In July 2017 Margaret Gibbon organised a coach trip to Lancaster, where we were treated to a tour by an excellent and very knowledgeable guide round Lancaster’s historic castle. As a bonus there was an extra short tour which took us into the Well Tower, the place where the Lancashire Witches were incarcerated in the 17th century. This part of the castle is not normally open to the public but Margaret must have pulled a few strings, and we were able to don hard hats and go deep down into this dark and formidable place.
This picture is of John O’Gaunt’s Gateway, otherwise known as ‘Demdyke’s Doom’. John O’Gaunt was the Duke of Lancaster, from whom the title has passed down through all reigning monarchs, so the current Duke of Lancaster is Queen Elizabeth II.Margaret provided us all with maps of the local area so that we could pay brief visits to other notable places nearby, including the Friends Meeting House, the Storey Education Centre, the Judges lodging house (unfortunately no longer open the public), the museum and the very pretty almshouses and gardens. We then enjoyed excellent Sunday dinner at two local 17th century inns (neither one being big enough to hold us all) to round off our day.
Our thanks go to Margaret for all her research work and planning. It was an excellent day out.
Jane Murphy
Last Updated on June 8, 2024