkland, Washington. That was even contemporaneous with my first reading of Tolkien. Wonderful, wonderful times!
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| My wife heads into the Great Forest |
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| Now that's a tree! |
When we walked out of the woods, we saw the house Tolkien's Family lived in. At least some elderly ladies told us it was the right house.
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| Tolkien's home on the edge of the woods |
Just down the street is the Sarehole Mill which inspired Tolkien's mill at Bywater.
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| Sarehole Mill |
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| I was convinced. |
Then it was off to Stratford-upon-River (for you Saxon speakers out there).
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| Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre |
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| Shakespeare's House |
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| The Avon at Stratford |
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| RSC promo for Doctor Who as Richard II or maybe Elrond. |
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