ALNWICK
So if I practice hard enough, do you think my new pals in the bluegrass band will let me play with them at the Bluegrass Festival in September? Oh I’d have to work like the dickens.
“New River Train?” I ask out loud. “I’ve never heard that. And looking online, I don’t see any tabs for it. I’m on my own here.”
After a few minutes though, I think I’ve figured out the melody on my own. For the next couple hours, I repeat it over and over again until I get it right.
The trouble isn’t learning the melody. The trouble is, at this stage, is not having that melody break apart when you are playing with someone. Fretting when you are fretting is not easy to overcome.
This is all new to me.
I found a nice little bench to practice for a bit outside the town of Alnwick in Northumberland.
This place does NOT have a good reputation with mandolins. In the future, Q and Paramount takes Picard and other officers from the USS Enterprise back to merry ‘ol England and turned them into Robin Hood and his men. It was in the Alnwick Castle grounds behind me where they filmed Worf deal with Geordie trying out his mandolin in the woods. Worf calmly takes the bowlback and slams it into a tree. “Sorry,” he says, handing back what’s left.
Remember how you learned in school that in 1066, William the Conqueror and his angry band of Normans come across the sea, and overwhelm the Saxon army at Hastings, shooting King Harold through the eye and take over the kingdom? Sure you do. What you might not know is what happens next. And it ain’t good.
William marches north to London. Everyone flees. Saxon nobles take refuge in Scotland, including a guy named Edgar Ætheling who is, get ready, now King of England after Harold dies. Edgar, not stupid, surrenders and gives his allegiance to William. But many of the old Saxon lords are still threatening. So William keeps heading north. What happens next is dreadful. And horrible. And is, for the most part, an almost forgotten piece of history – turning the entire countryside into a zone of death. Few are spared. It’s known as the Harrowing of the North.
William dies just over a decade later, in France no less, and his son, William Rufus takes over. Now, this is where things get truly wild, because all of Britain is suffering from aftershock, and is in the hands of two musclemen – Rufus, and Malcolm III of Scotland. These are two guys do not care about anyone or anything. Both have nasty temperaments. And both crave power. Worse still, they hate each other. Edgar Ætheling tries to act as a mediator between them but fails and the area where I’m sitting turns into a theatre of war.
Enter yet another powerhungry demigod-wannabe – Robert de Mowbray. Mowbray is Earl of Northumberland and has conspired against Rufus. But he’s pardoned and now goes to tackle Malcolm at Alnwick. In the end, everyone dies.
- Malcolm and his son are killed at the Battle of Alnwick.
- Mowbray wins, but just two years later goes back to fighting William. He’s caught a few miles from here and is imprisoned in Windsor Castle for the rest of his life.
- William is murdered while out hunting, probably by his own troops. He was not liked.
So why on Earth would you want to come here at all? Because Alnwick is home to a place called The Origami Café that serves the BEST milkshakes in England. End of.
Ambiance - 5
Acoustics - 2
Tush magnets – 4
Seclusion – 3
Places to hang the gig bag away from midges – 2
Drizzle shelters - 2
Nearby snacks - 9
Cost - The castle is £16 for entry. Uff da!
Practicing alongside FFCP: Hedwig's Theme
Notes: That castle appears in quite a few Harry Potter films.