The Battlefields Trail

Trying out and reviewing walks for various publications and societies this year means I have covered almost seven hundred miles since the spring. Of course I prefer a circular route for walking back along the same path, albeit offering a different viewpoint, is a little tedious - as I found when having to return to the car when researching Ley Lines Across the Midlands and later The Salt Routes. Yet discovering the leaflet advertising the Battlefields Trail I was instantly attracted.

Here three of the most significant battles on English soil were linked by a twenty-mile route through the south Midlands. Each site is clearly marked and information boards provide details of the combatants and how events unfolded. The trail starts in Chipping Warden and the route is stated clearly in the dowloadable leaflet known as the Battlefields Trail, hence here we just touch upon the history.

On July 26th 1469 the Wars of the Roses moved to Edgecote Moor. Here Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick led the Lancastrians against a Yorkist army.

A quarter of a century earlier at Cropredy Bridge another engagement took place in the small village of Cropredy Bridge. This place features as a point on one of the routes in my book Ley Lines Across the Midlands.
Just to the northwest of the delightful River Cherwell, Cropredy Bridge was named as an ancient river crossing, a ford across the shallowest part of the river. Indeed this point is also where two leys cross, the other known as the Waterstone ley. Despite the name of the village, as far as we can tell the first bridge was not constructed here until 1312.
The most famous moment in the history of Cropredy Bridge happened on 29th June 1644. The Parliamentarians were under the command of Sir William Waller, whose other claim to fame is as the man who proposed the formation of the New Model Army where professional soldiers fought under trained officers. Prior to this the troops were composed of any able fighting men, led by aristocrats whose only qualification to lead a war was through their bloodline. Opposing Waller were the Royalist forces, under the command of King Charles himself.
Here reports are conflicting. Some speak of a fierce battle, while others maintain it was only a minor skirmish. However both agree that the Royalists were victorious and marked a milestone in English history for this was the final battle won on home soil under the command of the reigning monarch. These differing accounts come about because they were written by different sides. The ferocity of the battle is exaggerated by the Parliamentarians, defeated they wished to tell of how bravely they fought. However their opponents describe a virtual walk over where hardly a shot was fired in anger.
So which is correct? The answer is found in the addendum to the Royalist record. It speaks of their disappointment at how their victory realised so very little, for their prisoners were not the cream of the fighting force and the captured equipment well-nigh worthless.

The earliest of the three barttles was fought at Edgehill on 23rd October 1642, indeed it was the first serious confrontation of the Civil War. The encounter is well covered by the Battlefields Trust leaflet. Again this battle features in the pages of one of my books, this time Paranormal Cotswolds where the story is told as follows:
At the northern edge of Cotswolds is Kineton and a famous moment in time. On the 23rd of October in the year of 1642, one of the greatest battles in English history was fought here, the first major engagement of the English Civil War.
Had there been a decisive victory for either side the conflict further bloodshed may have been avoided and thereafter resolved over the negotiating table. That the battle of almost 30,000 men resulted in 500 dead and 1,500 wounded from each side of the equally matched forces probably accounts for it seemingly continuing long after the mortal combatants had left the arena.
Early in 1643 a report was published by a London printer, sharing the tale of Christmas 1642 in Kineton. A group of shepherds, journeymen and a number of locals were abroad walking the lanes in the first hour after midnight, the first hour of the last Sunday in Advent. Suddenly they were aware of the sound of distant drums, the groans of dying men and the sounds of battle. They watched transfixed as the battle was renacted against the backdrop of the dark winter skies overhead. not daring to move should they be mistakenly be attacked amidst the carnage all around them.
For three hours they watched the slaughter until they considered it over and safe to move. They ran to Kineton's JP and minister, Mr Wood and Mr Marshall respectively, and told them of the horrors they had just witnessed. The skeptical well-educated gents returned to the scene 24 hours later and stood open-mouthed as they witnessed the battle re-enacted once more.
Rumours spread and reached the ears of the king himself, who had been present at the battle. He sent six men, a colonel, two captains and three men of high birth to investigate and, when Saturday night came around once more, the battle was again witnessed in the skies. They watched as men they had fought with, died once more slain by a sword in the hands of an opponent.
Twice more the ghostly battle has been reported. In the first days of 1643, and again around the early Victorian era when a group of newspaper reporters were on hand. Since that time only sounds of the battle have been heard, although there have been reports of Charles I's nephew and right-hand man at the battle, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, being seen astride his white charger directing the Royalist Army.

The leaflet states this can be travelled in three stages, although the twenty miles is manageable by experienced walkers in a single day (assuming the weather is kind and there are sufficient hours of daylight).

My new book: Paranormal Staffordshire

With Hallowe'en celebrations in full swing I thought it the perfect time to look at my latest book, Paranormal Staffordshire, released last week. One story comes from Ipstones, an incident reported almost a century ago during the dark days of the First World War.

The Hermitage
While thousands of individuals faced each other across the trenches of Europe, a reporter for a Matlock newspaper crossed the county boundary and brought his notebook to the Staffordshire Moorlands.
By this time the place was the property of a Colonel Beech under the tenancy of Bennett Fallowes. Together they had run this place for some twelve or thirteen years, yet the reporter was showing interest in the previous owner who seemed reluctant to leave his old home. The resident Fallowes family had admitted to becoming hardened to their ghostly guest and hardly troubled them.
During his lifetime the earlier owner of the place earned a reputation over a sizable area. A miserly little man, whose permanently bent back made him seem even smaller, despite never being seen without his trademark top hat. Disliked by all who knew him, he was reputed to have amassed a small fortune with his miserly ways. The Fallowes family, who had never met him as he had died before they arrived, were sure he was still there. They often felt the draught as they passed him on the stairs, accompanied by the sound of rustling, yet nothing could be seen.
One day Edward Wheeldon, Mrs Fallowes brother, brought his wife to stay for a few days. They lasted just one night, a night when they were unable to sleep for the sound of someone running up and down the stairs all night. They tried to call out to the rest of the family in another part of the house, but were unable to make themselves heard. When daylight broke next morning and Mr Wheeldon managed to rise from his bed he saw how his hair was standing straight up and neither he nor his wife ever stayed another night at the farm.
A servant girl here, another relative of the Fallowes family, would often hear ghostly screams from beneath her bedroom window. A form of serenading which she could certainly do without. Richard Fallowes, a cousin of the man of the house, stayed one night when he not only heard the American organ playing in the sitting room but could recognise the tune, yet nobody was downstairs at the time.
A bed in an unoccupied room was heard to be sat on, yet nobody was there nor could they have exited without being seen. A pile of planks created a tremendous noise as they were heard to come clattering down one evening, however armed with lanterns the family discovered not a single plank was out of place. Yet none of the incidents were as worrying as that experienced by Jane Fallowes, who felt the unmistakable touch of a human hand against her face.
Their visitor had become a regular at the farm. However they had noticed he seems to like specific times in the calendar, appearing at Good Friday, Easter, Whitsuntide, Christmas, and the summer and winter solstice.
The large black dog, said to have glowing red eyes and equal in size to a donkey and which may or may not be related to the other phenomenon, has been seen in the road around here. One man kicked out at the fiercesome beast, only to see his foot pass straight through the animal which seemed not to notice.

Published by Amberley Books Paranormal Staffordshire is my fourth book on this subject. Copies are available by contacting the author.

A Matter of Opinion

Never fails to amaze how two people can read the same book and come to completely different conclusions. A reviewer of my Black Country Ghosts from The History Press purchased the book through amazon.co.uk and later posted a review:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Country-Ghosts-Anthony-Poulton-Smith/dp/0750950447/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_9

However across the Atlantic a second customer purchased the book through amazon.com and later gave a different opion:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Country-Ghosts-Anthony-Poulton-Smith/dp/0750950447/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Two things come to mind. Firstly it is a pity the two reviews cannot be linked to appear on the same page whether views on .co.uk or .com. And of course there is also a greater likelihood of a review for those who are dissatisfied. Thus budding authors, while taking comments on board, should also balance any criticism with the knowledge that there is probably a very satisfied and unseen reader out there.

Incidentally the dissatisfied customer who bought Black Country Ghosts in the UK may not have been quite as unhappy with my work as it seemed, for he later purchased another of my books. While they also went on to write a bad review of that second book, it did raise the point as to why a second book was purchased by the same author - unless, as I suspect, it was simply to give a bad review.

Staffordshire Ghosts

Recently I made an appeal for personal ghostly experiences in the county of Staffordshire. The response was so good I am going to repeat my appeal and provide a small sample of what may well be found in the forthcoming publication. As previously stated if anyone wishes to remain anonymousthen rest assured your name will not appear in print - indeed I will let you give some suggestions should you wish to be known by a pseudonym. I look forward to hearing from you.

Woodhouses Road, near Burntwood

Born in 1922, Ivan was just twelve years old when an innocent game of hide and seek was to turn into the most chilling experience of his life.

Light was failing and it was getting late. So the group broke up and Ivan and his friend headed off towards their respective homes. Suddenly the pair noticed a tall dark man accompanied by a large black dog emerge from a dense hedge not ten yards away from them. Frozen to the spot the two watched in terror as both figures walked past them and vanished. Both later noted how during the brief encounter not a sound could be heard, either from the man walking past nor normal background sounds.

Within the next few days, when the thought of the experience still making the hair on the back of his neck bristle, he discussed the encounter with a trusted uncle. Amazingly the uncle not only believed him but stated he had seen the same figure himself and on several occasions when he was a younger man. The first time the uncle met the dark figure he was so scared he instinctively lashed out with a stick he was carrying. He certainly did not miss his intended target, but the stick passed right through him.

There have been other witnesses who have reported the same thing, although all these have reported the figure as appearing quite solid. Most often this is seen appearing out of the same hedge as witnessed by Ivan, when it walks across to the field and promptly disappears.

One Further Haunting

The third and final excerpt from my published works follows my appeal for your stories and experiences of the paranormal kind as I look to whet the appetite and hopefully stir a memory or experience and see a narrative for possible inclusion in forthcoming volumes covering my native Staffordshire and also the city of Birmingham and its suburbs.

From Haunted Worcestershire published by The History Press Ltd in 2009,

comes the story of Ephraim Rolfe

During the eighteenth century Broadway was home to one Ephraim Rolfe. A popular young man, he was known to be a little slow-witted. Yet he was famous around here for his kindness to the local children and an uncanny ability to seemingly communicate with animals. Indeed he even managed to earn a pittance of a salary scaring birds from the local fields and thus help protect the crops.

One day he was out patrolling the land in and around Springfield Lane to the north of the village heading in the general direction of Evesham. He was spotted by the squire and, thinking he had finally caught the poacher who had plagued him for years, took aim and shot him dead.

It is said that Ephraim still lingers around the fields where he met his sad and premature end. On stormy nights, when brief illumination is provided by lightning or moonlight between the clouds, he can be glimpsed - scarecrow thin and bony, still protecting the crops around the village where he was loved.

Paranormal Experiences?

A new year and thoughts turn to new projects and book ideas. Whilst I am always fascinated by place names, I also enjoyed producing three books on the paranormal. These books enabled me to produce a series of what amounted to about a hundred short narratives, something I rarely get the chance to do with anything else I write.

The paranormal books were a nice balance of traditional and/or well known examples, with a number of new stories and personal experiences. I have never had any such experience and thus must rely on those of others and thus I would like to hear from anyone who would like to contribute a story of their own. I am interested in hearing your experiences within the areas of Birmingham (that's the UK one if you're reading this elsewhere in the world) and also the county of Staffordshire - and if you have a photograph I will bite your hand off to use it! Sadly there will not be any payment, although I'm sure we can come to some arrangement regarding seeing your story in print. Furthermore, if you wish to remain anonymous or be known by some pseudonym I can certainly guarantee your name will not appear in print.

So please do get in touch as without personal experiences the finished article will suffer greatly.

Second Review

As with last week a review but a different book and a very different style. Again I have left out the name of the reviewer and the name of the publication in which it appeared:

Spooky tales of paranormal goings on in the Cotswolds have been brought to life in a new book. Paranormal Cotswolds - True Ghost Stories by Anthony Poulton-Smith documents some of the best known as previously untold tales of pesky poltergeists and ghostly apparitions from across the district. Author Anthony Poulton-Smith said there was a history about the Cotswolds which made it different from other regions of the country. "I'm fascinated by paranormal activity," he said. "I'm yet to experience anything to convince me because I can't think of a rational explanation that fits all scenarios."

Mr Poulton-Smith added his favourite story was the tale of a man who sought shelter from the snow at a pub on the outskirts of Dursley. He was fed, given clean clothes and a warm bed but when he went to leave in the morning he could find no staff, so he left two golden guineas on a table as payment. When he was united with his friends, he brought them to the spot where the pub had been but there was nothing in the snow except for the two golden guineas.

Other spooky sightings in the north of the district including the tragic story of the White Lady of Dover's Hill who was torn from her lover, the hugging spirit at The Bell Inn in Moreton-in-Marsh, monks heard chanting in the dead of night at Hailes Abbey near Winchcombe.

Paranormal Cotswolds - True Ghost Stories by Anthony Poulton-Smith is published by Amberley Publishing and is available for £12.99 in all good book shops.