#Caldicot Castle

[savageandwise]

Caldicot Castle

By Sharon Latham

[djwezg]

Ben The Hat @ Hive Mind Brewery / Wye Valley Meadery, Caldicot 24.06.2023

Hive Mind Brewery / Wye Valley Meadery is a new venue to me in Caldicot. It is located on the Severnbridge Industrial Estate, not far from the back entrance to Caldicot Castle, near the Mitel Roundabout. It is open as an entertainment venue on Friday and Saturday nights and has a licensed bar with decent prices. The other part of its business is to sell wholesale alcohol that it produces on…

[wezg]

Review: Queens of the Crusades – by Alison Weir

I had previously read Alison Weir’s most excellent book specifically on Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine many years ago so the author was familiar to me. I chanced upon this title in my local library (Caldicot) and thought I’d give it a go. It covers the lives of several British Queens, or rather the historical period in England during which they lived. The period is one of the most interesting…

[thejoyofseax]

Ormthing 2024 Feast

The feast for Ormthing is done, and having that last major SCA obligation for the year out of the way seems to have broken the dam on getting some writing up of stuff done too. Well, that, and being on a ferry for four hours on the way back with little enough to do; I was on the verge of feeling bored for a few minutes there.

The idea for Ormthing (a 4-5 day camping event at Caldicot Castle in South Wales) was to produce a Norman feast. Norman is not one of the cuisines from which I often cook, so a little research was in order first. Magnifica Magdelena Grace Vane helped with that, and indeed would have been my co-cook for the event had circumstances of modern life not gotten in her way. It would appear that there's very little out there about Norman food, though. There's more known about WHAT was eaten than there is about early Irish food, for example, but there aren't recipes or many coherent accounts. What's there is not massively different from the 14th-15th century English and French food I think of as "generic medieval", though it's argued in some places to be simpler, and in some to have more in the way of spices and bold tastes - the latter coming from Norman contact with the Arabic world via Sicily. The best guess at a feast menu would therefore be roast meats in plenty, bread, some strong tasting sauces, and - in August - quite a lot of fruit. I also guessed that fritters of some kind would have been available. So with these parameters, I went about constructing a three course feast.

Of course, account had to be taken of the actual circumstance of the feast (evening, after a day in which there were already two tournaments, including the Principality Coronet Tourney, and would be a third to follow, in the castle courtyard by torchlight) and the diners. So I went for having the "main food" of the feast in the first course, with stronger tastes and sweeter things to follow. I reckoned that five roast meats per course with fish to vary would be too much - and indeed, in the unavilability of things like swan, heron, and porpoise - it might be difficult enough to make it to fifteen different meats.

So the initial plan was:

Course the First: Roast Beast (Venison or Beef) Frumenty Chicken Pottage Vegetables

Course the Second: Fish in Aspic Chicken on Sops White Fish in a Fruit Sauce Vegetables

Course the Third: Roast Duck Baked Orchard Fruit Dates in Compost Cream & Honey Fritters

… with bread for all courses.

This did not entirely survive contact with reality. I have done fish in aspic before - indeed, I once did a beautifully clear aspic with a whole trout suspended in it - and nobody, including myself, would actually touch the thing. Aspic is one of those things which sound weird, and turn out to look alien. So I decided not to do that, and replaced that with little dishes of anchovies, which I reckoned would convey the strong taste, and not offend as many people. I was able to get pickled mussels as well, so they were added in.

The vegetables for the first course were buttered turnips and creamed leeks, and for the second, stewed cabbage and a bean pottage.

Master Richard of Salesberie was able to source excellent meat for me, about two-thirds venison and one-third beef. It did, however, arrive from the farm shop already diced, so the idea of roasting it went by the wayside. Instead, I decided to brown it in a pan, and then bake it "in gobbets".

Due to various happenings of availability and illness, I wasn't able to have any of my usual kitchen crew along, but there were volunteers from the big island: Lady Julian ferch Luned, Lady Milada von Schnecken, The Honourable Lady Amphelise de Wodeham, and Halvar Darylson, all good cooks in the their own right. We had a relaxed kitchen with no particular rush, and indeed we were able to take breaks to go see bits of the tourneys, check in on family, and so forth. Early in the day, I saw my lady, Master Agnes Boncuer, have her champion Master Alexander of Derlington take the Coronet for her, which made the high table rather more familiar in terms of tastes and needs.

The kitchen in Caldicot is a modern one, situated just off the banquet hall. It's not big, and with five people in there, it was full. It also came without pots and pans, and there were no trays that would fit the steam oven. We knew about the pots in advance, so Amphelise - who accompanied me shopping, doing the driving and money-handling - and I picked up some the day before. We discovered the lack of suitable trays about three hours before serving, but the baked fruit went into a (slow) gas oven, and disposable roasting trays were procured at speed from the village - by whom I don't know, but I'm very grateful to them! The gas hob and the steam oven were excellent, though, and there was a dishwasher in a separate room.

The menu looks somewhat deceptively simple; there was a LOT of peeling and chopping of fruit and vegetables. We were able to do quite a lot of that during the day and get things going, so we weren't rushed, but I'm taking note of that for future reference, and might consider either some degree of prepping stuff the day before, or buying pre-chopped ingredients where possible.

We had people eating in three places - in the banqueting hall, in a smaller hall down a corridor and some stairs, and then more outside (and down a steep stairs), under a sunshade in the courtyard. This meant that service pretty much had to be to the tables, rather than my usual preference for a buffet. And we hadn't suitable serving dishes for most of what was there, so it was largely a matter of sending out the pots. Master Robert of Canterbury, Lord Trygg of Eplaheimr, Dominic of Flintheath, Lord Etienne the Younger, Kit of Flintheath, Taliesin Denet, and Sidney of Flintheath did excellent work, coping admirably with heavy loads and much stair-climbing.

Everything seemed to be well received, in general. I heard good things about the venison, the turnips, the chicken pottage, the pickled mussels, the chicken on sops, the sweet-and-sour fruit sauce for the fish (but not necessarily the fish itself, I noted), the duck, the orchard fruits, and the fritters. By the time of the duck and the fritters, the torchlight pas d'armes was under way, so I was able to wander round with the dishes and hand them out to the crowd, which is one of my very favourite things to do. We had more than was necessary of pretty much everything after the first course, so if I'm doing something like this again, I'd cut back on the quantities in the second and third courses.

Almost all the feedback I've had was good (with a couple of comments on the blandness of some dishes, but that's countered by others saying they were grateful for the edibility of those). Overall, I'm happy with how things went, considering the limitations of the kitchen and the service - there are things I'd do differently if I'm cooking there again, but that's always the case for the first use of a kitchen. I'll write up a document for the next person using it, and I can at least say that nobody went hungry!

[elenchi]

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at Caldicot Castle, Monmouth, Wales. 19.08.2023

[musicblogwales]

Green Man Festival 2023

Green Man Festival - 17th - 20th August 2023

Eve Appleton Band is this year’s Green Man Rising Winner!

Cardiff band Hyll will also claim their spot on the Rising Stage as finalists too, congratultions to them.

Green Man is thrilled to announce that Eve Appleton Band is its Green Man Rising winner for 2023, and will bag a slot on its Mountain Stage this August.

The Bristol-based act beat off competition from a record-breaking 3,000 hopefuls and over 30,000 votes to claim the annual award after they were announced as the judges favourite at the virtual final.

The Dorset born songwriter’s brand of progressive folk music won over a panel of industry experts including Hayley Morrison, Ivano Maggiulli, Kate French-Morris, Liam Keightly, Nuha Ruby Ra, Steve Nickols, Tom Baker and Ben Coleman.

Following a rise to prominence on the UK live music scene, Eve is now set to claim her place on the biggest stage at Wales’ largest music festival alongside the likes of First Aid Kit and Self Esteem.

Eve is herself a lifelong Green Man fan, having attended regularly as a child from its beginnings as a much smaller event held at the Baskerville Hall Hotel, just outside Hay-on-Wye

She said: “I knew music was my life because of Green Man - I cannot believe I now get to set foot on the mountain stage with my best friends. To everyone at Green Man Festival, the judges board of GM Rising and Green Man trust for providing musicians like us this amazing opportunity, we are forever grateful.”

Delighted to be announcing this year’s Green Man Rising winner, Managing Director and festival owner Fiona Stewart said: "I want to thank all those involved in Green Man Rising. The judges all agreed that the standard of entries was so incredibly high this year, and I’m so pleased for Eve Appleton Band! They really will make a spectacular addition to our line-up.”

The Green Man Rising competition celebrates the best emerging talent every year. Each entry is listened to by the Green Man team before a long list is put out to public vote in order to find the final five, which this year attracted more than 30,000 votes.

Cardiff band Hyll and other finalists will also get play at the festival on Green Man’s Rising Stage as a result of their success in the competition too. Other Welsh acts confirmed for the 2023 event include Cardiff duo, Rogue Jones, who will be performing at the Walled Garden stage on Thursday as part of an all Welsh language day in the Walled Garden, alongside acts such as Aisha Vaughan and Caldicot’s The Bug Club. 

The magic of Green Man lies not just in its scenery and music. Made up of 10 individual areas, the festival also offers a diverse range of events to accompany its incredible line-up, boasting art installations spread throughout the tranquil valley, a beer and cider tent to enjoy a crisp Welsh pint, an Ancient Egypt-themed area of discovery and exploration for the little folk, a relaxation and workshop space for the teenagers, plus science engagement area Einstein’s Garden. Further line ups of music, science, film, comedy & literature will be revealed in the coming months.

The Settlement Stage

This years Greenman Settlement Stage has been carefully curated by Libertino Records Gruff Owen with Angel Hotel, Angharad, Cynefin, Edie Bens, Elin Grace, Gille, Half Happy, Ivan Moult, Joe Kelly & The Royal Pharmacy, Mari Mathias, Red Telephone, Siula, Sonny Winnebego, Spencer Segelov And The Great Paintings, The Family Battenberg, Voya and YNYS all gracing the stage.

Festival goers who have purchased a Settler’s Pass, a special ticket which includes discounts on local heritage sites, galleries, castles and more, will arrive on Monday 14th August for a week in the Welsh valleys as part of their Green Man 2023 experience. Tickets for this year’s festival sold out in just four hours in September 2022, following a fantastic 20th anniversary celebration in the Welsh Mountains just weeks before.

The full lineup is as follows

Devo | First Aid Kit | Self Esteem | Spiritualized |  Amyl & The Sniffers | Young Fathers | Slowdive | The Walkmen | Confidence Man | Goat | The Comet Is Coming | Squid | Lankum | Horace Andy ft. Dub Asante Band | Sudan Archives | Snail Mail | Warmduscher | The Delgados | Les Savy Fav | Beth Orton | Daniel Avery (live) | Gilla Band | Jockstrap | Obongjayar | James Holden | Bob Vylan | PVA | Dur-Dur Band Int. | The Wedding Present | Courtney Marie Andrews | Billy Nomates | Sorry | Lost Map presents Weird Wave | Rozi Plain | Buck Meek | Julie Byrne | Clipping. | Special Interest | Alabaster Deplume | Gina Birch | Cory Hanson | Girl Ray | Etran D’el Air | Anna B Savage | Jake Xerxes Fussell | Sarah Jarosz | H Hawkline | Eddie Chacon | Kanda Bongo Man | Melin Melyn | The Bug Club | Josephine Foster | Crows | Marie Davidson (DJ) | Arushi Jain | Say She She | Alice Boman | Water From Your Eyes | Thus Love | Julie | Salami Rose Joe Louis | Nuha Ruby Ra | Floodlights | James Ellis Ford | Spencer Cullum | deathcrash | Yasmin Williams | Oscar Lang | Mega Bog | Σtella | Gently Tender | Aoife Nessa Frances | Fat Dog | MADMADMAD | Deptford Northern Soul Club | Hagop Tchaparian | 4am Kru | Drahla | The Gentle Good | Etta Marcus | Sister Wives | Sam Akpro | Brad Stank | Bricknasty | Juni Habel | Clara Mann | DD Darillo | Aisha Vaughan | Rogue Jones | The Social | Dutty Disco | Postmen DJs | Popperz - Spank DJs - Belinduh belinduh belinduh - Babymorocco - Joanie - Kuntessa Butch Kassidy | Cumgirl8 | Freak Slug | Island of Love | Lady Maisery | The Last Dinner Party | Lilo | Mandy, Indiana | Mary in the Junkyard | Minor Conflict | Morgon Noise | Sans Soucis | Seb Lowe | Spielmann | Suep | Uh | University | Yabba | And many more ........

Now in its 21st year, Green Man Festival is an award-winning, independent music, arts, comedy and science festival held in the breathtaking surroundings of the Bannau Brycheiniog. Uniquely, Green Man refuses sponsorship so that independent Welsh food & beverage producers can be offered and curational freedom retained. The festival is comprised of ten unique areas – from comedy, literature, theatre, film and art, and is the only large UK festival where a woman has majority ownership.

Green Man Festival is a melting pot of Welsh, national and international artistic talent and a creator of opportunities. The Green Man Trust charity extends the festival’s artistic, educational, and cultural ambitions by cultivating creative development, showcase and training opportunities within the arts, sciences and local communities. Over the last three years, 10,000+ people have been supported by Green Man Trust, £16,000 donated to Welsh food banks in 2022 in response to cost of living crisis, £3,000 donated for Ukrainian war relief, £16,000 has been raised for Welsh vulnerable people affected by storm Dennis flood, £100,000 was spent to commission 223 artists during the pandemic and over 100 community projects have been supported.

www.greenman.net/

[placesandpalaces]

Caldicot Castle, Wales

[littlemixnws]

jadethirlwall: Kweens of Caldicot

[harveyster]

Had to keep a little one entertained so exploring Caldicot Castle for the day! 🏰 #caldicot #castle #caldicotcastle (at Caldicot Castle & Country Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVYKRSKM2JtDgVTVOTbGAxM312ev2zLx0bQ0440/?utm_medium=tumblr

[savageandwise]

Caldicot Castle 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

By Sharon Latham

[septimus-heap]

ID: a google result for "does wales have the most castles in the world?". The answer is "This is a little known fact; Wales has more castles per square mile than any other country in europe. ... With over 600 castles, wherever you go on holiday in Wales you won't be too far from a historic site. If you don't have time to visit every single one, here is a selection of castles to visit. /end ID

Me, every time I pass a castle: Look, I don’t get why you can’t just let me have this one. There are so many here. I just want the one

[walkaholicuk]

Two of the towers from Caldicot Castle, very different, and the main building looks like it's Tudor period, I can't wait to go back when its open. #caldicot #caldicotcastle #castle #castlesofinstagram #castlesofwales #medevial #medievalarchitecture #chepstow #monmouthshire #building #property #architecture #fortification #ruins #château #estate #history #historicsite #facade #palace #manorhouse #arch #ancienthistory #statelyhome #middleages #historichouse #house (at Caldicot Castle & Country Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7db6fED9uX/?igshid=wxcfde90m2fy

[clemsblog]

Early Bays

[schiavonaspada]

Guessing where the Harri Potter characters live

YES, I KNOW, IN HARRY POTTER THEYRE ALL ENGLISH, BUT I’M TALKING ABOUT THE WELSH TRANSLATION’S CHARACTERS. MMK?

The Potters all live(d) in Ystrad Mynach, yes, godrics hollow is now ystrad mynach. because why not (no i dont live in ystrad mynach)

The Weasleys are from Holyhead, which explains the Quidditch Team that Siani (The unofficial Ginny translation name i’m using in Siambr Gyfrinachau) ending up playing for.

Although Percy moved out after he graduated Ysgol Hogwarts, he wanted to go to Cardiff to work for the Senedd (Can i call the Ministry the Senedd or is that bad) but couldnt afford to live there, so he lives in Newport

Hermione is from Carmarthen, she likes to brag to Ron that Tudur Aled is buried there, but he doesn’t know that is, and neither did i, until i googled “Notable Events” in Carmarthen because it’s boring there.

Dreigo is from Ynys Môn, because he’s a Tory.

Nefydd is from Pembroke, he hates tourists, but he does tours in Pembroke Castle for little kids every year, because his mam-gu tells him to. We stan

The Dursleys are from Caldicot, because they’re Tories.

Hagrid is from Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogoch just for the crack, also he’s canonically a gog so better give him somewhere in Anglesey ig

Athro McGonagal is from Tenby because my best friend goes to Tenby every summer and McGonagall is his favourite character so this is for you Deri

Pennaeth Dubmbledore lives in Machynlleth because... it just fits him

Athro Sneip is from Cardiff because idk why not. He’s the science teacher at Ysgol Plasmawr (no i dont go to plasmawr)

Athro Quirrèl is from Bridgend because my maths teacher lives there and my friend compares him to Quirrel bc he sucks.

Orwig Bedwyr is Cardiff born and Cardiff bred and when he dies he’ll be Cardiff dead (All my american followers will NOT get that reference), After graduating Hogwarts, he plays for the Quidditch equivalent of the Bluebirds. I’m telling you, the lad’s a Cardiff patriot, he cried over Billy The Seal & everything.

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

“Never trust domeless engines! They’re not respectable!”

... especially if they’re bloody Great Western! 

I’ve seen some references to these events in TTTE fic that I’ve never understood before. For anyone else who didn’t know, meet the domeless G.W.R. “Castle” engines: 

All the glorious “in your face, Gresley” p’wnship below is copied directly from the Wikipedia article. 

- - - - - - - - - -

“When introduced they were heralded as Britain's most powerful express passenger locomotive, being some 10% more powerful than the Stars. The first, No. 4073 Caerphilly Castle, made its debut at Paddington station on 23 August 1923. The choice of 4082 as Windsor Castle proved fortuitous as this locomotive was used to haul the royal train when King George V and Queen Mary visited Swindon Works in 1924, and much publicity was gained when the king was invited to drive the engine back from the works to the station before the return journey, with the Queen and several high-ranking GWR officers also on the footplate.[7]

During 1924, 4073 Caerphilly Castle was exhibited at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, alongside Sir Nigel Gresley's Flying Scotsman. The Great Western declared their engine to be more powerful than its bigger LNER rival, and in terms of tractive effort alone they were entitled to do so. As a result of this, GWR General Manager Sir Felix Pole proposed to LNER Southern Area General Manager Alexander Wilson that a trial of the two types should take place via an exchange arrangement.[9] The resulting trials commenced in April 1925 with 4079 Pendennis Castle representing the GWR on the Great Northern main line and 4474 Victor Wild representing the LNER on Great Western tracks. On the first morning Pendennis Castle was to work a 480-ton train from King's Cross to Doncaster, and LNER officials fully expected the smaller, lighter engine to encounter problems climbing Holloway Bank. However, railway writer Cecil J. Allen records that the GWR locomotive made a faster start from King's Cross to Finsbury Park than any LNER Pacific he had recorded up to that time,[9] and over the trial Pendennis Castle kept well within the scheduled time and used less coal, considerably denting LNER pride. For the LNER, Victor Wild was compared on the Cornish Riviera Express to 4074 Caldicot Castle and although it kept to time the longer wheelbase of the Pacific proved unsuited to the many curves on the route. Again the GWR took the honours with Caldicot Castle burning less fuel and always ahead of time, this being illustrated on the last 2 days of the trial by gaining 15 minutes on the schedule in both directions.[9]

In 1926, number 5000 Launceston Castle was loaned to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway where it ran trials between London and Carlisle. The locomotive fulfilled the LMS requirements so well that the latter first requested the GWR to build a batch of Castles for use on the West Coast Main Line, and, failing that, a full set of construction drawings. Both proposals were rejected by the GWR Board of Directors. The LMS eventually succeeded in gaining access to the design by recruiting William Stanier, the GWR's Works Manager at their main Swindon railway works to become the new Chief Mechanical Engineer for the LMS.[10]”

[castlesandmanorhouses]

Caldicot Castle (Welsh: Castell Cil-y-coed),  Caldicot, Monmouthshire, southeast Wales.

www.castlesandmanorhouses.com

Caldicot Castle is an extensive stone medieval castle built by the Norman earls of Hereford from c. 1100 near the site of Harold Godwinson’s earlier Saxon castle.  The castle became a Grade I listed building in 1953.

It looks rather like an adapted motte and bailey - with the keep on a motte on the left and the curtain wall following the boundary of the old bailey.