IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF WILLIAM MARSHAL TOUR

Seasons Greetings everyone.  May I wish all visitors to this blog peace, joy and harmony in their lives now and in the future.

During the Christmas break, I thought I'd post the url to the Footsteps of William Marshal Tour which is going to be taking place in October 2014. - Just in case any of you were planning a break!

The details are self explanatory in the url.  But I've added some photographs taken on the same format tour in October 2012.   It was so enjoyable.  I loved meeting readers and people who were as keen to follow  William Marshal's story as I was, and it was great to visit the places in England where he had lived, including parts of South Wales, which aren't always on the beaten path.
Here's an url to the PDF information. Footsteps of William Marshal Tour 2014
And also an url to ATA travel's website. ATA Travel Footsteps of William Marshal

You don't have to live in the US to take advantage of this tour. It's open to all comers and last time around we had a lovely international community.  We're still in touch now.

Here are a few photos taken from the tour.  I've not included faces (cept one of me)  for privacy reasons, but you can get the gist of the scenery etc.  They're not quite in order due to the nightmare formatting on blogger. This is just a few of the many.  I'd be here all day posting the lot!

All best
Elizabeth x

Stonehenge as we passed on the coach

View from the walls of Old Sarum where William was a frequent
visitor and which he would have known very well as a little boy. This is
'Marshal' country.

Me at Old Sarum. It was one of the few days that it rained.

Banners at Salisbury Cathedral

Ceiling at Salisbury Cathedral

Later period statue at Salisbury but I like it anyway!

The tomb of William Longespee Salisbury Cathedral

Dray horses as we drove through Marlborough

Chepstow Castle - fab weather here!

Manorbier Castle - home of the dreaded Gerald of Wales, chronicler and
contemporary of William Marshal

One of the wonderful misercords from Cartmel Priory.  A mermaild

Tintern Abbey - a magical place.  Burial place of Isabel de Clare, wife
of William Marshal.  Also of their children Mahelt, Walter and Ancel

Whittington Castle

Manorbier against a dramatic sky

The beach at Manorbier

More Tintern Abbey and the two below

PHOTOS FROM THE FOOTSTEPS OF WILLIAM MARSHAL TOUR 2012.

William Marshal's door at Chepstow Castle

Entrance to Cheptstow Castle

Story board at Whittington Castle

Tower of London

Chepstow Castle Again

Feasting still life at Pembroke Castle

My hotel room when we stayed overnight in Wiltshire

Bishops' amethyst and gold rings in the treasury of St. David's South Wales

The effigies of William Marshal and his son in stained glass morning light
at The Temple Church, London.

St. David's, South Wales

Inside the tower at Pembroke Castle

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View from the hotel balcony at St Bride's Spa  Saundersfoot where we were
 based for our stay in South Wales. Decent weather again!
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THE GREATEST KNIGHT at THE GREATEST PRICE!

For a very short while, my UK publisher has dropped the price of THE GREATEST KNIGHT on the Kindle to £1.49, so it's an opportunity to grab a bargain if you're in the UK. It'll be going back up in the near future.   It's a bestseller both here and in the USA, where it made the New York Times best seller list.   Click through url here: THE GREATEST KNIGHT KINDLE BARGAIN

If you visit my website, you'll find out why I wanted to write about William Marshal.  Here's an url to his biography from there. William Marshal's biography  There are also suggestions of other sources you can read to find out more about him.

This blog has numerous articles about William, and if you type his name into the search bar on the right hand side, you'll be given a list.  To get you going, here's one about the horses he rode: William Marshal's horses   I especially loved the fact that we know he was given an unrideable horse, but he worked on the harness to improve the rapport between him and the stallion, and ended up with a magnificent destrier for the tournament.  We even know that it was white and called Blancart.

After William died, his son commissioned a poem to be written in detail about his father's life, and it still survives.  I am gradually adding a translation to this blog in episodes, and you will find these too - as far as I have got.  Like William Marshal, it's still a work in progress!

Best wishes
Elizabeth

New Giveaway Feature!

GIVEAWAY:  I've been meaning to get around to this forever, so I'm doing it now or it'll still be on the 'to do' heap.
Okay, this is a bit of a different giveaway.  It's going to be a permanent one and this is how it works.
1. On the last day of every month,  I'm going to do a book giveaway of a novel of choice to a reader in the UK, a reader in the USA and another elsewhere in the world - any country.
2. So that readers don't have to keep putting their names in the draw ever month, I'll keep the names on file and select from the pool each month.  So if you don't win in September, you're still in with a chance for October, November etc etc.  By the law of averages, you'll get lucky at some point!
3. The winners will be taken out for 6 months and then put back in, so winning a book doesn't bar you from ever winning again.
4. This will be independent of giveaways organised by my publisher which happen from time to time.  I'll announce separately for them.
5. Regretfully THE SUMMER QUEEN won't be one of the book choices until it comes out in paperback next year because I don't have spare copies on my shelves and would have to buy in extra hardcovers. But all the others are eligible.
6. All you have to do is drop an e-mail to elizabethchadwick@live.co.uk and say clearly which draw you want to be entered for. UK, USA or Rest of World.  I'll set up 3 files on my e-mail account and then choose 1 from each at random on the last day of every month.

Good luck!
NB The Outlaw Knight is titled Lords of the White Castle in the UK and The Time of Singing is titled For the King's Favor in the USA