A few days ago we planned today to be a big car test day as we headed to Leicester of all places, Whilst we are in Croatia Colin had mentioned he was interested in visiting the Bosworth Battlefield and the associated museum to do with King Richard the Third. With three different places to visit 140 miles away, this seemed a challenge but I devised a plan with allocated time slots and with an early departure of 8.00am we headed off.
The car drove well and we arrived on schedule at the Battlefield which now has a very good visitor centre attached. The day was beautiful and it was difficult to imagine the battle taking place under the fields of golden barley and the blue sky and ‘photographers’ clouds. Colin immediately went ‘off piste’ with my plan by ordering tea and scones but then it was a long time since we had breakfast!
We walked the entire way around the battlefields - some 1.5 miles and set off earlier than the schedule to Leicester. I has identified a park and ride car park and in the event it worked perfectly with lots of space (no worry about the car!) and the bus arriving almost immediately. The driver was so helpful and even hopped out of his cab to get us a city centre map to explain where everything was. We finally got to see the original resting place of Richard Third where he had been discovered in a car park (under a parking bay marked with an ‘R’ for reserved!). The centre was excellent and explained the search and how the perceptions about the King had come about primarily from Shakespeare’s play about him some 80 years or so after his death.
We finalised our visit by walking 100 meters or so across the road to Leicester Cathedral where we saw the final resting place of the king made from 2.4 tonnes of Yorkshire fossil limestone mounted on Kilkenny slate - a fitting monument. We had achieved all three parts of our trip and even squeezed in a delicious ice cream - mine was pineapple and rosemary along with a ball of mango, turmeric and spices.
