Saturday 16th September ’23. AC, DH, RW, BFS, JB & Scrumpy
Starting off at Adrian‘s house in Station Road it was slightly raining, but we were not worried because we had faith on our side. We passed by all new housing that had been erected on both side of the road. We then diverted off the road to small path and started to climb through an area called Ashridge Copse. At this point we were still in Ansford. At the top of the hill we passed the activity centre of Castle Cary, a set of 6 specially designed piece of wooden apparatus that were meant to be for fitness fanatics.
We passed through the Fair ground field., then into Castle Cary high street whilst observing all the feature that Castle Cary has to offer. I pointed out the Indian restaurant, and the George pub and hotel, with its lovely thatched roof and nice stone from the keep/castle. I will mention more of that later on.
We then enter a small alley beside the George and started to climb. We stopped whilst I informed the group of many days work I carried out in the moat garden, which was some 17 years ago when we had to cut down trees and bracken etc. It has now becoming a go-to stop for people to visit and have piece and tranquilities experiences. As well as local school growing vegetable in the ground, (protected be wire fence to keep the badgers at bay).
We then entered a field with some very large earth banks, w hich was the keep/castle of the original Cary Castle dating back to the times of King Stephen in roughly 1100 AD
We continued to climb up the slope, were the weather started to clear and the view of Castle Cary and Ansford come in to focus.
We then start to discuss the pet food factory, horse hair factory, etc. The horse hair factory get all the hair from little county with a cold climate. Can you guess the county, they have many horses? Outer Mongolia. By 1700 Castle Cary was known for its cloth production, when linen weaving replaced wool at the end of the century. In 1837 John Boyd began making horse-hair textiles, for which he is still renowned today and produces on the original 1870 looms.
We could also see King Alfred’s tower. 3 million bricks were used in the construction in 1760s.
Then up the top and the to celebrate the new century (2000 built memorial), and the Castle Cary beacon. We slowly start to descend the hill, and could see the new built house at the bottom track.
I was starting to get hungry, so I had to speed up my walking, to encourage the group. We did not pass any red post boxes. We walked down the lane, and arrived at the Castle Cary.
The weather had brighten up in the one and a half hours, as we slowly made way down Station Road, final ending up at Tank Lane. Where Ruth had cooked us a lovely breakfast. It was very good.
No gift or bribes, where received on the production of the story.
Adrian
Postnote
Adrian was on top form today as he kept us informed about the history of Castle Cary at different stages of the walk, and had to put up with lots of banter and dubious extensions to his tales that would have thrown anyone else off their stride. And a big thanks to Ruth and Adrian for hosting a tasty breakfast with some great stories and revelations around the table. We must also mention for the record that the night before, six of us men treated our good ladies to a two mile walk around Duncliffe Woods followed up by a meal at the nearby Kings Arms. No photos of the walk or meal were taken so the only visual record is of a photo of a pint of bitter.
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