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Mission Visits the UK - England & Wales, May 2013
Chapter 15th - Ed and Tam Fox 2
Chapter 15th: Saturday afternoon and evening, featuring lunch (Who can argue with lunch?); Brentnor Church and why Mission and Ed aren't invited back; A hair-warming story of Christingle; Stopping by Lydford Castle and rekindling old D&D memories; Checking out the paths across the river from Ed and Tam's house; Tea; Breaking into Okehampton Castle and what was seen there and Mission arranging to have a pair of Tam Fox original breeches made for his kit.
The Military Wedding. "Save the Clock
Tower!" (Sorry, couldn't resist. (UR: 57%))
We journeyed to Tavistock for lunch, a town built on the remains of an old, once very powerful, abbey. We stopped to watch a military wedding. (By which I mean a wedding with military men in uniform in it, rather than the marriage of two military units into one. Not that that wouldn't have been interesting as well.) Ed said we had to go through the location where the wedding procession was taking place. I said that, being an American, I
The Old Tavistock Abby Wall
could just blunder through and when they found out who I was would say, "Oh, he's an American." Ed said, "No, they'll say, '...and then some bloody Yank came and ruined our wedding."
Several of the remains of the abbey are still there sitting in the middle of the town. Ed told me that during Victorian times, people liked the look of the old remains and built several structures out of the same stone in a similar style and now it is sort of hard to tell original remains from "new" remains unless you knew what you were looking for. This is a wonderful facet of the UK – centuries old architecture sits alongside modern buildings. It gives you a feeling of the history of this island.
Brentnor Church Sitting On Its Tor
After lunch, we set off for Brentnor Church, formally known as St Michael de Rupe Church (Italian for St. Michael of the Rock/Cliff. No, I don't know why it has an Italian name. Maybe it was named by Italians?) We had seen it from the moors because it sits smack in the middle of a great whacking tor. (A tor is a rock formation that juts out of the landscape. I didn't know that either until Ed told me. So we've all learned two things here today - both about rocks.) The climb to Brentnor Church proved to be quite exhilarating (by which I mean 'exhausting'.)
On the way, Ed explained that there wasn't anything spectacularly interesting about the church although it was quite old (13th century) and there was a sort of supernatural tale that said when they were building it, they'd
The Hike Up to Brentnor Church
carry the rocks up the tor and then the devil would throw them back down at night. He also noted that they had to do something to get this to stop, but he couldn't remember what. (This was not one of Ed's better stories, although he told me several others, many of which I can't repeat that were pretty good. Feeling bad upon seeing this comment, Ed sent me this link which explains the legends of the church. This exercise is left to the reader.)
I asked Ed if they actually held services in the church and he said he thought so. We wandered about outside the church where I took several photos of the countryside and then decided to go in. Now, right at the door of the church were a pair of 'Wellies' (boots) and an umbrella, which should have been a warning. We blithely ignored them, however, and continued going in talking quite loudly about things and barging into a religious ceremony attended by about 40 people. We immediately backed out quietly, the placating church mouse being our new model. Yep, they still hold services in that church, by gum.
Ed found this all quite funny and it reminded him of a time he and Tam decided to take their children Lily and Odin to a Christmas celebration they have over here called (no kidding) Christingle. (I love that word. Christingle. It sounds a bit naughty.)
The Christingle Orange with Candle & Treats
The way Ed described it, the Christingle that is at the center of the ceremony is an orange with a ribbon tied round it and a candle in it. Each of the parts represent something. Ed thought the orange was the world, the ribbon "Christ's abiding love or something " and the candle was God's light for the world. (Those familiar with this will protest that isn't quite right, but Ed admitted that they weren't really "churchy people" so it's all good. I also love the word "churchy" which is why this aside is here.)
Anyhow, there was this solemn ceremony that went with Christingle that Tam and Ed took the kids to, where they all hold the Christingle with the candle lit and do churchy things I suppose. Ed said, "You know how there's always one child that has to say something in the middle of a quiet ceremony like this? That was Lily."
Now, if you're a cynical American, raised on the inappropriate antics of TV and movie children, you're probably thinking she said something like, "Bollocks to this, daddy. Let's go open presents!" But no, she didn't do that at all. She said, in no doubt the most dulcet and meaningful of tones, "I love you, daddy." And of course the whole church sighed and probably a few of the grandmother's 'Awwed...' and Ed turned meaningfully to his daughter and lovingly noticed that she wasn't paying attention to her Christingle and had just set her brother's hair on fire with it. "Fortunately, I didn't yell out "Sh--!" but had just quickly patted Odin's head and put it out before it got too bad. And that was the last time we took the children to church."
We climbed back into the car and went over to Lydford Castle, which was a squat, square, imposing building perched atop a hill. Ed had been
Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Lydford!
hoping to be the first one to show a castle, but Lee and Jules had beat him to it when we were at Conwy and then I had trumped that by going to one of the more magnificent and better restored castles around here at Caernarfon. So... sorry Ed! Castles are cool and I couldn't pass the other opportunities I had to see some. Lydford did have some salient features for me, however.
Ed told me Lydford used to be sort of the central place of government for the area and would have served as a prison and courtroom. It was built in 1195 and replaced an older building, the remains of which Ed pointed out to me although it basically just looks like a grassy mound. Entering the Lydford Castle was free, thanks to the good graces of a group over here called English Heritage who support many such sites. Ed explained that it was also probably free because if they posted someone there, the gate totals wouldn't pay their salary.
Inside was a keep, which I found fascinating because I had never seen a real keep in person and it reminded me of a movie called "The Keep" which I have also never seen, but for which I had bought a Dungeons and Dragons module back in the day because I liked the look of the cover. Plus, once again, it sounds cool. "That is The KEEP. None who enter ever leave, except in iddy-biddy pieces."
 Lydford Castle - Only One Way Out! (Well, two, but one's tiny.) |
 Lydford Castle Interior Wall. Doesn't it look like some sort of deranged, hideous face? |
 The Keep AD&D Module - I have NO idea if it's good or not. I never played it. |
From Lydford we went back to Ed's place. I didn't want to spring myself on Tam too soon, so we decided to go for a walk on a footpath through the woods on the opposite side of the river from Ed's house. From there I got some magnificent views of Okehampton Castle which is not too far from his place. He asked me if I wanted to visit the castle now, when we had to pay to get in, or wait until the staff had left and climb the fence. The chance to see the august Ed Fox breaking the local laws to entertain a guest was just too much to pass up, I said I'd be willing to do either, but it would be more fun to be scoundrels.
Chez Fox (Well, one Is - the others are Chez Someone Else)
We toddled back to Ed's manse, a two story rental in a block of four. Here I met Tam who immediately tried to give me a hug and a sort of air kiss, which is something they do in Southwest England, I guess. Natural instinct made me draw back because, as you regular readers know, I am not generally a willing hugger. This almost made poor Tam trip onto me, so I pretty much failed to achieve the purpose there, now, didn't I?
There house was in a lovely spot, right above the rapids of a little river which made splendid rushing sounds. I have always found it relaxing to sit by moving water and write, which may be why Ed chose to put his office in a little potting shed on his land near the river. It was stacked with book shelves and boxes of unshelved books with a space carved out of all that for his computer. He was just finishing up his doctoral thesis when I was there, which he was aiming to turn in on the Wednesday following my visit. He carved out this day to meet me, show me the sites of Devon and just generally not be doing a doctoral theses. (Something I can completely relate to.) "I needed it, really, so I'm glad you came here now."
 Odin and Ed in Ed's Office (Note the Shield.) |
 Odin Ready to Defend Ed's Workbench |
Artist: Ettore Simonetti
The Afternoon Tea - Tea at Ed's
was
Just Like This. Only Not.
With the grand tour of the office, Ed and I settled in his garden and drank tea with Tam. Ed and Tam confided to me that they drink an extraordinary amount of tea. Tam explained, "One of my friends says when she comes over that she has to float home we offer her so much tea. Both Tam and Ed smoke hand-rolled cigarettes, which I found a bit fascinating. Ed insisted that it tasted better that way, which I'm not at all sure I understood, but then I don't smoke except when I'm really snockered and Jack Roberts is handing out good cigars. It was very neat the way they rolled them though and I admired the art of it.
Two cups of tea later and the sun started to duck behind the trees. It was late enough for us to attempt climbing the Okehampton castle fence, as you can
The Evening Road to Okehampton
see in the photos here. (Note, if you're from the English Heritage society, everything you see here was staged and we never went over the fence at all – the photos were posed and we took all that follow inside the castle after paying the entry fee.) (As far as you know.)
Tam & Ed Climbing the Fence
There was a large cathedral in the castle, which still had vestiges of paint on it and also featured some genuine ancient graffiti. There was a clearer example of graffiti being carved into the stone in the upper part of the castle from the 1800s which you see below. (I guess some things never change.)
Somehow the topic of weddings in the chapel came up and I just couldn't resist saying, "Maiwwage..." Tam was delighted that I was a Princess Bride fan, although I would think that 90% of reenactors in the US are probably PB fans with the other 10% secretly being fans, but are not willing to admit it publicly. (You might ask "What about the reenactors who have never seen the Princess Bride, but you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that there were any. Those who say they haven't seen it are surely lying.)
"Mawwaige..." (Unrecognizability
Rating: 0%. Seriously.)
Ed told me he and a pal had attended a wedding awhile back where the pastor had a very similar lisp. He and his friend kept giggling under their hands every time the man would say "marriage", although everyone else in the chapel was serious and probably even dour throughout, either not noticing or not admitting that they had noticed.
According to the signs at the sight, Okehampton was really something of a 12th century hunting lodge, created to take advantage of the plethora of wild deer and boars in the surrounding area. The entryway featured a barbican, after which you got to the actual castle entry seen in the photo below left. (No, a barbican is not where dolls go to relieve themselves. Yes, I was disappointed to learn that was not the case, too..) The barbican to entry was, according to the sign anyhow, a "killing ground" for attackers and idiot neighbors who insist on quoting overripe gags featuring rude French castle defenders long past the time when it's still funny. (Maybe I added that last bit. Unrecognizability Rating: 38%, but only because I didn't quote it directly.)
 Remnants of the Okehampton Main Gate and Barbican Leading Up to It |
 The Remains of the Great Hall of the Lodge |
This castle featured a Motte, which is basically a mound of dirt. The owner (Baldwin FitzGilbert) (No, seriously, that was his name.) probably built this so he could say to other, lesser castle owners, "I got the Motte!" (Unrecognizability Rating: 62%, unless you're from the UK in which case it's 99.5%. Not that I'm recommending that you do.) Perched upon that were the ruins of another keep which contained the remnants of a turret. We were all a trifle winded from all the climbing about, but I insisted on going up. I'm glad I did, because it was a nice view.
 Okehampton Motte & Keep Ruins |
 View of the Castle from the Motte |
 Tam and Ed in Okehampton |
A few last images and we'll move smartly along. These are some photos I took because of the lighting and drama of the setting. I wish I could tell you what they are of, but I can't. (Mostly because I am too lazy to look them up to puzzle them out their purpose in the castle using other photos. I forgot to take photos of the signs near them. We were thinking about dinner, you know.) Plus I wanted to be sure to stick an image of the graffiti in here because, what can I say? I know my readers.
 Dramatic Okehampton Shot 1 |
 Dramatic Okehampton Shot 2 |
 Okehampton Graffiti (I take care of you guys.) |
A Project Tam Was Embroidering
From there Tam dropped the kids off at a neighbor's place and we went to dinner. Throughout the day, Ed told me dozens of other wonderful stories about life in England and reenactment, most of which I have forgotten,
which is probably just as well as this part of the Journal is already in danger of becoming a novelette. Still, many of them were funny because he has a splendid sense of the absurd. I'm sorry I can't remember them if only to give you more insight into this facet of his personality.
Tam Measuring Mission's Waist (She
didn't tell me the result. I was happy.)
Interspersed with all these stories were historical notes about wherever we happened to be. Ed has a
storehouse of knowledge about Southwestern England and there was something of interest from a historical viewpoint.
Back at the house, Tam showed me several lovely items she was making which had a great deal of embroidery. She makes period reenactor clothing, selling via her website Tam Fox Stays, long since gone
With this in mind, I arranged to have Tam make me a pair of breeches. She wanted to know what color and Ed suggested green, so I went with green. ( shall be Robin Mission with them.) I made sure to have her measure me, in part because I am incompetent at such things and in part so I could sneak my camera to Ed and get a photo of this. (It's an awful photo of me - I look like a stunned bunny - but it's so hard to get her into a photo at all that I'm using it.) Ed then took me back to Villa Marina.