During the course of my research for the Rebels and Brothers series, I took thousands of photos. These are to remind me about the physical features of the various locations for each scene. Of course, they represent only what the setting is like now in the 21st century and I must carry out further research to find out what has changed over the 600 years or so since the events took place!
Here is a selection of images from my research archive which might be of interest to readers.
LOCATIONS FOR FEUD
Bolton Castle in Wensleydale which I used as a model for the fictional Yoredale Castle in the Rebels and Brothers series
Middleham Castle in Yorkshire - if only we could see it at its best!
Mucklestone Church close to the site of the Battle of Blore Heath in September 1459
Stokesay Castle, near Ludlow, was the model I used for the fictional Corve Manor.
Ludford Bridge, Ludlow. The Yorkists retreated across it in 1459
Cock Beck where the rout at the Battle of Towton took place
The courtyard of Bolton Castle from Rebels and Brothers
North East Tower of Middleham Castle in Yorkshire. The north gate used in The Last Shroud was added sometime in the fifteenth century.
Aysgarth Falls in Wensleydale which feature in Feud and several other books in the Rebels and Brothers series
St Thomas's Chapel in Ludlow which has some significance in Feud
The East Range at Valle Crucis Abbey in North Wales
LOCATIONS FOR SCARS FROM THE PAST
The Bull Inn at Ludlow which features most notably in Scars From the Past
The Prince's chambers at Ludlow Castle where Prince Edward lived
The Bull Ring in Ludlow. It doesn't look like it now, but in medieval times it would have been thronged by people, wagons and animals - cattle pens would have been nearby - and if you walked along it, there would be no chance of keeping your boots clean! Here, John Elder makes a reluctant return to Ludlow in Scars From the Past.
The remaining traces of the Old Gate in Ludlow
The west wall of the Prince's Apartments at Ludlow Castle.
Sallyport at Ludlow Castle used by Prince Edward
LOCATIONS FOR THE BLOOD OF PRINCES
The remains of the Bishop of Winchester's palace on London's south bank
Inside the Garden Tower, as it was known in the 15th century. It is very unlikely the 'Princes' were killed there in 1483, despite the name later given to it: the 'Bloody Tower'
The Wakefield Tower and the bridge to St Thomas's Tower with the water gate beneath
This water gate at the Tower of London - later called Traitor's Gate
St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate in London - adjacent to Richard of Gloucester's Crosby Place
The Crossbones Graveyard in Southwark
OTHER LOCATION RESEARCH