Inverness Castle

 A-Z Challenge 2012 - I

Inverness Castle

The red sandstone Inverness Castle on the cliff overlooking the River Ness in Scotland is a comparatively modern castle. Although a series of castles have stood on the site since the 11^th century, the castle we see today was built as recently as 1836.

Inverness Castle - 2005

The 12^th century earth and timber fortress was occupied by English troops under King Edward I; King Robert the Bruce took and destroyed the castle in 1310. A stone castle founded in the early 15^th century by the Earl of Mar had a square stone tower added by George Gordon, Earl of Huntly in the 1548. Gordon was constable of the castle until 1562.

He was hanged by Mary Queen of Scots after the castle had been taken for the Queen by the Frasers and Munros. Earlier the Queen had found the gates of the castle shut against her.

The castle was defended against the Jacobites more that once. During the second major Jacobite rising in 1745 it fell to Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stuart). It was blown up after the Battle of Culloden.

The castle now standing on the site was built to house the Sheriff Courthouse and County Hall. A deep well and part of a bastion wall are all that remain of the medieval castle.

Inverness Castle front - 2007

Hilary Melton-Butcher's Castle H - Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex

Attribution

• Inverness Castle, 2005, by Dave Connor, originally posted to Flickr; Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
• Inverness Castle – Front, 2007, by Conor Power (Waterford, Ireland); Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. 

Flea Market Postcards - Blanchland

Recently I visited a flea market in the Green Dragon Yard, Stockton-on-Tees. There I discovered one stall with a box of postcards for sale. I bought four cards all addressed to the same lady in Hartlepool. The postmarks covered the period from 1960 – 1973.

The card showing the Lord Crewe Arms and the 15^th century gatehouse at Blanchland, Northumberland was not franked. However the 5.1/2p stamp meant that it would have sent after 1971 and before 1975

(From a an original painting by E I Forrest)

The name 'Blanchland' means 'white land', and comes from the white robes worn by monks who established a monastery there in 1165. The abbey disbanded by Henry VIII. The abbot’s house became an inn, the Lord Crewe Arms. Many of the village cottages seen today were built from stone scavenged from the old abbey buildings.

The vast fireplace within the Lord Crewe Arms is where ‘General’ Tom Forster hid during the 1715 Jacobite rising. The ghost of his sister, Dorothy is said to haunt the hotel.

Blanchland was bought by the Bishop of Durham, Nathaniel Lord Crewe in 1708, and on his death in 1721 Blanchland became part of a charitable trust established by his will. A popular destination for visitors from all over the world, Blanchland is reputed to be one of the prettiest villages in England.