Around Our Sceptered Isle

Letters and Miscellany

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At Poohsticks Bridge, in Ashdown Forest, visitors can play a game of Poohsticks while enjoying the “Enchanted Places” that were the inspiration for A.A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood in Winnie the Pooh.[/caption]

THE MASONIC MYSTERIES AT ROSSLYN

ALBERT WILKINSON JR. of Sky Valley, Ga., wrote to share more of Rosslyn Chapel’s masonic connections: “The portrait of Sir William St. Clair shows him with the Apron of Freemasonry on and the blue ribbon across his chest with the open Compasses of Freemasonry at the end, presumably as Patron and Protector of Freemasons of Scotland, to which office he was appointed by James II of Scotland in 1441. The Apprentice Pillar and the Master’s Pillar are Masonic symbols, as is the figure with a large rope or ‘cabletow’ wrapped around his body.” He suggests as well that the chapel may have been spared during the sacking of Rosslyn Castle because Oliver Cromwell was a Freemason. Thanks for sharing the information, Albert, and providing a very plausible explanation for Rosslyn Chapel’s Civil War reprieve.

CASTLERIGG STONE RING, KESWICK

THERE ARE SOME 600prehistoric stone circles in Britain. A number of them are better known than Castlerigg. For sheer grandeur of setting, however, this ancient henge may be the most dramatic of the class. Of course, no one knows the whys and hows of the ring’s existence. It sits atop a broad hilltop just a mile and a bit above the market town of Keswick. In all directions rise the stark hills of the Cumbrian Mountains. To the north lies Saddleback and Skiddaw; to the south, Great Dodd and High Seat, split by the tranquil waters of Thirlmere. If you visit Castlerigg in the deep off-season, when the fogs and frosts of winter dance along the peaks and the quiet fields are bathed in solitude, the effect evokes the magic of the ages.

THE BEST OF BRITISH COMEDY

WE KNOW THAT THRONGS of BH readers are avid fans of the classic British situation comedies that have been playing on PBS to an enthusiastic audience for years. While many of these series show up again and again on British television, here are some of the most popular classics of British comedy and their original airdates.
Dad’s Army 1968-77
Are You Being Served? 1973-83
Fawlty Towers 1975, 1979
To the Manor Born 1979-81
Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister 1980-87
The Black Adder 1983-89
’Allo, ’Allo 1984-92
Waiting for God 1990-94
Keeping Up Appearances 1990-94
As Time Goes By 1992-99

JOHN MIDDLETON’S GRAVE

ON THE NORTH SIDE of the Mersey estuary near Liverpool is the small town of Hale. The parish church has been there a long time, as has the grave of John Middleton, who died in 1623. He was known as the “Childe of Hale,” and he was a wrestler at the court of James I. The great diarist Samuel Pepys mentions him. I cannot imagine who would have wanted to be his opponent. His grave cover records his height at 9 feet 3 inches, and the cover certainly looks that long. Reportedly, Middleton had the strength to match his height.

ASHDOWN FOREST, EAST SUSSEX

LONGTIME FRIENDS OF Christopher Robin will want to take a look at Ashdown Forest if they happen to be in the Weald. The forest is south of a line between East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells. This ancient royal hunting preserve was the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood, the universe of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. At Pooh Corner, on High Street in Hartfield, you can get clear directions to the “Enchanted Places” of the forest, including the famous Poohsticks Bridge. The old gift shop and tearoom are, frankly, commercial but offer a world of wonder to sentimental fans of Pooh bear and his singular friends.

WROXETER ROMAN CITY, NEAR SHREWSBURY, SALOP

WROXETER ITSELF is merely a crossroads a few miles southeast of Shrewsbury. How strange to imagine that the small field of Roman wall, foundations and paving were once in the thriving city of Viroconium. But Viroconium was indeed a Roman city, the fourth largest in Roman Britain, a bustling commercial and administrative center. What makes Viroconium unique is that it is the only major Roman city in Britain to have dissolved into ruins. After the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, the city became the capital of the Celtic kingdom of Powys. The Celts abandoned it as indefensible against the Saxons some 200 years later. Today, the most singular architectural feature at Wroxeter is a huge Roman wall known as the “Old Work.” The gray sandstone wall formed a partition of the city’s huge basilica and its entrance into the vast bathhouse.
Perhaps as fascinating, Viroconium may well be the original of Camelot. Current and convincing historical scholarship places the real King Arthur as a warrior-king of Powys with his capital at Viroconium. It’s rather fun to putter about among the ancient hypercausts and rubble and imagine the hero of Celtic independence holding his alliance together on these windy Shropshire hills.

THE TEN MOST BRITISH THESPIANS

RECENTLY POLLED ANGLOPHILES and travelers to Britain gleaned our collective conclusion as to the most characteristically British actors and actresses who have graced our lives. Scores of names were recalled from the past half-century or more, but the top 10 vote getters are hard to beat.
Judi Dench
Maggie Smith
Michael Caine
John Gielgud
Alec Guinness
Vanessa Redgrave
Alan Bates
Peter O‘Toole
Laurence Olivier
Sean Connery

HOW TO RING BRITAIN

THE BRITISH TELEPHONE numbers provided in British Heritage include an initial zero, which callers from North America do not need to dial when placing a call to Britain. North American callers should dial 011-44 in place of the initial zero.
When traveling in Britain, the telephone numbers should be entered exactly as they are printed in BH.