I hope you've all had a lovely weekend!
This weekend was a particularly significant one for my home town of Aylesbury as well as many other towns and cities around the country as it was heritage weekend; a weekend where once obscure buildings opened up to the public- for free. You could explore anywhere in Aylesbury and the surrounding area from the old deserted medieval manor and village in Quarrendon, to going backstage at the Waterside Theatre and even having a nosey round the cells of the Crown Court in the Aylesbury town centre.
As Matthew was down this weekend, I thought it would be nice for him to discover more from behind the scenes of Aylesbury and it's history so we both went along to two of the heritage tours with mum and her friend, Chris. We explored the judges lodgings and the Crown Court together which took most of the afternoon. Mum and Chris had previously gone to explore the theatre so were nearly late for the judges lodgings tour!
The judges lodgings tour begun in a big dining room with impressive portraits and a huge dining table which was laid out with old pictures and maps of Aylesbury. There were two guides to take you round the 19th Century building and it was interesting to learn that there was a huge 'gaol' where the lodgings are now that scaled back all the way to the canal! Conditions were not good in this gaol as there was a severe lack of ventilation and the prisoners would be forced to tread a water wheel incurring many injuries. While this tour was interesting, we all felt that this tour did go on a little longer than necessary as one of the guides had decided to give a very long and descriptive talk on every painting in all the rooms and give the life stories of every councilman and chairman through the Centuries. Our next tour, the Crown Court tour, was fast approaching so we seized the moment and made a swift exit to head to the court.
I walk past the Crown Court building every morning on my commute to work and have often wondered what was behind the big black metal doors and finally I was about to see what secrets lay ahead. We were shown into the second court room and told to sit down and await the judge who was going to give us a talk on the court's history. He seemed a fun and interesting chap and gave us a few stories about the types of cases they try. The most famous cases tried at this court were those of the train robbers from the infamous 'Great Train Robbery.' Their trails apparently didn't take long at all before they were all 'sent down.' He let us all try on a magistrates wig that was handmade and made with horse hair that cost a whopping £7000! Me and Matthew both tried it on and I have to say, Matthew suited it quite well! The judge soon showed us around the second court in the building, but first he pointed out two faces above two separate courtroom doors. One was a sad face and the other was a happier looking face. He explained that when the death penalty was in law, the condemned would be led through the sad door, while those who were spared death would be shown in through the happy door. This spared prisoners the confusion and let them know immediately without a word what fate they should be resigned to. It goes without saying that the sad door has been locked since the abolition of the death penalty and has not been opened since. I found myself thinking how interesting that court room would look after all these years! We were soon shown into the happy court room and told that none other than Rolling Stones' Keith Richards was tried in this court room for possession of a high class drug. He was let off because, as the judge said at the time being a massive Rolling Stones fan, he was 'too talented.' It's needless to say that the band, and Keith, was grateful for this show of kindness and the band paid tribute to him. After this talk in the second court room, we were all 'sent down' to explore the cells below. It was interesting to see this side of the court (as I wouldn't have got to see this normally) and what the prisoners would be sat in and around after the guilty verdict was given.
 |
| A picture mum took of the commemorative plaque for Ronnie Barker |
Mum had already started her heritage exploration of Aylesbury the previous day with an Aylesbury themed 'walk through history' exploring the streets of Aylesbury and it's rich history of cattle markets.
On this walk, she even discovered where Ronnie Barker once trod the boards of an old theatre above an archway which is now home to the Green Man pub. She also visited the 13th Century St Mary's Church and had a look around it's stained glass interiors and she also had a peep out at the view of Aylesbury from it's clock tower.
On Saturday Me and Matthew went swimming and I did surprisingly well. For weeks, it's been a roller-coaster of experiences from 'I can't let go of the side!' to 'I'm a mermaid!'. This Saturday's experience was that of the latter- "I'm a mermaid!" Much to Matthew's relief, my trust issues and fear lifted a little and I was able to swim about with only one pool noodle! I was chuffed with myself, but by the time I'd done four lengths my arms were knackered. After weeks of up and down experiences in the pool over the last few weeks, to be able to swim about on my own, and in fact overtake Matthew, was quite something as he's a good swimmer.
And with that, I'm going to leave you here for today! Before I go though, I will share my new hair cut with you all! I promised last week I would update you all so here it is....
There we go! My new look (until I lose track of when I got it cut and it all grows out!) That's all from me for now, see you on Wednesday!
Share your thoughts :