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April meeting

Tony Case, a Skipton Castle guide, brought our present series of lectures

to a close with a very interesting account of "The stories and families of
Skipton Castle." Starting from Roman times when a villa was built at
Gargrave and a fort at Elslack, but nothing at Skipton, though it was on two
important Roman roads, we came through to modern times when Skipton
is an important trade and transport centre, with the castle attracting
thousands of visitors yearly.

The four great families, The Romilles, The Cliffords, the Earls of Thanet and
the Fattorinis were described, together with individuals such as young
Romille, who was dragged to his death by his dog in The Strid on The
Wharfe, the "Shepherd Lord", "Butcher Clifford", who was particularly
vicious during the Wars of the Roses and Lady Anne Clifford, who
dominated local life for much of the 17th century. The Earls of Thanet were
very much involved in Skiptons industrial development, while the Fattorinis
have owned the castle for the past 50 years and still live in what was
originally built as the Tudor wing at the time of Henry viii.

Tony closed his talk with some humorous reflections on his experiences as
a guide during the past nine years.