Betwixt Christmas and New Year

We are now in January. Christmas and New year has been and gone and the decorations packed away for another year.

On one of the days between Christmas and New year we went for a walk around a nearby mill town, Mossley.

The Old School House and Town Hall

We called in at a cafe in Uppermill for coffee and cake on the way home.

We also went to The Royal Armouries in Leeds.

I was very interested in some of the objects and how they were displayed. It wasn't all war and guns.

We also popped down to visit my mother-in-law in Shropshire. We managed a walk from  Bromfield Mill and past Oakly Park. The sun was setting and we enjoyed a short walk then back for a hot meal and a catch up. The next day we wandered around Ludlow for an hour before coming home to Yorkshire.

We have been to Ludlow many times but we have never been in The Feathers.

The Feathers

Catherine of Aragon once lived in Ludlow-

From a very young age she was considered to be a suitable wife for Arthur Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. On the 14^th of November 1501 they were married at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Arthur’s younger brother, Henry, escorted Catherine.

After their marriage, the young couple were sent to Ludlow Castle on the Welsh border so that Arthur could preside over the Council of Wales and the Marches as his position dictated. The couple stayed in Castle Lodge, Ludlow but less than five months into their marriage Catherine and Arthur became very ill, possibly with the ‘sweating sickness’, and although Catherine made a full recovery, Arthur perished. On the 2 April 1502 Catherine found herself a widow in a strange country.

Visitors to Castle Lodge have reported seeing the spectre of a teenage girl wearing Tudor costume. The apparition walks the attic corridors as well as visiting the nursery. Feelings of being watched and cold drafts have also been reported. One eye-witness even came rushing out of the attic room in a visible state of terror after allegedly having witnessed the young girl disappear through a closed door.

Legend has it that this young girl is the ghost of Catherine of Aragon who has returned to the home she once inhabited with her young husband, the Prince of Wales. Presumably, being drawn back by the happy memories they once shared within the walls of the lodge.

We also managed a walk around Heptonstall on New Years Eve.

Every Christmas the Post Office in Heptonstal puts on a lovely display of 'The Snowman'.

Lunch at Towngate Tearooms

And then New Years Eve we went to Barkisland Cricket Club to watch the fireworks then back home to see the New Year in comfy on the sofa with a glass of fizz and in my pajamas!

Happy New Year!