Regency Romance Novels

Clipsham yew tree lane…

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A couple weeks ago we went out for an evening drive (it’s light until about 9:30) and on our way home we drove through Clipsham village for the first time. When I saw a sign that said ‘Yew Tree Lane’ I assumed it was another example of the English giving a small road an evocative name to taunt people like me. As we came trundling around the corner I saw a tiny Georgian house almost hidden by this strange clump of clipped yew trees. The sculptor in me loves shaped trees and hedges; the crazy woman in me loves yew trees…they’re poisonous and there are yew trees alive today that are well over a thousand years old. Magic! I craned my neck farther as the Goblin obliviously drove past a grass lane lined with clipped yew trees. I turned and said, ‘Did you see those yew trees? They’re clipped! I must go back!’ Of course I’d hoped he’d immediately turn back, but he merely said something like, “We’ll come back…it’s going to rain.’ and drove on. English goblins hate rain.

The following evening I reminded him I wanted to go back and see the clipped yew trees and he’d already forgotten them. How can anyone forget a lane of clipped yew trees? I made sure he wasn’t able to forget again so he drove me back this past Saturday afternoon. [Read more…] about Clipsham yew tree lane…

Fotheringhay is too beautiful for the dead…

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One of the lions from Fotheringhay Castle
One of the lions from Fotheringhay Castle

While I was in Aldeburgh last Saturday I found a book called The Haunted South, by Joan Forman. In it the author drives around the South of England through all sorts of little villages and notes any documented cases of ghostly encounters. In the book the author mentioned in passing the church at Fotheringhay, Northhamptonshire and that it “…carries echoes of the fourteenth century in the sound of drums and trumpets from within the building.” Fotheringhay isn’t very far from where I live. I visited the village last year with my sister, though we didn’t go into the church. It started to snow as we crawled into the car to thaw out and neither of us felt like getting out again to see a freezing church. My desire to visit was renewed!

I mentioned to the Goblin that the church was supposedly haunted with ghostly music and hinted we could go take pictures and see the church. [Read more…] about Fotheringhay is too beautiful for the dead…

The splendour of rapeseed…

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The Goblin wanted to go to the beach today so we ended up at Aldeburgh in Suffolk. I love Aldeburgh. It’s a pebble beach lined with cute old houses painted mainly in pastel colours. And then there’s the main street with lots of cute shops. I’d hoped to take the camera with me into town, but the Goblin was starving when we arrived so he rushed me away from the car with protests that we could come back for it later after he’d eaten (he knew I’d want to stop and take photos on the way), but of course by the time we ended up back at the car he’d had enough sun and wind and wanted to head home.

Weaving through the Suffolk countryside I stared out the window as we drove past endless possible pictures…the light was gorgeous and the colours like jewels. I asked him if he came across a good place to stop if he could pull over so I could take some photos. He said he’d try. He ended up driving into Otley and down a country lane where we found a field of rapeseed and a place to park. I got out of the car and was hit by this amazing smell and this sheet of bright yellow next to a bright blue sky. I’d never actually been near a field of rapeseed before, let alone stood in one. It was quite amazing. It’s not a native plant and you can tell from a distance because it looks like an evil giant has come along and painted weird shapes of acid-yellow over green fields, but with just the rapeseed and the blue sky it was lovely. I thought I’d just share a few favorite pictures from my stop. [Read more…] about The splendour of rapeseed…

King John slept through the visit…

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Me and King John
Me and King John

The Goblin had the day off. When I asked him yesterday what he planned to do today he said he wanted to drive over to Coventry and Birmingham to look at several cars he’d found on the internet. Our present car is rusting badly so it’s time to replace it. I had to go with him to test drive the passenger seat and on hearing he wanted to go as far as Birmingham my eyes lit up as I asked, “Isn’t Worcester near Birmingham?” Sort of, he said. “Well, if we have to spend the money on petrol (gas) to drive all that way can’t we stop off at Worcester on the way back so I can see the Cathedral…where King John is buried?” I’ve been reminding him regularly that I wanted to visit King John so he knew what I wanted to see in Worcester, but I mentioned it just incase he’d forgotten on purpose. [Read more…] about King John slept through the visit…

Book review: Doctor of Love James Graham and His Celestial Bed

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“Originality is not achieved by striving for it.” This is one of my favorite quotes. To me this means that the only way we can be original is to simply be ourselves. The moment we strive to be original our efforts end up morphing into a mess because we’re trying to be something we’re not. We lose the plot and our efforts (whatever they might be) end up…unoriginial. James Graham, an 18th century medical doctor who specialised in sexual health, was not only original but ahead of his time in many respects. Given the finite knowledge any good doctor actually had about the human body in the 1780’s a lot of medical care was either down to medical customs (sometimes more deadly than the ailment) or unfounded, untested quackery. Bascially, anyone who could afford to attend medical classes and make himself sound like a doctor…could set himself up as a doctor. [Read more…] about Book review: Doctor of Love James Graham and His Celestial Bed

Memories bloom like flowers in a lush green lawn…

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Stephanie
Stephanie

On Monday afternoon memories collided with the present. When I learned a friend from highschool would be passing through Stamford with her daughter to see Burghley House I offered to put them up and I’m so glad they stopped over. It was lovely to see her, meet her daughter and talk about the past and the present. We talked about memories, writing, books and people we used to know. Yesterday morning we went up to Burghley House and I took 235 pictures. With the clouds passing quickly over bright sunshine it was one of those days where pictures seem to appear and disappear as fast as you can raise your camera, but I kept snapping [Read more…] about Memories bloom like flowers in a lush green lawn…