11 May 2021
We finished our third car park tour last week and it went miraculously well – Guy Robinson had planned it to perfection. Three tours all on the road at the same time and all completed without a hitch. It was a fabulous team, both on and off stage. And I had a fabulous time travelling around the country getting the chance to visit places I’ve never seen. I took a gamble on Gainsborough which paid off when I came face to face with the extraordinary Old Hall, built in 1460 and visited by Richard III and Henry VIII with Catherine Howard. It’s where Catherine Parr was first married before marrying Henry too. It’s a colossal, incredible building. The next day had a wonderful private tour of Barnard Castle and I was spellbound standing in the window casing created for Richard III. We then went on to see Terry Deary, the master of Horrible Histories himself, at his home near Durham. I shan’t forget the dramatic sky of a rainy sunset that produced a stunning rainbow on my way to Leeds, where Harewood House provided us with a spectacular setting, surrounded by ancient trees that dwarf us humans. Our final day was a battle against rain and wind which we managed to survive on stage, to bid farewell to car park theatre. Next stop – a real theatre at last! Hertford, here we come!