The Banners of Tewkesbury

I belong to a group of former telephone helpline volunteers. Facebook reunited us some time ago, and we meet for a walk or a meal a few times a year.

Today's trip was to Tewkesbury, where we had an enormous Sunday lunch at the Tudor house, near the river Avon, before setting off on on our Battlefield trail. The Battle of Tewkesbury, in May 1471, was one of the more decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses, until the Battle of Bosworth Field put paid to the wars and established the Tudors on the throne. The Lancastrians, who were advancing on the Yorkists from their exile in France, via Weymouth or Tenby, were routed. If only they'd been able to cross the Severn at Gloucester, they might have fared better, but the Duke(?) of Gloucester had recently changed sides, and closed the city gates on them.

So, to Tewkesbury they went, on their way to Upton-on-Severn to attempt to cross the river, but they were interrupted and forced to do battle at Tewkesbury, where they chose the wrong positions and ended up being hemmed in by hedges and a small but deep brook. One of their own leaders changed sides too, and didn't lead a charge when he was supposed to. After that, they didn't stand a chance....

Our walk leader, who is also a tour guide, took us on a two-mile tour of the Battlefield area, with lots of history thrown in. There are informative plaques along the way, and a leaflet to go with them. (The terrain is suitable for walkers, but not what I'd call accessible for disabled people). The sun beat down. At one point we stopped to look at this banner. It seems that any house or building in Tewkesbury can apply to hang out a banner, which are based on the coats of arms of each knight who fought in the battle. Each one is different. This one belonged to a Lancastrian: there are notes attached to each building that tell passers-by about the knight in question. I chose this shot because the colours in the person's jumper echo the colours in the banner.

We finished at the Abbey, and repaired to Cafe Chocolat, where I was still too full to have a cake.

In other news, I've now finished back-blipping my trip to Scotland, if you want to take a look. I've missed a couple of days this week, because I ran a market stall two days running, and didn't take a single shot.