The Myddeltons, the Red Hand Gang

Roger Mortimer built the earliest parts of Chirk Castle, overlooking the Ceiriog Valley, in 1295. One Thomas Myddelton bought Chirk in 1595 for £5,000; and the castle remained in the family's hands right through to 2004. The best approach is from the baroque iron gates of 1719-21, fabricated by Robert and John Davies of Croesfoel Forge, near Wrexham. These were originally placed between screen walls in front of the present castle entrance; and were relocated to their present position in 1888. The long drive up to the castle is lined with both mature (some with giant burls) and, pleasingly, young, oaks.

In the early nineteenth century the interior was breathed upon by Gothic Revivalist Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, whose extensive list of work includes the interior of Charles Barry's Palace of Westminster. Much of his work at Chirk was obliterated in the twentieth century. Pugin's luxuriously exotic, even erotic, richness of design can however be seen not far away, in Staffordshire, across which he built numerous churches, convents and schools for local patron, John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury.

Mad Jacks Aplenty*

Atop Cym y Bwch, the 1995 sculpture Janus Horse, one head facing England and the other Wales, marks the site of Oswestry Old Racecourse, which saw an annual week of horse racing between the early 1700s and 1848. The course was a figure of eight, the crossing point a road separating the North and South Commons, turfed over for the duration of the races; and was last laid with Cumberland turf by French prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars.

The grandstand (remains pictured), built in 1804 near the finishing post, incorporated an umpire's box and refreshment facilities for those with the necessary funds. Race entry was a pricey two guineas, plus half a guinea to the Clerk of the Course, which limited attendance to the local aristocracy and gentlefolk. John 'Mad Jack' Mytton, of the same eccentric cast as John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, raced here. Interpretation boards put decline of the course down to increasing attendance by, and rowdiness of, the "lower classes;" and to growth of the railway network, which enabled mounts to be transported greater distances to larger meetings, such as those at Chester.

* Other 'Mad Jacks' include Lieutenant Colonel John Churchill, who fought during WWII with longbow and arrows and a claybeg; and Captain John Percival, US naval officer.

HZ Fourgon

Introduced in 1947, the H van was produced right through to 1981. It was designed single-handedly by Pierre Franchiset, and is famed both for its corrugated steel panels (inspired by the WWII Junkers bomber and providing great strength with minimal weight - there is no separate chassis), and the first use of the 'Yoda' pinless hinge.



Power came originally from the cast iron 1.9 litre Traction Avant petrol engine, introduced in 1934. The block, with an alloy head from 1963, was used right through to the H's demise, which reputedly makes it the longest-used automotive component ever. In 1958 the H was replaced by the HY. A Perkins diesel option was introduced in 1961. Built that year and dry-stored since 1989, 718 DX 61 boasts this virtually indestructible powerplant.



Citroën turned out 478,743 H vans, most with a three speed box, in France and Belgium. A further 10,016 were built in Holland, and can be distinguished by their front-hinged doors. The standard vans are denominated as HYs, those of lower load capacity as HZs, and those of greater load capacity as HXs. Some were sold as the Model 1600, referring, confusingly, to the 1,600 kilogram carrying ability, not to the engine size. The level rear floor and the flexible three piece tailgate made the H an ideal delivery vehicle.

Restoration Man & Woman

Natalie and Karl Bass open Christ Church in Welshpool as part of the local council's 'Be a Local Tourist' week. Living accommodation is being constructed at second floor level, extending what would have been the gallery. Once ready, the family will move into this from the 'hut' - a temporary structure in the nave.

It is inspiring to learn that everything is being done in-house. Amongst other things, Karl has erected the steels and built the studwork, and Natalie has done the lime plastering. The view out over the nave, which is being restored to provide community facilities, is superb. This was the first church in Wales to use terracotta (likely to be from Ruabon) for structural purposes, and the intended bedrooms have a great prospect of this.

(Photograph by Natalie Bass)

Llynclys - Steam Under Collars

Shades of The Life of Brian's People's Front of Judea, Judean People's Front, Judean Popular People's Front, and Campaign for a Free Galilee. The Cambrian Railways Society was formed in 1972 but signally failed to make progress with bringing back to life the line between Gobowen and Blodwel. The rival Cambrian Railways Trust, formed in 1998, set about being more business-like, and accordingly secured funds to acquire the trackbed between Llynclys and Pant.

The Trust carried its first passengers in 2005, and built a replica of Llynclys South station. The feuding societies eventually combined in 2009 as Cambrian Heritage Railways. In the yard is a diesel locomotive, a shunter, and a variety of interesting architectural pieces. One of these is a roof vent from the Cambrian Institute, built in 1909 as a social club for Oswestry's railway workers, but unfortunately demolished 98 years later. Close by is Llynclys Cottage, which boasts a fine circular window, made by the previous owner.

What, When & Ware VI

Always go around the corner, take the road with which one is unfamiliar. Across a little footbridge over the River Lea, built by Tubewrights of Newport - these footbridges are quite common over railway lines - is the green of the Ware Bowling Club. Around this are a number of topiary conceits. That of two heads is particularly fine.

If You Go Down to the Woods

Broxbourne Woods is Hertfordshire's only National Nature Reserve. As home to scarce wildlife, including 27 species of butterfly, it is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The reserve, of 586 acres, is made up of four woods - Bencroft, Broxbourne, Hoddesdon Park and Wormley; the first two owned by the county council and the latter two by the Woodland Trust. The woods, about ten miles from Hertford, are described as ancient, but are (pre)-Roman tilled lands later re-colonised by trees. The numerous banks and ditches evidence past use as grazing land. The dominant trees are sessile oak and hornbeam, here at the most northerly extent of its natural range.

In the midst of Wormley Wood is a cast-iron coal post. About 250 to 260 of these were erected in 1861, marking the then boundaries of London, although the area designated by the posts has its origins in the mediaeval period. It was at these points that duty was levied on coal, wine and other commodities, which taxes contributed toward meeting the cost of key parts of London's infrastructure, including a number of the bridges over the Thames. In the seventeenth century the duties collected part-funded the re-building of London after the Great Fire.

About 200 posts remain. At first blush it seems odd that this Grade II listed post is in the middle of a wood, but our notions of what constitutes an highway are influenced by twentieth-century motorways. The track by which the post stands was the route by which Oliver Cromwell travelled to Ware to suppress a rebellion, so would have been recognised back then as a principal road.

What, When & Ware V

Out in bloom along the New River (YMGW passim) are ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) and field poppies (Papaver rhoeas). Hard by the nearby River Lea are the buildings of GlaxoSmithKline, the principal employer in Ware. One of these buildings was originally a factory belonging to Allen and Hanburys Ltd, a pharmaceutical manufacturer absorbed by GSK in 1958. The A&H factory had specialised in baby foods, malt products for invalids, and medicated pastilles; and was behind the asthma drug Ventolin. The factory has been sympathetically converted, although it's a shame that the London stock bricks of which it is constructed have been re-pointed such that the mortar is proud of the bricks.

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.