Welcome to July's edition of The Castle Times



In this months issue:

1. Castle of the month - Raby Castle, Durham, England by Evelyn Wallace

2. Recipe Corner - Medieval Gingerbread

3. Medieval Life -

4. Travel Tips - Lovely Lancashire Pt1 by Evelyn Wallace

5. Readers Story - Evelyn Wallace - Travel Writer and Author - A Short Biography

Raby Castle sits in the 200-acre deer park in the foothills of the North Pennines

It sits in the 200-acre deer park in the foothills of the N. Pennines and its inclusions are walled gardens, ornamental pond, eighteenth century stable block with horse drawn carriage collection and an adventure playground for children.

It is a lived in castle, now occupied by Lord Barnard but was built by the Nevill family in the fourteenth century on the site of a manor house. It remained in the hands of the Nevills until 1569 and since 1626 until the present was the home of the Vance family.

Raby was the childhood home of Cicely, mother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III, and was also the scene of the Rising of the North and -impressively- the stronghold during the Civil War.

• 1 lb. Honey - I prefer organic, or something made with a flavoured flower blossom, etc., but feel free to use your favourite. Just remember that the final product is affected by the flavour of the honey you choose.

• Bread Crumbs - up to a pound, maybe more, maybe less. These must be UNSEASONED bread crumbs, though either white or wheat, or a combination, is fine. Be sure that they are finely ground and not soft in any way. • Ginger (optional!) - up to 1 Tbs.

• Cinnamon - up to 1 Tbs.

• Ground white pepper - up to ½ tsp.

• pinch saffron, if desired, but not important here

• few drops red food colouring (optional)

Method

1. Bring the honey to a boil and skim off any scum. Keeping the pan over very low heat, add the spices, adjusting the quantities to suit your taste.

2. Add the food colouring "if you will have it red." Then begin to slowly beat in the bread crumbs. Add just enough bread to achieve a thick, stiff, well-blended mass.

3. Remove from the heat and turn the mixture into a container or bowl to cool. When cool, take a rolling pin & spread the gingerbread evenly out into a square shape, ½ to 1 inch thick.

4. Trim the edges with a knife, and then cut into small slices to serve. Decorate with small leaves (real or candy) attached to each piece with a clove.

Eat, Drink and be Merry

Lancashire is mostly farmland, covered by great land masses such as meadows, cornfields, vales and barren moorlands. In the northernmost regions, however, the county shows off mountains and lake scenery. In north Lancashire regular castles are a rarity. Lancaster's Castle is the exception and the remains of a small castle at Clitheroe. Many pele towers were later gentrified but many still exist behind the facade such as at Gawthorpe Hall. Piel and Hornby Castle had magnificent pele towers of which the northwest side of England abounds. A number of fifteenth-century towers such as Turton Tower, Wraysholme Tower and Greenhalgh Castle in Gardstang, examples of which were kept in repair until comparatively modern times. By looking at them, it shows evidence that parts of Lancashire were not secure until well into the seventeenth century.

The Forest of Bowland and beautiful Ribble Valley offer fantastic views worthy for artists. John Constable (1776-1837) was one who hailed its treasured landscapes. This English impressionist was most famous for his painting "Salisbury Cathedral". Considering the area he is best known for, Constable Walk (an area of East Bergholt, a village on the River Stour), of which he is the consummate landscape artist, this was high praise.

The town of Lancaster and Blackpool are popular with tourists. Lancaster offers a lot of history, starting with the Romans who named it for the River Lune and built defenses there. The university and cultural life bustles around the Norman Lancaster Castle which was originally a massive stone keep started by Roger of Poitou circa 1100 and rebuilt in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It has been a royal castle and prison since the eighteenth century. The Shire Hall is not to be missed as it contains 600 heraldic shields. Fragments from Adrian's Tower (which has a collection of torture instruments) are 2,000 years old.

In part 2, Evelyn's journey takes us north to Leighton Hall and then south to Warton. We will visit Hoghton Tower and many other places in between.

Evelyn Wallace is a travel writer, poet, singer and historian. Born and raised in Denver she acquired a love for travel after a trip through the U.S. western states with an aunt and uncle at the age of eight and started traveling internationally by the age of nineteen, with her first trip to London, England. She became a professional manicurist and lived in San Diego for three years and then moved back to Denver to acquire a college education in music while working. A second trip abroad which included Paris and London followed during a sabbatical from her job and college work and her first book of poetry, Seasons of the Heart was published in 1988. International travel for her has included England, Jamaica, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria.

Her specialty in castles began as private study in her teen years and her most recent extensive travel was September of 2001 in which she took a grand tour of the major castles of Europe. Her memoirs of this trip also include her experience of being stranded in Germany after 9/11. She has published on the internet before with an article on Rudyard Kipling at LiteraryTraveler.com and has had numerous commentaries published at The Rocky Mountain News.

Her most recent publication is with Arcadia Publishing, a pictorial history book, “Robinson and Crawford County”. Her next project will be a series of travel books on castles starting with England and Wales and will include eighteen books in all.

Her web site that is currently under construction is www.ilovecastles.com, but until then why not visit Evelyn at http://castlelady.spaces.msn.com

I hope you have enjoyed reading issue 17.

If you have any suggestions or comments about any part of the newsletter then please feel free to contact me.

As always, if you have a story,photos or questions you wish to ask or share with our readers then please email me and I will be happy to include them in our next edition.

All submissions should reach me by no later than the 20th of July