What ever you call it...it pretty much boils down to being in the right place at the right time. And yesterday, that's exactly where I was. And not a minute too soon.
It's been a difficult 10 days or so...starting with a little bit of suck like a dental appointment, and ending in a terrible accident, a family crisis, and a huge loss to our family. Heartache. I am in England. I wanted to be in Kentucky with my sisters, nieces and nephew. Or in Florida, with my Mom. But no, the reality is I am in England...
After several rough days, I needed to get out of the house. Get out of my head. A change of perspective...at least for a minute. My friend Dawn and I decided to go to lunch, and then go on a little local adventure to find the castle ruins at Fotheringhay-the castle where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned and executed by Queen Elizabeth I.
We had lunch at a lovely local tearoom...and enjoyed an absolutely beautiful afternoon-we sat outside, soaking in the sunshine, birdsong, and friendship. We lingered over lunch...and lingered longer over a slice of Victoria sponge, and a cream tea.
Victoria sponge-my favorite!
Lunch took longer than we expected...but we weren't far from Fotheringhay-so we decided to go check it out anyway...there's not much left of Fotheringhay Castle-very few ruins-how long could it take?
We found the village, parked near the church, and decided to take a look around.
Church of St. Mary and All Saints
Fotheringhay
We walked up the path-both took out our phones, and started snapping pictures of the beautiful church in front of us. Soon, an older gentleman and lady came up behind us, and were kindly standing back, waiting for us to finish taking our photographs.
Because I take after my Mother, who will talk to a rock if it holds still long enough...I started chatting with the lady and gentleman. They were friendly and kind-and invited us in to take a look at the church. We gladly took them up on their offer.
Soon we learned that the man was Michael Lee-a local history author. He is also the church's 'Steeplekeeper'! And what does he keep in his steeple? He keeps bells! Church bells, of course. And we were just in time for bell ringers practice.
Mr. Lee told us that since we appeared to be in pretty good shape...he thought we could probably make it up the steep stone steps to the church's lantern. So he invited us to join them!
Going up-first staircase
We're on the roof! This was our view of the flying buttresses on the way to the steeple. One staircase down-two to go!
We made it!
Michael Lee-Steeplekeeper
inside the Ringing Chamber in the church tower
(He's 80, by the way!)
Ceiling in the Ringing Chamber-bell ropes, and the Duke of York's falcon and fetterlock symbol
Bell mufflers-used to mute the bells on somber occasions such as funerals, etc...
First step of ringing the bells-getting the bells up. The bell ringers chime the bells, until the bells flip over in the harness-then they can be rung in rounds. I hope I got that right-I'm not sure I was the best student, and there was lots to take in-Mr. Lee was interested in teaching us everything we could take in...
They let us ring one of the bells! Can you believe it? Mr. Lee teaches Dawn how to chime the bell.
Bell ringing is tough work!
Michael told us if we leaned against the walls of the chamber when the bells were ringing, we could feel the tower swaying. He was right! It was an eerie sensation.
One more staircase-the toughest yet-and here are the bells! They are huge.
Mr. Lee shows us Fotheringhay's oldest bell-dated 1595. And still ringing strong today.
Practice over-we head down the steps. Somehow going down seemed worse than going up. ;)
Back outside, we checked out the neighbors...
the old ones...
and the new ones...
who seemed less than impressed with their American visitors.
Our afternoon in Fotheringhay had taken a totally unexpected and wonderful turn...all because of good timing. Or maybe a happy accident. Who knows?
We never did find the castle ruins.
So Fotheringhay-we'll be back!
