Oakham

I drove - to extend my range since I have begun driving again after a four months pause, because of my broken wrist.

We strolled around, just looking.  First stop was the Castle - a very small one, built between 1180 and 1190, in the reign of Henry II for Walchelin de Ferriers, Lord of the Manor of Oakham. It was principally a fortified manor house. It did at one time have a curtain wall, a gatehouse and a drawbridge with iron chains. Oakham Castle probably also had towers at strategic points along the walls as well as a moat.

Ever since a horseshoe was presented by Edward IV in 1470 after his victory at the Battle of Losecoat Field, there has been a tradition that any peer of the realm visiting Oakham should present the Lord of the Manor with a horseshoe. 230 of them are displayed on the walls of the Great Hall, all hung so that no devil can swing in them, as is the Rutland way.

It is thought that they are linked to the de Ferrers name (meaning farrier) and family crest.

Lorraine Cornwell - Rutland County Museum

We walked past the Butter Cross or Market Cross

The stocks have five holes for some reason.

We walked through the churchyard of All Saints church, 

and came across the Old School building. The history is intriguing.

On the lighter stone is carved  SCHOLA LATINA       GRAECA    HEBRAICA    Ao 1584

These were the subjects the master was to teach.

This inscription uses Hebrew and Greek lettering. The bottom part may be in Latin, but is illegible.

SIG COM GUBERN SCHOLAR ET HOSPICHORUM IN OKEHAM ET UPPINGHAM IN COM RUTL

. . . . . . . . . . .      school and hospital(?) in Oakham and Uppingham in the county of Rutland.

Along the end wall is some old, rather stylish graffiti

He is photographing the graffiti, not adding to it!

For more about Oakham see Oddities of Oakham  and Colours of Oakham on a dull day from my photo blog.  And on this blog The Walk that wasn't .

The walk that wasn't

Ever seen the 1970 film Out of Towners? Jack Lemmon stars as a guy from Ohio going for a job interview in NYC.  His well-laid plans to indulge his wife with a room at the Waldorf and a gourmet meal the night before gang very aglae as fog closes the airport in New York and the plane diverts to Boston. And that's just the start of their woes.

I watched the film on Wednesday night, and felt I was living a, thankfully, tamer version on Friday. 

We were going to walk about 11 miles, starting around 9.30. With luck we'd have a decent walk before the forecast rain began in the afternoon.   Crossed wires - well, misunderstood emails - screwed up our meeting point, but hey this happens, and luckily there was Benjamin Grosvenor playing piano on Radio Three, so I wasn't fretting.    

We eventually met up, and I was driving quite happily along a narrowish country road, when some nameless unknown character drove a little too close to me and with a flamboyant bang destroyed my offside wing mirror.  

Hell - we needed some coffee now, so a change of plan took us into a convenient garden centre café.  No problem and it was past 10 am, so I was up for my caffeine shot.  The lack of a wing mirror was niggling though - it's quite possible to drive without it, but takes some getting used to. 

Second change of plan - we headed to Oakham to see if anyone could fix it. As they couldn't we parked the car, kitted ourselves out in walking gear - boots, backpacks, maps dangling from our necks, the works. You can guess the next thing - the rain turned up on time and settled in for the day.

Here is Hudson's life story as a royal favourite, then as a slave in North Africa, his return to England, and later imprisonment as a Roman Catholic traitor.

So, a mile round Oakham, lunch and a return home.  As we walked back to the car, someone smiled cheerfully and said, "Not much of a day for walking, is it?"  Little did he know.

Oakham's butter cross and stocks

Oakham Castle - Great Hall