Cave of a Cove

To the west of Nesscliffe Rock, Shropshire, is a cave cut in the red sandstone, the hideout of the late fifteenth-century/early sixteenth-century highwayman Humphrey Kynaston. There are two chambers, separated by a pillar carved from the live stone. Outlawed by King Henry VII in 1491, Kynaston lived in one chamber, the entrance to which is 35 feet up the cliff face, reached by stone steps; and kept his horse, Beelzebub, in the other. Into the pillar is engraved "H.K. 1594," but this cannot be by Kynaston's own hand, as he died 60 years earlier.

Isettas Need Little Oil

From St Austell comes this tin 20 gallon oil dispenser, complete with brass pump and gradated wooden dipstick. Its function has preserved the dispenser extremely well, and it will look great when repainted, probably in a gold/bronze colour.

The previous owners have a BMW Isetta bubble car, currently being restored, their fifth. The Isetta was created in 1952 by Iso SpA, an Italian company ("Isetta" means Little Iso). The front, complete with steering wheel, hinges open to enable entry. Power came originally from a two-stroke scooter engine. BMW bought a licence, as did French and Brazilian companies, and re-engineered the car, powering it with a four-stroke motorcycle engine. Isetta of Great Britain took a sub-licence from BMW, and from 1957 built Isettas in Brighton, from where hailed this car.

Kinnerley: Ammo, Arbour & Argoed

The Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway ran through Kinnerley until 1960. This, and the balance between centrality and remoteness, lay behind selection, during WWII, of the area around the village for a secret ammunition dump. The Royal Engineers built over 200 stores, of brick with roofs formed of concrete sleepers atop concrete pillars, covered with soil and turfed to camouflage and protect them.

Each store was served by a siding, which ran right through its centre. Huge sliding doors would be opened, the ammunition wagons shunted inside, the doors closed, and the cargo unloaded into the bays either side of the track. Kinnerley was declassified only in the mid-1950s. The storage sheds are impossible to photograph internally without a number of flash slave units, but Kinnerley also boasts a most unusual arbour in its playground, hexagonal in plan, oak uprights supporting a tiled roof, the whole supported on huge slabs of limestone on edge; and the remains of Argoed Hall, just outside the village.

Fanhams Hall

Just outside Ware is Fanhams Hall, which started life as a Queen Anne house. It has passed through many hands, including, in the nineteenth century, those of local bankers and malters. One Lady Brockett resided at Fanhams after the death of her husband in 1934 and until her own in 1949. Perhaps as a salve for her grief she developed the splendid grounds. These are divided up into numerous spaces with hedges, wide herbaceous borders, walls (one of which features two almost circular entrances), and ironwork gates (one featuring a fireman and another a rabbit nibbling flowers), a surprise around each corner.

The Japanese Garden, complete with ornamental lakes, bridges, teahouse, miniature Fujiyama, and carefully-placed granite lanterns, was tended pre-WWII by gardeners who came each year from Japan for the purpose. An Austrian house is less successful - the cuckoo-clock style is difficult to appreciate. There is a lovely wisteria walk, just coming into flower, and a Queen Anne garden with fine brick paths.

Westminster Bank bought the hall in 1951, and sold it 20 years later to the Building Societies' Association, which used it as a training centre. In turn, in 1986, the BSA sold Fanhams to Sainsbury's, who used it for the same purpose. The hall is now an hotel.

Ceiriog Engineering Feats

Chirk Aqueduct, built by Thomas Telford and opened in 1801, carries the 46 mile Llangollen Canal over the River Ceiriog. It's an impressive structure, 70 feet high and of ten spans. Beside it, also of ten principal spans but 30 feet higher, supposedly to demonstrate the supremacy of rail over water, is Henry Robertson's railway viaduct, completed in 1848. Beyond the aqueduct is Chirk Tunnel, 460 yards long and as black within as the hole of Calcutta. A basin and wharf lies between these two engineering marvels. The tunnel was demanded by the owners of Chirk Castle, the Myddeltons, who didn't want their views intruded upon by a canal embankment. There is a worn example of the Myddelton coat of arms on an old gate pier in the woods.

Lee or Lea?

Signs in Ware use both "Lea" and "Lee" to refer to the river. For a considerable part of its way this flows within the Lee Valley Park. The Environment Agency utilises "Lea" throughout the river's length. The canalised part is known as the Lee and Stort Navigation. It seems that "Lea" predominates upstream of Hertford, where, after Hertford Castle Weir, the river becomes a navigation.

Both spellings are used from Hertford to the Thames, so it was perhaps the use of "Lee" in the parliamentary act permitting the canalisation that caused the variation. To add to the confusion, where the the Lea/Lee meets the Thames it is known as Bow Creek. The take-off of water for New River (YMGW passim) lowered the natural water levels, demanding the installation of locks, including at Hardmead. Just east of this point there is some surprisingly interesting new residential development.

Penybontfawr

In Penybontfawr, Powys, is the Bethania Service Station, featured in an article in the May issue of Classic Bike, about the death of independent filling stations. The three Beckmeter pumps in front of the garage have not been in use since 2007. The owner, John Evans, confirmed what had been said in the magazine piece: small independents can no longer afford the cost of wholesale petrol, forced out by the branded chains and supermarkets. The garage is still in the car repair and MOT business, but trade must be thin on the ground out here.

The Lake with No Name, Shrewsbury

The Radbrook area lake that fills what was once a Hanson-operated quarry doesn't appear to have a name - seemingly enough time has not yet passed for one to be adopted. It is very attractive - the yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) currently in bloom - and home to various ducks and to coots (Fulica atra).

Old Oswestry Hillfort

The hill upon which Old Oswestry Hillfort sits was settled from the Neolithic right through to the Roman period. The hillfort is one of the best preserved in Britain, and went through a number of phases of construction. The two innermost box ramparts - a clay core, faced with boulders and originally supported by timber, covered with earth - were built in the early Iron Age. In the middle Iron Age a third rampart was added on the western side of the fort. Still later this was enlarged, and had added to it a series of pits, which may have been defensive in nature or to provide storage. Finally, two further, massive, ramparts were added to encircle those already in place and create a formidable glacis.

At this time of year the hillfort is covered with common gorse (Ulex europaeus) and common bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta). (Non-scripta distinguishes the common bluebell from the hyacinth of Greek mythology, borne of the blood of Prince Hyacinthus, its petals marked by the tears of Apollo with the ancient Greek letters for "alas.") Bluebells are always extremely difficult to photograph successfully. Indeed, the whole site better lends itself to illustration by painting or drawing than by photography.

What, When & Ware IV

On the north side of the River Lea are a number of eighteenth century gazebos, unique as a group. These stand at the end of what were formerly the gardens of Ware's numerous high street coaching inns. Strictly speaking they are summerhouses, as gazebos are roofed but open on all sides. "Gazebo" is one of those words for which there is no known etymology, despite the false claims for a derivation from the French Que c'est beau.

Llanymynech

Llanymynech is dominated by the limestone quarries of Llanymynech Hill and the chimney of the nearby Hoffman kiln (YMGW passim), majestic amongst the common oaks (Quercus robur). The village benefits from a real spirit of community, but is suffering a little from the recession, with both the Lion Inn and the Dolphin Inn closed. The former famously had one bar in Wales and another in England.

Richard Roberts, a nineteenth century mechanical engineer renowned for improving the accuracy of machine tools, was born in the village. In 1847 he patented his Jacquand machine, adapted to punch holes in metal instead of patterns in cloth. His invention was used to make the plates of the railway bridge at Conwy. It was also a version of the Jacquand that punched cards for early computers. One of Roberts's clocks graces the Normanesque St Agatha's Church, one oversized face designed to be visible from the quarry. The church was built in 1844 of local limestone, with terracotta arches and decoration.

Neither New nor a River

The New River (YMGW passim) was constructed between 1609 and 1613 to carry fresh spring water to London from Hertfordshire, and is still in use by Thames Water as a source of drinking water. Chadwell Spring, rising in a circular basin 30 yards wide and known as the 'banjo,' was the New River's original source, and yields up to just shy of a million gallons per day. The nearby Marble Gauge, of 1770, used to regulate the amount of water taken from the River Lea, but is now bypassed by pipes. The intake from the river is now regulated a little further to the north, at New Gauge.

Northampton & Lamport Railway

George Stephenson designed the 18 mile Northampton to Market Harborough branch line, complete with six stations and two long tunnels, which opened in 1859. The line closed in 1981, but just three years later railway enthusiasts started work to bring it back to life. Progress is inevitably slow: the line was officially reopened in 1996 and runs on just a couple of miles of track. Some lovely old crates in the goods yard.

Sandwell

At the 32nd running of the Sandwell Historic Vehicle Show, GTU 864T returned to the locale of its birth, West Bromwich. The Jensen Owners' Club showed a splendid 27 cars. 

The Metropolitan (above) was assembled by Austin at Longbridge, using bodies fabricated by Fisher and Ludlow at Castle Bromwich, on contract to Nash Motors Ltd of the United States. Approximately 100,000 were produced, 95% of which went to America. Some lovely badges on the front of a Ford Prefect.

(Photograph of Jensens by Rupert Lloyd Thomas)

What, When & Ware III

Hertford and Ware were, from the seventeenth century, England's malting capitals. They thrived on the intense demand for malt for brewing purposes. Hertfordshire's main crop was barley, which was brought to the maltings to be soaked in water (to convert the starch into sugar) and then dried and heated (to prevent germination).

In 1839, Ware boasted as many as 65 maltings. A speciality of the town was brown malt, cured at high temperature using wood-burning kilns, and used in the making of porter. The prepared malt was delivered to the breweries of London along the River Lea, but the railway age gave access to the barley of the Midlands, and Burton became the new centre of the malting industry. The last malting in Ware closed in 1994. 

The Power & the Glory

Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, by the River Trent, was commissioned in 1968, and is now run by E.ON. Coal-fired, the power station has been the focus of much environmental protest, reflected in the miles of crush barriers and WWI-like looped barbed wire that now ring the site. 

Near Newark is Kelham Hall, a Victorian gothic mansion in brick. It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, architect of St Pancras Station, and grandfather of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (YMGW passim). Completed in 1861, the hall was bought in 1903 by the Society of the Sacred Mission. A chapel was added in 1928, atop which sits a impressive Byzantinesque dome. The theological college here closed in 1972 and since 1973 the hall has been home to Newark and Sherwood District Council.

What, When & Ware II

In 1613 the New River, an artificial waterway built to supply London with fresh drinking water, was opened. The waterway starts between Ware and Hertford, supplied by the River Lea, and is still walkable along most of its length to New River Head, Islington. It originally terminated near the current Sadler's Wells theatre. (In the early nineteenth century water from the 'river' was used to fill a large tank to enabling staging of aquatic theatre, one tableau featuring 117 model ships built by Woolwich Dockyard, complete with working guns - like an early Las Vegas!) Broadmeads Pumping Station is a fine piece of Victorian industrial engineering, recognised by its Grade II listing. Built in 1885, it consists of a beam engine house and engineer's house, and still boasts its stack.

Ware is full of alleys and yards, quirky corners that are always worth turning into, as many of them are home to interesting buildings. Bluecoat Yard is named after the blue heavy cloth coats worn by the scholars of Christ's Hospital. The yard features Place House, one of Ware's two mediaeval manor houses, an aisled hall acquired in 1674 by Christ's Hospital Foundation to provide a healthy location for London children; and a row of cottages that provided housing for about 150 boys, each cottage (also known as a ward) under the aegis of a nurse. These are now private dwellings. The original Bluecoat Boy statue is safely inside Place House, that above the yard entrance a copy of 1987, by local sculptor Angela Godfrey.

Of course, the Bluecoat School of Ware is not alone. The most famous is that in Newgate Street, London. This featured in the 1975 edition of the Calendarium Londinense, or London Calendar, engraved on copper by Lawrence Josset, a mezzotint engraver of the very highest standard. His most commonly seen work is his superb engraving of Pietro Annigoni's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, but his uncatalogued oeuvre is expansive and includes many original works.

Rodney's Pillar

Rodney's Pillar was erected atop Breidden Hill in 1781 by local landowners who had supplied oak, floated down the River Severn, to build Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney's ships. The monument honours the man who played a key role in expeditions against the French during the Seven Years War, 1756-1763; assisted in the capture of Martinique in 1762; and relieved Gibraltar in 1780. Rodney accounted for 15 of 21 ships-of-the-line destroyed or captured by the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence. The pillar was originally crowned with a 'golden' ball, destroyed by lightning in 1835.

Two Stroke Sir?

In Strensham, Worcestershire, is the Grade II Elizabethan rectory of Peter and Rosemary Read, who run Old Rectory Retreats. Don't miss a trip on the Narnia II, a 30 foot narrow-boat moored at the foot of the gardens. This Beckmeter Multi Mix mobile pump, designed to deliver various ratios of mixed petrol and oil, was recovered from one of the Old Rectory's outbuildings.

Bond Bryan at Broxbourne

Bond Bryan, the Sheffield-based architects, designed the fantastic new buildings of Hertford Regional College at both the Ware and Broxbourne sites, a £41m project in total. Whilst the final phase of the staged development at Ware has been affected by the LSC's financial difficulties, the Broxbourne site is virtually complete, with just landscaping works to finish. The buildings were handed over as operationally ready earlier this year.

The design is bold and confident, a central atrium flooded with light and providing a real sense of space. But it is also, critically, led by student need, rather than by egoism and self-aggrandisement. One feels energised here. The facilities include JetBlueAir, a 18-seat aeroplane cabin complete with lockers and PA system from real aircraft; a restaurant in the atrium; dance, TV and recording studios; music practice suites and a 140-seat theatre; and a fully-equipped gym.

What, When & Ware I

Where? Ware is in Hertfordshire, on Ermine Street, the Roman road that ran from London to Lincoln. The town is famous for the Great Bed of Ware, originally from the White Hart Inn and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington; and has a long history. Ware was once Britain's premier malting town, but that unfortunately came to an end in the 1990s.

It's an attractive place, with numerous tiled shops, old town houses, along the main street, and a variety of interesting larger buildings. Foremost amongst these are the fourteenth-century Franciscan friary (above) and St Mary's Church, of the same century (corbelled arch pictured below). The friary was converted into a private residence after the first of Henry VIII's Dissolutions. As one of the premier buildings of the town, it is now occupied by the local council, as is often the way.

John Gilpin, Citizen of Credit & Renown

The Ware campus of Hertford Regional College includes the Grade II* listed Amwell House, built near the River Lea very early in the eighteenth century. It originally consisted of two storeys and just the central part of the current building. Samuel Scott bought the house in 1722 and it was likely he that added the third storey. The building retains many original features, including fireplaces, Doric columns, attic servants' quarters - there is said to be a ghost - and an early raised cistern toilet (complete with lead pipework).

In the late nineteenth century Amwell was bought by Mr & Mrs Arthur Tite. Mrs Tite commissioned the Gilpin Window, of painted glass, which features scenes illustrative of William Cowper's poem, "The Diverting History of John Gilpin," citizen of credit and renown, from which:

Says John, "It is my wedding-day,

And all the world would stare,

If wife should dine at Edmonton,

And I should dine at Ware."

In the twentieth century, Amwell House has been home to the Girls' Grammar School for Ware, the Hertford Evening Institute, Ware College and, since its amalgamation with East Herts College, Hertford Regional College. It is flanked on one side by the college's excellent new build, designed by Bond Bryan. It is to be hoped that funds will be found for Phase II, which would place the 300-year-old Amwell House in between, and thus contrast it with, two quality new builds seen through by a college with vision and determination.

Mr Schumacher & Racing Cars

Cecil Schumacher, a brilliant engineer, worked for Hobbs, Borg Warner, and Keith Duckworth at Cosworth, designing transmission systems for both road and racing cars. He now develops and repairs transmissions in the fantastic workshops at his home. Cecil founded Schumacher Racing Products Ltd in 1980, designers and manufacturers of radio controlled cars. Amongst other things, he invented the 'ball differential,' the world's first, and a genuine constant velocity joint.

His workshops and garages are filled to the gunwales with lathes and presses, memorabilia, and serious machines. Amongst these are a stunning 1933 Talbot, rebodied as a boattail in 1937; a 1925 Sunbeam; and a Rolls Royce Merlin engine (below) from a 1940s Kittyhawk, "Swapped for two-and-a-half motorbikes." Cecil has raced in Angoulême and in the Le Mans Classic, and the Talbot has been taken all over Europe. Cecil is friends with the legendary Derek Gardner, who built Tyrrell's first F1 chassis in his own garage, sworn to secrecy.