L2L Day 28 Ashby de la Zouche

After breakfast at Lil Bo's I headed off to see St. Helens Church in the sunshine.


I find the history of the British monarchy is REALLY confusing.....and what a duplicitous scheming bunch.

There was a church in the town in the 11th century, but the current building dates from work started in 1474, funded by the 1st Baron Hastings.  


At the same time that he converted his manor house next door into a castle. He was a Yorkist and friend of Edward IV.

The Hastings Chapel at St.Helens Church commemorates the family.


Following Edward's death, the Baron who at the time was considered one of the most rich and powerful in England was accused of treason and beheaded in the Tower of London on the orders of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who became Richard III.

I then went in search of the castle - but it's closed on Tuesdays so I had to make do with sneaked pics through hedges. It's now a ruin but must have been massively impressive at the time.




Trying to find somewhere in the sunshine but sheltered from the breeze, I went for tea and met Rebecca who runs the very nice Courtyard cafe.



Obviously a place with a devoted following. It was still breezy but lovely in the sunshine.

The boots saga continues. Last time I'd found that my heels would wear out in about 250 miles and the same this time. I'd called in to Timsons yesterday afternoon and Neil had offered to repair my boots in time for me to carry on. 


True to his word, my boots were up and running this afternoon. Many thanks again Neil.

At the war memorial I counted the names of almost 130 men from Ashby who lost their lives in the First World War. Many on the list share the same surname.


Whenever I look at a war memorial, it feels impossible to imagine the impact such a loss would have had on a small town.

At The Tap for an early evening pint of Tollgate Brewery's Duffield Amber, I sat next to father and son, Mike and Andy 


We had a good chat. They were having a beer on their way to , as they put it, 'The Last Rites'  - seeing the Leicester match this evening. To avoid relegation, with just three games to go in the season, Leicester has to win every game and their closest competitors have to loose all their three. Nail biting!! Margo should really be here to lend her voice.

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