Dear Friends,
October is upon us and the brilliant coloured leaves blowing around the castle grounds are being chased by our gardeners. I think of the people who have lived here over the
centuries who will also have seen the most colourful season in this place, with the same shape of mauve hills on the far horizon of the Peak National Park of Derbyshire and the
Weaver hills of Staffordshire. The views are spectacular, and no wonder we are so popular for weddings, not to mention photographers! We have a photography day planned for Sunday 9th October
which we organise twice a year for spring and autumn. The range of photography skills on show ranges from mobile phones to thousands of pounds worth of equipment. Amateurs and
professional photographers attend and help each other. Meanwhile models in costumes from different eras can be found dotted around the grounds surrounded by clicking cameras. Inside and outside is
available for photography and our tea room has lots of hot drinks and snacks to enjoy so you will be very welcome.
In October each year I usually play a real witch from the times of the so called “Witchfinder General”, which marries very well into my medical research as the occult featured in medicine at one level.
I often use primary sources, so actual works from the period, or photographs of written works from the time, and the content can be astonishing. Amongst the recipes for cough medicine and eye drops
can frequently be found magic in the form of spells with incantations and not all the spells make pleasant reading.
The desire for people to cause trouble for others can be also found in Roman curses, written on lead tablets and offered up in holy springs like the ones that can be seen in the Roman Bath museum – in Bath. These curses are designed to damage people, long distance – usually as an act of revenge for crimes such as theft. Some of the English Tudor “spells” are just as alarming with the clear desire to cause great harm to others including binding them in properties so they can’t leave. There is worse too and when reading them is a mixed sense of wonder and horror. I use one of these curses as part of my presentation as “The Witch of Manningtree” but am careful not to fully complete the curse – just in case! My library has some fascinating items and now is the time of year I can dip into it. As I write this letter, it has just started to thunder – now that really is creepy! Look online for further information on www.lesleysmithhistorians.co.uk
We also have King Richard III and King Charles II presentations coming up so do look out for them and no, they are not presented by me – there is a limit to what I can do!
Tickets to our hugely successful bonfire night celebrations with Vikings are selling fast as usual and we are so happy to welcome our brilliant professional fireworks company Jubilee back again. It can’t be far off twenty years now since we first started dealing with them and it has been a really happy relationship. That is also the case with so many other suppliers who we have dealt with for many years, which is an absolute bonus both for our own long-term staff, many of whom have also been with us for years, as well as for the newer staff who have joined us more recently, but who can benefit from these established relationships. Tickets are available online at www.lesleysmithhistorians.co.uk
Schools are coming back in numbers and my character talks with a meal mostly selling out so thank you for your constant support. We are considering putting on regular tea dances with high tea in our glamorous marquee, in response
to lots of queries about this as a possibility. Indeed, it is, we are looking into it now as people want cheering up and if we don’t charge extra for the tea dance, just the cost of a high tea – that should make it possible to enjoy
an outing without a mortgage! Do call us on 01283 812129 to find out more.