As vaccinations prise us free of Covid's grip I offer my first post about somewhere new since last August's Wharfedale posts (see here and here). I hope to get abroad, too, before the end of the year!
1 Castle, 2 Stately Homes, 6 Different Cheeses, and a 40th Birthday
Morville
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| Shropshire |
To celebrate her birthday she hired Morville Hall, just outside Bridgnorth for a long weekend.
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| Morville Hall nr Bridgnorth Photographed across the ha-ha, lol (thanks James) |
No of course she didn’t, it would be ludicrously expensive, even if available, which it isn’t. But they do have two nice barn conversions.
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| Morville Barns on a cool May morning |
And very comfortable they are too, the rooms are efficiently warmed by eco-friendly air-source heat pumps, and the remarkably well-equipped kitchens have arrow-slit windows - very useful should defence become a priority.
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| Arrow slit window in the kitchen |
Bats are another bonus. Sadly, we saw none flitting around at dusk - always a pleasing sight - but they shared our accommodation. They did not bother us, I hope we did not bother them.
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| No access to the roof space above our bedroom - unless you are a bat |
The weather was typical of this late April/early May, high pressure giving bright sunshine, but dragging in cold air from the east. Fortunately, we are hardy people, Lynne brought out the birthday cake…
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| The Birthday Cake arrives - why a significant birthday is celebrated with a hedgehog cake will remain a family secret |
…for an al fresco birthday tea which continued into al fresco birthday champagne.
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| Stop taking pictures and blow out the candles! |
Morville Hall
Morville Hall belongs to the National Trust and is, of course, currently closed under Covid restrictions. The dower house gardens are something
special and would have been open had they not been closed by a different problem. Such is life.
Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries created opportunities for a fortunate few to appropriate armfuls of monastic moolah. Morville Priory was grabbed by Roger Smyth who built himself a two-storey mansion. The mansion's Tudor character disappeared when the third storey - and much else - was added around
1750 by Arthur Weaver, the MP for Bridgnorth.
St Gregory the Great
Despite his antipathy to the monasteries, Henry VIII knew every village must have a church and the former Priory Church of St Gregory the
Great became the Parish Church in 1540.
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| St Gregory the Great, Morville |
There had been a Saxon minster on this site, but a new church was dedicated in 1118. St Gregory’s has evolved over the past 9
centuries as the congregation’s needs have changed, but the chancel arch, the
south door and the font are original.
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| St Gregory's facing Morville Hall |
From the church we walked down to and then along the little Mor Brook…
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| The Mor Brook - April has been cool but dry |
…and then tried to set up a family photo. Herding cats is easier, and the best photo turned out to be one taken during the herding process.
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| Family photo |
The Village
The village of Morville is strung out along the A453 and looks as good as a village riven by an A-road can, though the pub is in a sorry,
neglected state. During our stay a local came to canvas our opinion
on the matter – a restored pub, café, village shop or take-away? The Covid
months have shown us a village pub can be all these: how much influence she
has, and what will eventually happen are another matter.
The Ludlow Kitchen and Farm Shop
On Saturday morning we set out on the short drive to Ludlow. Rural Shropshire – and it is mostly rural – has pleasant rolling hills,
and one or two more significant uplands. The upland retains a hint of wildness while the villages in the valleys feel integral to the landscape rather than imposed upon it.
We followed the line of Wenlock Edge a couple of kilometres to our right, before swinging more sharply south to reach the A49 (Ludlow to
Craven Arms) across Ludlow Racecourse. The road crosses the track twice – I presume
it closes on race days.
Shropshire Butter Bun
Our first stop was at the Ludlow Kitchen and Farm Shop on the A49, the immediate object of desire being a Shropshire Butter bun.
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| A Shropshire Butter Bun |
How this delight remains virtually unknown outside Shropshire is a mystery. A sweet bun made with industrial quantities of butter
and soft brown sugar, it is not health food, but it is undoubtedly a treat.
Unfortunately, the Ludlow Kitchen only had two left, so some generous sharing
was required even to have a taste.
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| Buns for everyone - if not always the bun they wanted |
Coffee and buns over, daughter and I headed for the farm shop while Lynne and son-in-law supervised the grandchildren in the playground.
Ludlow has always been a foodie town and our mission was to provide supplies
for the rest of the weekend and to ‘curate’ a birthday cheeseboard.
Ludlow Farm Shop
Apart from a free-range chicken and some cooking chorizo - convincingly Spanish, though made in the attached butchery - I shall describe our purchases later, but I cannot resist the picture below.
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| Not your regular flavours of crisps |
The flavours may seem unlikely, but the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (they claim there is no contradiction) are promoting the eating of game, and think this is an easy way in. I did taste one Grouse and Whinberry crisp – I found little game flavour and less whinberry,
but perhaps I picked up the wrong crisp.
Job done, Lynne and I took the grandson into Ludlow while the others headed back to Morville.
Ludlow Castle and the Old Centre
I could write at length about parking in Ludlow on the first Bank Holiday Saturday after the end of lockdown, but I will settle for a one-word comment: Grrrrr.
Ludlow Castle was built by Walter de Lacy on a promontory above the River Teme around 1075. The town grew up around the castle, then spread down the hill and has now colonised the flat land to the east.
Having eventually found a berth in Tescos car park at the bottom of the hill, we made a couple of purchases, allowing us two hours ‘free’
parking and set off upwards. We emerged on Corve Street, the main approach from
the north, near the 17th century Feathers Hotel. Once called ‘The Most Handsome
Inn in the World’ by the New York Times, we stayed there when we first visited
Ludlow in 2005, but it now looks in need of some refurbishment. Being closed,
like all such businesses for most of them last 15 months has been hard, so I
have used a 2011 photo.
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| The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow (in 2011) |
Ludlow’s old centre contains a market and a wealth of listed buildings (the town has over 500) lining medieval lanes and Georgian thoroughfares.
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| King Street, Ludlow |
Like Skipton Castle, Ludlow Castle has a level entrance from the town and its far flank protected by a riverside cliff. The large outer
bailey is where much of Ludlow’s business would once have been conducted.
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| Ludlow Castle, looking across the outer bailey |
By late medieval times the town and church outside the wall would have been well established.
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| Looking across the inner bailey and Ludlow from Mortimor's tower on the curtain wall |
Continually upgraded and enlarged, Ludlow was an important stronghold for 600 years. It changed hands several times during the 12th century wars between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. It was involved in the Second Barons' War (1264-67) between Henry III and Simon de Montfort and the Wars of the Roses when it was held by Richard of York
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| St George's Chapel, Inner Bailey, Ludlow Castle |
When Richard’s son seized the throne as Edward IV in 1462 the castle became Crown Property. In
Tudor times it was the seat of the Council in the Marches of Wales making Ludlow
effectively capital of Wales. Prince Arthur, Henry VIII’s older brother spent
his honeymoon with Catherine of Aragon in Ludlow in 1501 and died here in 1502.
Whether the 15-year-old-prince consummated the marriage, became a major issue
both when Henry VIII married Catherine in 1509 (only legal because the marriage was unconsummated)
and then attempted to have the marriage annulled in 1533 (because the marriage
had been consummated). The truth (whatever it may have been) remained largely
irrelevant.
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| The entrance to Ludlow Castle's well-defended inner bailey |
In the Civil War, Ludlow was held by the Royalists until being besieged and taken by the Parliamentarians in 1646.
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| Inside the tower, Ludlow Castle's inner bailey |
After the Restoration of the Monarchy (1660), the castle no longer had a military use. In 1772 it was bought by Edward Clive, Earl of
Powis, the son of Robert (‘Clive of India’) Clive and is still owned by the
Powis Estate. After a period of neglect the 19th century invention of tourism
prompted a clean-up and refurbishment.
During our visit the inner bailey was being used as a film set, it looked and smelt authentically medieval with grubby tents and an
all-pervading aroma of horse manure – and worse. Unfortunately, the film
company had forbidden photography and provided security to enforce their ban. Catherine,
Called Birdy, based on Karen Cushman’s book and starring Billie Piper and
Andrew Scott is a couple of months into shooting.
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| Inner ward tower, Ludlow Castle Probably nothing to do with the film, but if it is - you saw it here first! |
Leaving the castle. we popped into The Mousetrap, always a cheese shop to savour, and completed the cheeseboard.
Lunch and Other Goodies
The three of us arrived back in Morville predictably late for lunch.
Asparagus
Being in an asparagus growing region in the middle of the short asparagus season we had inevitably bought some in the farm shop.
Green and purple asparagus were available, and as neither of us had seen purple
before that was what we bought. It loses some of its colour in the cooking but
the taste remains distinctive. ‘Nuttier and sweeter’ is the usual description, but
for that I thought it sacrificed some of the unique asparagus flavour.
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| Purple Asparagus and a dippy egg - alfresco lunch |
Asparagus has a remarkable affinity for egg – strange for a vegetable – whether as a dippy egg or as a soft-boiled egg chopped over the
buttered spears.
And as I have moved onto food, here are the highlights (other than strange flavoured crisps) of our shopping expedition.
Pork Pie
The pork pie, with bacon and pheasant, made in the Farm Shop butchery, looked spectacular. It did not quite live up to expectation (I
thought), there were different textures, but it did not bring out all the
flavours.
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| Ludlow Farm shop Pork pie with bacon and pheasant |
And then of course, there was:
The Cheeseboard
To those who do not approach cheese with the same delight and fascination that I do: you have my sympathy – and feel free to skip to the next section.
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| The Cheese Board |
Clockwise from top left we have:-
St Agur - a soft blue cows’ milk cheese from the Auvergne. I am still excited by the rebirth of British artisan cheese-making, but when I visited
The Mousetrap, this was the only soft blue on offer. The nice lady apologised,
but the loosening of Covid restrictions and the bank holiday had produced considerably
more than the expected bulge in trade and some cheeses had sold out. With abundant
blue flavour balanced by soft creaminess, this did us fine.
Sheep Rustler. A semi-hard washed rind unpasteurised ewes’ milk cheese made by White Lake Dairy in Somerset. ‘Warm and nutty with a
lingering hint of sweetness. Perfect for summer with notes of fresh grass and
meadows.’ (The Cheese
Society). I am convinced there is a greater depth of flavour in cheeses
made with unpasteurised milk.
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| Sheep Rustler |
Ragstone. A Goats’ milk cheese developed by Charlie Westhead at Neals Yard Creamery in Herefordshire. In traditional French goat-log style,
it was inspired by Sainte Maure, but is ‘smoother, creamier… with less
acidity and more complexity’ (Neals Yard Dairy).
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| Ragstone |
Stinking Bishop, a soft cows’ milk washed rind cheese, is another Charles Martell creation. The cheese is immersed in perry made from
Stinking Bishop pears every four weeks during the 3-month maturation process. The Stinking
Bishop cultivar was first produced in the 1800s by Fred Bishop, a Herefordshire farmer
renowned for his stinking temper, not his pungency. The same cannot be said of
the cheese which has a powerful odour. The flavour is usually relatively mild,
but not in this well-matured slice. It was, I thought, about as good as cheese
gets.
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| Stinking Bishop |
Rachel, made by the White Lake Dairy, is the sister of Sheep Rustler made using largely the same recipe but from goats’ milk rather
than sheep’s. It is very pleasant, but hard and semi-hard goat cheeses never
seem to capture the goatiness the way the soft cheeses do. Some may call that an
advantage, but not me.
And to Drink
Recently, writing up the 2006 Staffordshire Way walk (as a Covid project) I had cause to mention the Halfpenny Green Wine Estate. Just before this trip I was browsing in Whitebridge Wines in Stone (I have been a customer for a long time - Francis, Kathy and the team deserve a free plug) and came across a bottle of Halfpenny Green late harvest, so I bought it…
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| Halfpenny Green Late Harvest |
…and very good it was too. Lusciously sweet, it is a Huxelrebe/Bacchus blend with the distinctive Huxelrebe dominating. Well chilled it is excellent with blue cheese. Could this ray of sunshine really have been grown in cool, damp Staffordshire? Yes.
Benthall Hall (so good they name it 1½ times)
On Sunday, the actual birthday, we made the short drive to Benthall Hall a couple of miles north of Much Wenlock.
I like the older houses, and this one was built in 1580. It is still occupied by Benthalls, though it has been owned by
the National Trust since 1958. Had the family been wealthier they would
have torn the house down in the 18th century and replaced it with something
grander - as Arthur Weaver did at Morville. They were prosperous enough to keep
it though not replace it, inadvertently doing later generations a favour. Unfortunately,
they tore down a 12th century manor house to build this, but you can’t keep
everything.
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| Benthall Hall |
The house was, of course closed for Covid (partially re-opening on the 17th May 2021) so we missed the wood panelled interior and elaborate 17th
century staircase. The gardens were open, though, which suited the birthday
girl’s interest (yes, I know she is 40, but she is still my little girl).
The garden is not huge, but it is nicely laid out with flower beds, rockeries, copses and flagged paths wandering through the sort of dark corners that appealed to the younger members of our party.
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| Acer, cherry tree (lovers of ericaceous soil) and bamboo in the background add a Japanese touch |
Despite backing the wrong side in the civil war, the Benthall family hung on to the estate until they ran out of convenient heirs in
the early 18th century and the house was sold. The new owner leased the house
to tenants, two of whom created the garden
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| A place to hide, Benthall Hall |
George Maw, a pottery manufacturer and crocus enthusiast developed the outline from 1865 onward..
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| A rather flashy tulip, Benthall Hall |
…and Robert Bateman added the rockeries and terraces. Bateman, a painter, sculptor and follower of Edward Burne-Jones enjoyed some success
as an artist, but a second generation of pre-Raphaelites was one more than was really needed.
Fortunately, he was independently wealthy and devoted himself to philanthropy
and horticulture. He was the son of James Bateman who built the larger and even
more ambitious gardens at Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire – a place we have
visited often, and should perhaps have its own blog post.
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| Skimmia japonica - further evidence of ericaceous soil |
The Benthalls re-acquired the house in 1918 and still live here, though as tenants of the National Trust.
And so our visit to Benthall Hall ended – and so does this post.