Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Maybole
Q2. Loch Doon Castle
The initial clues seem to place us in the village of Kirkoswald, in south Ayrshire, where John Davidson's (aka Souter Johnnie's) cottage lies, on Main road. Davidson was the model for the cobbler in the epic ballad 'Tam O' Shanter', by the whisky poet himself, Robert Burns. The church there appears to have been founded by St Oswald (feast day August 5th). Davidson and Douglas Graham (the model for Tam O' Shanter), are buried in the churchyard.
Travelling north east of Kirkoswald, would bring us to the town of Maybole and it is here. according to some of his biographies, that the road builder John Loudon McAdam (born c 1756) was schooled, under the Scottish parish schools system. A castle which is situated some seven miles southeast or so from Maybole, is Blairquhan castle which was owned by the Kennedy's c 16th century and subsequently rebuilt around 1824 by the architect William Burn, for Sir David Blair. The castle doubled for Balmoral in the 2006 film 'The Queen', starring Helen Mirren.
Driving seven miles east of Blarquhan castle would take us to the town of Dalmellington, where the OS bench mark G624 is situated, on Kirn bridge, over Muck Water. An OS bench mark is a brass or gunmetal plate that is usually attached to a triangulation point.
Six and a half miles south from Dalmellington, takes us to Loch Doon Castle, which is an eleven sided ruined structure, originating from the 13th century, which used to sit on an island in Loch Doon but was subsequently dismantled and painstakingly reassembled c 1935, when that insel slipped beneath the waters, after a hydro-electric project was built on the loch.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it
Saturday, 8 August 2015
Saturday, 11 July 2015
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. The Battle of Kilsyth
Q2. A.G. Barr (aka Andrew Greig Barr)
The initial clues seem to place us in the town of Kilsyth, north west of Cumbernauld, in the Scottish central region. "N'oubliez', is the motto of the Marquess of Montrose, who was victorious in a battle against a team called 'The Covenanters', just outside of Kilsyth, c 15th August 1645. Travelling east out of Kilsyth would take us past the renaissance style mansion of Colzium house, which appears to have been built c 1783 for the Edmonstone family. Prior to this it had belonged to a good old Jacobite (at this point a glass of red wine should be raised in a toast to the king, over a bowl of water) called William Livingstone, 3rd Viscount of Kilsyth, who was like many Scottish families, declared attainted and had his estates forfeited, after keeping it real on a hunting expedition, went a bit too far (they were probably hunting the dragoons of the upstart Hanoverian pretender to the throne, c 1715).
The former mining town of Kilsyth, lies close to the Antonine wall and the Forth & Clyde canal. Tracking eastward along the navigation, would bring us to the site of Rough Castle Roman fort. The 'Lilia' which are situated next to the fort, are the Roman version of Punji sticks ie they are pits, which at one time were filled with sharpened stakes and covered with brushwood or plant material to conceal them from any unwary attackers. A local historian once told the Eastender, that Falkirk churchyard, has twenty five thousand bodies buried in it, due to all of the fighting that happened in that neck of the woods. The forces of William Wallace (died c 1305) were defeated here in a clash with the nasty old fascist, Edward I, c 1298, while another good old Jacobite general called Lord George Murray (born c 1694), defeated an amateurish royalist general (Henry Hawley), at the battle of Falkirk Muir c 1746.
Falkirk is the birthplace of Andrew Greig Barr, born c 1872 and his most famous drink, Irn Bru, is widely drunk as a restorative in these parts, (mostly after a night out on the beer and whisky, in the Eastender's opinion).The only thing which comes close to being as good at curing what ails you, is coconut water......
Rough Castle, is situated very close the Falkirk Wheel, which by means of an ingenious rotating boat lift, held together with 15,000 bolts, connects the Forth & Clyde Canal, with the Union Canal. Prior to this, eleven locks were required to do the same job and these were demolished c 1933.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Q1. The Battle of Kilsyth
Q2. A.G. Barr (aka Andrew Greig Barr)
The initial clues seem to place us in the town of Kilsyth, north west of Cumbernauld, in the Scottish central region. "N'oubliez', is the motto of the Marquess of Montrose, who was victorious in a battle against a team called 'The Covenanters', just outside of Kilsyth, c 15th August 1645. Travelling east out of Kilsyth would take us past the renaissance style mansion of Colzium house, which appears to have been built c 1783 for the Edmonstone family. Prior to this it had belonged to a good old Jacobite (at this point a glass of red wine should be raised in a toast to the king, over a bowl of water) called William Livingstone, 3rd Viscount of Kilsyth, who was like many Scottish families, declared attainted and had his estates forfeited, after keeping it real on a hunting expedition, went a bit too far (they were probably hunting the dragoons of the upstart Hanoverian pretender to the throne, c 1715).
The former mining town of Kilsyth, lies close to the Antonine wall and the Forth & Clyde canal. Tracking eastward along the navigation, would bring us to the site of Rough Castle Roman fort. The 'Lilia' which are situated next to the fort, are the Roman version of Punji sticks ie they are pits, which at one time were filled with sharpened stakes and covered with brushwood or plant material to conceal them from any unwary attackers. A local historian once told the Eastender, that Falkirk churchyard, has twenty five thousand bodies buried in it, due to all of the fighting that happened in that neck of the woods. The forces of William Wallace (died c 1305) were defeated here in a clash with the nasty old fascist, Edward I, c 1298, while another good old Jacobite general called Lord George Murray (born c 1694), defeated an amateurish royalist general (Henry Hawley), at the battle of Falkirk Muir c 1746.
Falkirk is the birthplace of Andrew Greig Barr, born c 1872 and his most famous drink, Irn Bru, is widely drunk as a restorative in these parts, (mostly after a night out on the beer and whisky, in the Eastender's opinion).The only thing which comes close to being as good at curing what ails you, is coconut water......
Rough Castle, is situated very close the Falkirk Wheel, which by means of an ingenious rotating boat lift, held together with 15,000 bolts, connects the Forth & Clyde Canal, with the Union Canal. Prior to this, eleven locks were required to do the same job and these were demolished c 1933.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Saturday, 4 July 2015
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Rudston
Q2. Danes Dyke
The initial clues seem to place us in one of the Eastender's favourite parts of the big British island, ie the East Riding of Yorkshire, somewhere on the outskirts of the resort town of Bridlington. There appear to be at least four medieval village sites in the vicinity, Hilderthorpe, Wilsthorpe, Auburn and Low Caythorpe. From the directions given in the text, that the resort is three miles or so north north east from the abandoned village's western flank, the author is probably at the site of Auburn village.
Travelling five miles to the west of Bridlington, would bring us to the village of Rudston and this is where a novelist called Winifred Holtby was born c 1898. Ms Holtby wrote a novel called 'South Riding', which has a character in it called 'Sarah Burton. According to some of her bios, after a short but prolific career as a novelist, the poor woman died of Bright's disease at the relatively young age of 37. She was buried in Rudston churchyard, which also appears to be where the twenty five foot monolith is located.
Bridlington claims to be one of Britains busiest shellfish ports and a band leader who joined the municiple orchestra there c 1903, was one Wallace Hartley, who died c 1912, while playing for the last time, on board the RMS Titanic as it sunk beneath the waves.The painter-cum-architect-cum furniture designer is probably William Kent, some of his biographies claim that he was baptised c 1668, in St Mary's church, Bridlington.
Driving east,north east out of Bridlington would take us across a ditch and earthworks called 'Danes Dyke', which crosses Flamborough Head, from north to south. Some of the references I checked claim that this defensive structure was not in fact constructed by Danes at all and is in fact Iron age in origin.There do appear to be remains of a chalk castle (built c 12th century) in the village of Flamborough. Flamborough Head lighthouse, is around eighty seven feet high, with a range of twenty four nautical miles and was designed by an architect called Samuel Wyatt (born c 1737). The Eastender initially thought (and he'd glugged a few ales by this point) that North west of the lighthouse, lies the Flamborough Cliffs Nature Reserve, which the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust website, claims is one of the most important seabird colonies in Europe but if you read the comments, you will see that it is actually Bempton Cliffs Nature Reserve, which lies north west of the lighthouse.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Q1. Rudston
Q2. Danes Dyke
The initial clues seem to place us in one of the Eastender's favourite parts of the big British island, ie the East Riding of Yorkshire, somewhere on the outskirts of the resort town of Bridlington. There appear to be at least four medieval village sites in the vicinity, Hilderthorpe, Wilsthorpe, Auburn and Low Caythorpe. From the directions given in the text, that the resort is three miles or so north north east from the abandoned village's western flank, the author is probably at the site of Auburn village.
Travelling five miles to the west of Bridlington, would bring us to the village of Rudston and this is where a novelist called Winifred Holtby was born c 1898. Ms Holtby wrote a novel called 'South Riding', which has a character in it called 'Sarah Burton. According to some of her bios, after a short but prolific career as a novelist, the poor woman died of Bright's disease at the relatively young age of 37. She was buried in Rudston churchyard, which also appears to be where the twenty five foot monolith is located.
Bridlington claims to be one of Britains busiest shellfish ports and a band leader who joined the municiple orchestra there c 1903, was one Wallace Hartley, who died c 1912, while playing for the last time, on board the RMS Titanic as it sunk beneath the waves.The painter-cum-architect-cum furniture designer is probably William Kent, some of his biographies claim that he was baptised c 1668, in St Mary's church, Bridlington.
Driving east,north east out of Bridlington would take us across a ditch and earthworks called 'Danes Dyke', which crosses Flamborough Head, from north to south. Some of the references I checked claim that this defensive structure was not in fact constructed by Danes at all and is in fact Iron age in origin.There do appear to be remains of a chalk castle (built c 12th century) in the village of Flamborough. Flamborough Head lighthouse, is around eighty seven feet high, with a range of twenty four nautical miles and was designed by an architect called Samuel Wyatt (born c 1737). The Eastender initially thought (and he'd glugged a few ales by this point) that North west of the lighthouse, lies the Flamborough Cliffs Nature Reserve, which the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust website, claims is one of the most important seabird colonies in Europe but if you read the comments, you will see that it is actually Bempton Cliffs Nature Reserve, which lies north west of the lighthouse.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Saturday, 27 June 2015
Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Weston Park
Q2. Albrighton
The initial clues seem to place us at Lilleshall Abbey, north east of the town of Telford, in Shropshire. The English Heritage web site claims that it was built by Augustinians c 1148. Travelling five miles or so, south east from the abbey, would take us to Weston Park, which was the family seat of the Earls of Bradford (motto Nic Temere, Nec Timide, "neither rashly nor timidly"), until the seventh earl, gifted it to the nation as they could not afford to pay the high death duties on it. The house lies in one thousand acres of parkland, which was landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. An architect called 'James Paine' (born c 1717) according to some of the references I checked, built the Temple of Diana there c1760s.
Two miles or so, south south east of Weston Park, lies White Ladies Abbey and this is where Charles II, is said to have holed up c 1651 while on the run. English Heritage, claim that the abbey is 12th century in origin. Driving south from Weston Park would likely take us through the village of Tong, which is thought to be the model for the village that Charles Dicken's used in his book 'The Old Curiosity Shop', which was published c 1841 and this is where the quote "Five and thirty pounds a year in this beautiful place", comes from.
A politician who became president of the board of trade c1823, was William Huskisson. Some of his biographies say that he was educated at Brewood in Staffordshire, Albrighton in Shropshire and Appleby, in Leicestershire. The one which is in the area to fit in with the clues, is most likely Albrighton and this is a short distance south east of Cosford airfield(aka RAF Cosford), which has been home to the RAF's No1 SofTT (School of Technical Training) since c1993. The aerospace museum there, has the three Vs as exhibits and these are not a pop group but examples of some of the Royal Air Force's cold war era V bombers, the Victor, the Valiant and the Vulcan.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Q1. Weston Park
Q2. Albrighton
The initial clues seem to place us at Lilleshall Abbey, north east of the town of Telford, in Shropshire. The English Heritage web site claims that it was built by Augustinians c 1148. Travelling five miles or so, south east from the abbey, would take us to Weston Park, which was the family seat of the Earls of Bradford (motto Nic Temere, Nec Timide, "neither rashly nor timidly"), until the seventh earl, gifted it to the nation as they could not afford to pay the high death duties on it. The house lies in one thousand acres of parkland, which was landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. An architect called 'James Paine' (born c 1717) according to some of the references I checked, built the Temple of Diana there c1760s.
Two miles or so, south south east of Weston Park, lies White Ladies Abbey and this is where Charles II, is said to have holed up c 1651 while on the run. English Heritage, claim that the abbey is 12th century in origin. Driving south from Weston Park would likely take us through the village of Tong, which is thought to be the model for the village that Charles Dicken's used in his book 'The Old Curiosity Shop', which was published c 1841 and this is where the quote "Five and thirty pounds a year in this beautiful place", comes from.
A politician who became president of the board of trade c1823, was William Huskisson. Some of his biographies say that he was educated at Brewood in Staffordshire, Albrighton in Shropshire and Appleby, in Leicestershire. The one which is in the area to fit in with the clues, is most likely Albrighton and this is a short distance south east of Cosford airfield(aka RAF Cosford), which has been home to the RAF's No1 SofTT (School of Technical Training) since c1993. The aerospace museum there, has the three Vs as exhibits and these are not a pop group but examples of some of the Royal Air Force's cold war era V bombers, the Victor, the Valiant and the Vulcan.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Saturday, 20 June 2015
Sunday Times Where Was I ? Holiday Competition
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Hoy
Q2. Lamb Holm
The initial clues seem to place us at Kirkhope cemetery, near Osmondwall, on the island of Hoy (name derived from the Norse word Haey, for 'high island'), in the Orkneys. If you convert thirty five thousand, five hundred and eighteen acres into square kilometres, you get around one hundred and forty three and this is the figure given for the area of Hoy, in some of the sources I checked. The highest point on the island, from looking at the OS map, seems to be Ward Hill, at four hundred and seventy nine metres, or one thousand five hundred feet, in old money. The puzzle author has been a little crafty here, by calling the site of the memorial to the Longhope lifeboat disaster, which took place c 17 March 1969, a churchyard, as the map does not show a church in the vicinity, thus making it more difficult to locate. A solitary bronze statue stands in the graveyard, looking out towards Cantick Head, where the Longhope lifeboat 'TGB' capsized in a force nine gale, en route to rescue the crew of a Siberian freighter (some references claim that it was 'Liberian') called 'The Irene', resulting in all eight of the crew being lost. The crew of the freighter were rescued by auxiliary coastguards, who fired lines to the ship with rockets. The Cantick Head lighthouse appears to be around seventy two feet high and was constructed by David & Thomas Stevenson c 1858 (not to be confused with the 'Ruff of Cantick' light, which is listed as a navigational beacon).
The writer probably gets the ferry from the port of Lyness and then passes the sparkling sounding island of Cava. The Cava light is listed as being thirty six feet high in some references, not twenty nine but the destination of the ferry north from Hoy, is the port of Houton, on the island of 'Mainland'. After driving east from Houton and passing the naval graveyard of Scapa Flow, you would reach the principle settlement on Mainland, which is Kirkwall and driving six south south easterly miles to the third island, over the causeway on the Churchill barriers, you would arrive at the island of Lamb Holm and a church which was cobbled together from two Nissen huts, by Italian prisoners of war c 1943-1944. The roman numerals MCMXLIV are set in mosiac, in or on the edifice and mean '1944'. Mr Churchill ordered the barriers constructed, after a uboat (U-47), sneaked in to Scapa Flow c 1939 and torpedoed the battleship 'HMS Royal Oak'
Q1. Hoy
Q2. Lamb Holm
The initial clues seem to place us at Kirkhope cemetery, near Osmondwall, on the island of Hoy (name derived from the Norse word Haey, for 'high island'), in the Orkneys. If you convert thirty five thousand, five hundred and eighteen acres into square kilometres, you get around one hundred and forty three and this is the figure given for the area of Hoy, in some of the sources I checked. The highest point on the island, from looking at the OS map, seems to be Ward Hill, at four hundred and seventy nine metres, or one thousand five hundred feet, in old money. The puzzle author has been a little crafty here, by calling the site of the memorial to the Longhope lifeboat disaster, which took place c 17 March 1969, a churchyard, as the map does not show a church in the vicinity, thus making it more difficult to locate. A solitary bronze statue stands in the graveyard, looking out towards Cantick Head, where the Longhope lifeboat 'TGB' capsized in a force nine gale, en route to rescue the crew of a Siberian freighter (some references claim that it was 'Liberian') called 'The Irene', resulting in all eight of the crew being lost. The crew of the freighter were rescued by auxiliary coastguards, who fired lines to the ship with rockets. The Cantick Head lighthouse appears to be around seventy two feet high and was constructed by David & Thomas Stevenson c 1858 (not to be confused with the 'Ruff of Cantick' light, which is listed as a navigational beacon).
The writer probably gets the ferry from the port of Lyness and then passes the sparkling sounding island of Cava. The Cava light is listed as being thirty six feet high in some references, not twenty nine but the destination of the ferry north from Hoy, is the port of Houton, on the island of 'Mainland'. After driving east from Houton and passing the naval graveyard of Scapa Flow, you would reach the principle settlement on Mainland, which is Kirkwall and driving six south south easterly miles to the third island, over the causeway on the Churchill barriers, you would arrive at the island of Lamb Holm and a church which was cobbled together from two Nissen huts, by Italian prisoners of war c 1943-1944. The roman numerals MCMXLIV are set in mosiac, in or on the edifice and mean '1944'. Mr Churchill ordered the barriers constructed, after a uboat (U-47), sneaked in to Scapa Flow c 1939 and torpedoed the battleship 'HMS Royal Oak'
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Sunday TimesWhere Was I? Holiday Competition
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Chirk
Q2. Henry Robertson
The initial clues, seem to place us in the county of Wrexham, in the town of Chirk, in Wales, which does appear to have a castle and which according to some of his biographies, is where a footballer called William Henry Meredith (aka Billy Meredith) was born, c 1874. Billy Meredith was a teetotaller, non-smoking, dietician, who eschewed the demon drink and tobacco and instead, chewed on toothpicks and matches. His fans used to send him boxes of toothpicks.
The Llangollen canal passes through Chirk and it and the railway, are carried over the Afon Ceiriog, by an aqueduct and a viaduct, respectively. The aqueduct was built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop and is said in some of the sources I checked, to be around seventy feet in height. The railway viaduct appears to have been built by an engineer called Henry Robertson (born c 1816), which some references claim is two hundred and eighty three yards long and around one hundred feet high.
Travelling north north west along the aqueduct, would bring us to the Chirk tunnel which seems to be around thirteen hundred and eighty feet long. The canal passes through the shorter Whitehouse tunnel (around five hundred and fifty seven feet in length) before turning west, away from the railway, which continues north, across the Cefn Mawr viaduct (also built by Henry Robertson).
Tracking the canal to the west, would bring us to the point where it turns in a more northerly direction, where it is carried across the Vale of Llangollen and the Afon Dyrfrdwy, by a world heritage site water feature, called the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which was also built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop. The lime mortar which holds the stones in the pillars, had ox-blood mixed into it and the sections of the iron trough, which carries the canal water over the aqueduct, are to this day sealed with flannel, lead and liquid sugar. The bridge is said to be one thousand feet long and around one hundred and twenty six feet high with a capacity of around three hundred and thirty thousand gallons.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Saturday, 30 May 2015
Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition
Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Towcester
Q2. Weedon Lois
The initial clues seem to place us in the town of T[o]wcester, which looks to be in the county of Northamptonshire. Pott and Slurk are characters from Charles Dickens' 'Pickwick Papers', who were involved in a donnybrook which took place in the Saracen's Head Inn, in that burg. Poor old Mr Pickwick, appears to have been caught in the crossfire, when he stopped there for some refreshment.
The Romans called Towcester, Lactodorum and the Latin phrase in the clues 'Hora e Sempra', which means 'Now and Always', is the family motto of the Fermor-Hesketh family and it was Baron H[e]sketh, who founded the Towcester race course c 1876, after a visit from her imperial majesty, Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, who stayed with the Baron at his house, Easton Neston. Easton Neston, was designed by an architect called Nicholas Hawksm[o]or (born c 1661/1662).
A Roman road, near Towcester, is probably the A5, this used to be known as [W]atli[n]g Street and this is also the name of a Battle fought between the Iceni (commanded by Boudica), the Trinivantes, elements of the People's Front of Judea (PFJ) and the Roman army c 60 AD. The Roman's had two legions with them, the Legio XIV Gemina and the XX Valeria Victrix, around ten thousand men, under the command of Gaius Suetonious Paulinus. Paulinus was outnumbered, as Boudica had a much larger army with her but Paulinus, used the topography to his advantage, with a forest behind him and hills either side, so that Boudica's troops had to mount a frontal attack against a better armed, better trained and more disciplined enemy, who had cavalry ready to attack on each flank. The Romans killed about eighty thousand of Boudica's troops and camp followers, with the loss of around four hundred legionaires and the British leader opting to commit suicide, rather than be taken prisoner.
The actual location of the battle is a bit hazy, with some historians claiming that it was fought anywhere from the Midlands, Wroxeter, Mancetter to the Kennet Valley but the nearest alleged battlefield site, which fits with the clues, is probably Cuttle Mill, which lies beside the A5, a short way south east of Towcester.
Another sporting venue, which is south west of Towcester, is the Silverstone racetrack and it was here, c 1967, that a driver called Jim C[l]ark (born c 1936), won the British grand prix for the fifth time. The 'Palatial' and disused arm clue, seems to refer to the Buck[i]ngham arm (disused), of the Grand Union Canal, which lies south east of Silverstone and a sixteenth century building, which is situated north west of the disused canal arm, is likely to be [S]ulgrave Manor, which was at one time, split into three estates, which may be what the 'hatchet job' clue refers to.
The Eastender loves potty eccentric avant garde artists and the writer in question, one [E][d]ith Sitwell (born c 1887), according to some of her biographies, was undoubtedly of this ilk. She published a work called Facade, which was a series of poems, c 1918.
Now collating and rearranging the letters gleaned from the clues :
1. T[O]WCESTER O
2. H[E]SKETH E
3 NICHOLAS HAWKSM[O]OR O
4. [W]ATLI[N]G STREET W N
5. JIM C[L]ARK L
6. GRAND UNION CANAL
BUCK[I]NGHAM ARM (disused) I
7. [S]ULGRAVE MANOR S
8. [ED]ITH SITWELL E D
Gives us the name of the village, which lies about two miles north east of Sulgrave Manor, where Edith Sitwell visited her brother and where they are both buried. The hamlet is called Weedon Lois.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Q1. Towcester
Q2. Weedon Lois
The initial clues seem to place us in the town of T[o]wcester, which looks to be in the county of Northamptonshire. Pott and Slurk are characters from Charles Dickens' 'Pickwick Papers', who were involved in a donnybrook which took place in the Saracen's Head Inn, in that burg. Poor old Mr Pickwick, appears to have been caught in the crossfire, when he stopped there for some refreshment.
The Romans called Towcester, Lactodorum and the Latin phrase in the clues 'Hora e Sempra', which means 'Now and Always', is the family motto of the Fermor-Hesketh family and it was Baron H[e]sketh, who founded the Towcester race course c 1876, after a visit from her imperial majesty, Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, who stayed with the Baron at his house, Easton Neston. Easton Neston, was designed by an architect called Nicholas Hawksm[o]or (born c 1661/1662).
A Roman road, near Towcester, is probably the A5, this used to be known as [W]atli[n]g Street and this is also the name of a Battle fought between the Iceni (commanded by Boudica), the Trinivantes, elements of the People's Front of Judea (PFJ) and the Roman army c 60 AD. The Roman's had two legions with them, the Legio XIV Gemina and the XX Valeria Victrix, around ten thousand men, under the command of Gaius Suetonious Paulinus. Paulinus was outnumbered, as Boudica had a much larger army with her but Paulinus, used the topography to his advantage, with a forest behind him and hills either side, so that Boudica's troops had to mount a frontal attack against a better armed, better trained and more disciplined enemy, who had cavalry ready to attack on each flank. The Romans killed about eighty thousand of Boudica's troops and camp followers, with the loss of around four hundred legionaires and the British leader opting to commit suicide, rather than be taken prisoner.
The actual location of the battle is a bit hazy, with some historians claiming that it was fought anywhere from the Midlands, Wroxeter, Mancetter to the Kennet Valley but the nearest alleged battlefield site, which fits with the clues, is probably Cuttle Mill, which lies beside the A5, a short way south east of Towcester.
Another sporting venue, which is south west of Towcester, is the Silverstone racetrack and it was here, c 1967, that a driver called Jim C[l]ark (born c 1936), won the British grand prix for the fifth time. The 'Palatial' and disused arm clue, seems to refer to the Buck[i]ngham arm (disused), of the Grand Union Canal, which lies south east of Silverstone and a sixteenth century building, which is situated north west of the disused canal arm, is likely to be [S]ulgrave Manor, which was at one time, split into three estates, which may be what the 'hatchet job' clue refers to.
The Eastender loves potty eccentric avant garde artists and the writer in question, one [E][d]ith Sitwell (born c 1887), according to some of her biographies, was undoubtedly of this ilk. She published a work called Facade, which was a series of poems, c 1918.
Now collating and rearranging the letters gleaned from the clues :
1. T[O]WCESTER O
2. H[E]SKETH E
3 NICHOLAS HAWKSM[O]OR O
4. [W]ATLI[N]G STREET W N
5. JIM C[L]ARK L
6. GRAND UNION CANAL
BUCK[I]NGHAM ARM (disused) I
7. [S]ULGRAVE MANOR S
8. [ED]ITH SITWELL E D
Gives us the name of the village, which lies about two miles north east of Sulgrave Manor, where Edith Sitwell visited her brother and where they are both buried. The hamlet is called Weedon Lois.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)