Yours For Only Two Million Pounds

Hadlow Castle- a pencil-thin gothic tower from the 1830s has gone on the market again. The Daily Mail prints lots of lovely pictures and says it looms over the "market town of Tonbridge"- which it doesn't because it's about four miles away. Back in the late 60s- when it was abandoned and structurally unsafe- a bunch of us kids used it as the set for a tasteful 8mm silent movie about demonic possession and got to climb to the top. I was remembering this- and wondering how I had the gumption- when I wrote last week's post about the man in the tree.

Back then it belonged to Bernard Hailstone- whom the Mail calls a "Royal Artist" on the strength of his having once painted the Queen. I 've come across examples of his work since- and am pleased to report that he was competent and sometimes a little more. All I remember about him is he wore a beard- which was a sure marker of bohemianism in the provinces in the mid-20th century....

I liked his granddaughter but my mate Rupert- who was destined for a career in the Royal Navy- elbowed in between us.