Whilst reading "The Real Middle Earth" by Brian Bates, a curious coincidence led me to explore an excellent site, namely Drakelow hillfort, at Sladd lane, Drakelow, near Kidderminster. This lies pretty much due west of Wychbury, and there is an excellent view east to there from Drakelow. I caught a bus that goes from Kinver to Kidderminster last year, and this goes right past the "fort" if that is what it is (it's marked as that on the map) I was intrigued about the curious looking sandstone "tump" with its many strange looking trees clinging to the top, their roots exposed. I knew the word Drake refers to Dragons and I was also intrigued by the nearby cave dwellings, one of which was recently sold for 100,000 sterling! Anyway, i resolved to check in the local history section in Kiddy library, but time drifted by, and i had a bus to catch, so i took out the first book i found interesting on the shelves, which was, "The Real Middle Earth". As i opened the book, on my return journey, I was astonished to find that Bates gives a full account of Dragon mythology using as a touchstone reference none other than .... Drakelow, Worcestershire!! So inspired was i by this piece of apparent synchronicity that i incorporated the site into my novel, called "Ismere". Somehow, the appelation Hill fort seems odd, for the site is small, more suitable as an observatory for ceremonial rather than military use, but i guess populations were probably small. If anyone knows any more about the site, and especially the cave dwellings and the Dragon legends, please contact me. I'll try to take some pics and get the place posted in its own right. Its just outside Wolverley, near the Bodenham arboretum.
Wychbury was one of those places you dared not visit after dark if you were brought up round there. The Yew trees are some of the most impressive I have ever seen and we were told (as kids) that they were associated with some tremendous battle on or near the fort. The nearby site of St Kenelm's is well worth a visit. There is some evidence that the flat topped hill at the end of the Clent range (which is above the spring and well) is a Lammas hill. There was an autumn fayre held right on the top of it until the end of the 19thc, always taking place on the first weekend of August.
Whilst reading "The keys to Avalon" (Steve Blake & Scott Lloyd, 2000 pg.22) I came upon a reference that intrigued me. According to the authors a document called "the tri-partite indenture" sought to radically redefine the border between England and Wales, based on an ancient Welsh poem "A conversation between Merlin & his sister Gwenddydd". This mentions a place called "Onennau Meigion", described as a boundary marker formed by Ash trees, on the old road between Bridgnorth and Kinver. This is now known as Six Ashes, right on the border between Shropshire and Staffordshire near Bobbington. Now, this is pleasing, rather, for every time i cross the county boundary there, I've always felt as if i were leaving England and entering Wales, even though the border is a good 50 miles on. The area to the west of Kinver Edge has the same liminal feeling to it, around Drakelow and the area simply called "the wilderness". Drakelow has its own Dragon legend, as well as the ubiquitous rock houses, of which more later. Now, Blake & Lloyd's work is controversial, and i don't endorse all of it. One thing i think they haven't considered is the possibility that Geoffrey of Monmouth and the local Layamon, may have mistranslated "Cornubia" for "Cornovia" (not Cornwall, as they attest, pg.38). The Cornovii tribe were the earliest settlers in these parts we have record of, and in fact did later settle in Cornwall, and Brittany after the English invasion. If, as they say, Caer Efrog is Wroxeter, where we know there was still a strong British presence into the 7th century, then it could be that far from Arthur's activities being confined to Wales & the Marches, as they say, Arthur could very well have been involved in the border warfare in the Kinver area at about the time of the putative "great battle" of Wychbury (see previous entries on this matter). It's true too, that one of the earliest scholars to examine the legends was "Layamon" a monk from Arley Kings near Stourport in the 12th century. If "Avalon" is considered as the Celtic mythical land in the west, as the authors aver, Wychbury and the other sites i examine do begin to make sense in terms of the legends, and the curious atmosphere that pervades so many of these places begins to make sense.
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