※All the pictures in this page were taken by John Mingins who lives in
Norwich.
John, one of my HP visitors, lives in Norwich, however, he was born in
Tottenham, a part of London.
This summer, he visited Tottenham to see his mother.
After his trip, he sent me a photo with a comment, "I thought it was
appropriate for you."
In the photo, there was a castle. It's name is Bruce Castle! Yes, it is
truly appropriate for me, because my pen-name is Yokobruce!
He said, "No connection with Bruce Willis --a bit before his time!"
Ha ha ha--! Why do you think he mentioned Bruce Willis? It is because my
pen-name, Yokobruce, was named from Bruce Willis, my favourite American
actor. Moreover, I chose it, because Bruce and blues is the same spelling
in kana script." It sounds good!" Thus, I decided my pen-name.
Actually, my enthusiasm for Bruce Willis isn't as strong as before, but
I still like this name.
Anyway, we have to go back to Bruce Castle.
This castle was built in 1514. However, before that, in 1254, Bruce or Bruis, family built a manor house on this site. It is the origin of this castle, hence the name. After the Bruce's rebellion, their lands were sequestered by Edward I in 1306. Although this castle seems to be known by few people, it is a historic spot where Henry VIII and Elizabeth I visited.
This castle isn't very grand or big, but there is a famous ghost story
which is told to school children. The story is that a female ghost appears
on the balcony one night a year. They say that she committed suicide after
the death of her lover. Wow!
 |
 |
left : one of the entrances to Bruce Castle Park ; right : a view of the park leading up to the castle.
After that, in 1827, Bruce Castle was converted into a school. Rowland
Hill, who is known by many English people, used to be a teacher at the
school.
* Rowland Hill was fanous because he introduced the penny post. Before
the penny post, in the British postal sytem, fees were calculated by a
letter's weight and distance which the letter had to travel. Therfore,
sending letters was too expensive. However, after Rowland Hill introduced
the penny post, people could sent a letter to anywhere in Britain by a
standard penny fee.
I really want to visit Bruce Castle in the near future, because it is surely appropriate for my handle name.
The sign of YokoBruce Castle.
John made this photo for me.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if really owned such a big castle!!
John said that Mr. Michael Bruff has studied about Bruce Castle. If you
visit his homepage, you'll see some pictures of the castle in 1686, 1770,
1793, 1815.
If you want to get more information, click here,
(2002.10.29)
John's Longest Day
Hampstead
Highgate Cemetery
mysterious, longed-for bitter lemon
 to the TOP |
 Trip to England |