As a child growing up in West Yorkshire I knew that a friendly rivalry existed between Yorkshire and Lancashire, our neighbours on the other side of the Pennines. Later on at grammar school I learnt a little about the Wars of the Roses and was astonished to discover that it wasn’t a war between the two counties as I had believed, but a series of battles fought in medieval England from 1455 to 1485 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York.
The name of the battles derives from the symbols used by the two sides:
On moving to Ludlow a few years ago I found out that one of the major battles of these wars took place only a few hundred yards from where I now live. The Battle of Ludford Bridge 12 October 1459. The Yorkist factions gathered here to make a push into Worcestershire, but fell back when they encountered a large group of Lancastrians led by Henry VI. The two sides took up positions on the opposite banks of the River Teme, but many of the Yorkists deserted during the night and the rest retreated the next day. So a victory for the Lancastrians. It is such a picturesque spot now that it is hard to imagine a battle taking place here.
TRAVEL WORDS 
I’ve always remembered the red and white roses from grammar school history classes too. How amazing that you ended up living so close to a battle field. So its a peaceful spot now, any ghosts on a quiet dark night? 🙂
I’m sure this town is full of ghosts, but I’m not sure anyone died in this battle!
Now THIS is the way I like to learn history!
I have a hard time imagining any battlefield from history in the heat of its conflicts – our Civil War sites (now national preservations) are beautiful these days. Although Normandy was haunting and easy to visualize because the bunkers still remain dug into the hillsides.
I have to confess that I would not want to visit any of the more recent battle sites. Too harrowing! Ancient history is fine 🙂
Stunning photography, Jude.
Thank you. So difficult to photograph red and white flowers though!
I was always a bit of a Yorkist, though as a young boy in London, I never really understood why. The Lancastrian victory left us with a Tudor king from Wales. Enough said.
(Good rose photos of course…)
Regards as always, Pete. x
I have always thought that the capital of England should be York. A much more central place in the country 🙂 No bias of course.
Wouldn’t bother me at all Jude. And it is a very attractive place to boot. They might have trouble shoe-horning Buck Pal in next to Clifford Tower though!
You have a point 🙂
I always thought I had a rather decent knowledge of history until I started reading other people’s blogs. Then I discovered I know very little.
Great history lesson for those of us with only a passing knowledge of the War of the Roses. It’s sad that the first thing that came to mind when I saw the title was the 1989 movie with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ebv3i_9Ltc
Love your photo. It looks like you live in a fairy tale land 🙂
That’s so funny! I can’t believe that you thought of the Turner-Douglas film. Hilarious.
That said, there are millions of people in this country that don’t have a clue about their own 15th century history, (or any history) so not to worry.
Best wishes from England. Pete.
LOL – yeah, but knowing Jude as little as I do, I was pretty sure I was going to get either history or flowers. Turns out I got both!! 😉
Cheers from Canada!
Ah, that’s because this is WarS of the Roses. Apparently that is a common misconception [and I hate to admit that I saw that film 😦 ]
Ha! I didn’t notice the plural on Wars!! … hence your comment on multiple skirmishes.
… and yes, I thought the movie was a disappointment too. What started as an amusing tale devolved into the ridiculous.
I must admit to knowing very little detail of the Wars of the Roses, beyond the colours for each side!
Well you are not alone Sue!
My excuse is that hearing aids were not good when I was at school – I missed a lot!
Do you have a hearing problem? My excuse is that although I loved history, the teacher had a soporific voice and I was always falling asleep!
Yep, hard of hearing from birth to add to my woes!! But I manage OK much of the time. And digital hearing aids are marvellous…. At school it certainly wasn’t great, but it toughened me up, I think. The story you will like is that for years I wondered where this place called The Etnam was…..much later I heard about the Vietnam war. (I missed all the information we were being taught about that.)
Ah, yes that IS funny! One of my granddaughters suffers from hearing problems, finally (after several years of trying to get someone to take notice) doctors decided she had glue ears and put grommets in. Her speech was pretty poor too because she couldn’t hear. She’s a bright kid though so hopefully will make up for lost time.
I do hope she does!
This is a great take on the challenge and a first class history lesson, Jude. Divine roses, how long did you take to pick this two from your huge archive, I wonder? 🙂
Best wishes from the North, Dina & co x
Funnily enough Dina I don’t have many red or white roses! They are difficult colours to photograph so most end up in the bin 🙂
These roses are so very beautiful. 🙂 They are far too lovely to be symbols of such an ugly thing as war.
Well they were symbols of the Houses rather than the wars, but I know what you mean.
Superlative photos Jude, and a contra-indicatory image for the the fierce hostilities felt by each house. Maybe they were thinking of the thorns. Interesting that you find red and white hard to photograph. Blue is my nemesis.
I suppose the emblems were selected a bit like those for football teams. And then they went to war!
I find reds and whites (flowers) tend to blend into one lump rather than keep the definition of the petals – I do need to try manual settings!
I must read up on my history a bit more! Visited York earlier in the year, very interesting area and nice puds😃
Puds? Or Pubs? Just wondering…
Yorkshire Puds!! Yes pubs were nice also away from the tourist ones!!
Oh, yes, Yorkshire puds are THE best, especially with a good roast beef and horseradish sauce Sunday lunch! Making myself hungry now. And some quaint pubs too. What more could you ask for?