WHEN King James VI of Scotland was on his way to London in 1603 to take over the English throne following the death of Elizabeth I, he had to find a number of comfortable places to stay for breaks in his journey.

As he passed through this part of the world, he chose Walworth Castle for a night’s slumber. It was owned at the time by Elizabeth Jenison, a widow whose husband, Thomas, had been the queen’s auditor general.

The Northern Echo: King James IV
King James IV

She must have looked after him and his staff well, for a scribe wrote that the gentlewoman entertained him so bountifully that it gave him very high contentment.

The praise went on: “After his quiet repose there that night and part of the next day he took leave of her with many princely gratulations for her extending cost in the entertainment of him and his retinue.” No doubt the Best Western hotel group, which runs the castle these days, would be delighted to get a tribute like that from a royal guest.

The visit came 16 years after his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was beheaded for treason on the orders of Queen Elizabeth.

James, who was 37 when he came to Walworth, had been Scottish king from the age of 13 months. He saw his mother for the last time when he was only a year old. A regent acted for him until he was 17. He reigned as James 1 of England for 22 years.

The hotel now has a King James suite in which guests can expect to receive regal treatment.

The stronghold dates from the Norman era. It fell into disrepair at times, but Thomas Jenison restored it.

When a later Jenison died in 1759, his widow had to sell it to pay his debts.

One occupant in the 1930s was GP Aylmer, a big game hunter who shot an elephant in West Africa and brought one of its tusks back as a trophy to hang in the entrance hall. When he died the castle was bought in 1937 by two of his cousins, Charles and Neville Eade, for £26,000.

The rooms must have been packed with Aylmer’s belongings, because an auction sale held to dispose of them lasted five days. The tusk was sold for £17 – a meagre sum considering that a large noble beast lost its life for it.

The cousins bought a collection of family heirlooms, including silver trophies won in horse races.

If all the high quality silver relics, china dinner services, Chippendale chairs, Sheraton tables, cut glass candleabra, oil paintings, signed engravings and priceless books could be put on display now they would keep the Antiques Roadshow’s experts busy for weeks on end.

One of the highest prices paid was £155 for a pair of antique mahogany semi-circular commode chests. A Newcastle dealer bought them, but what would anyone have to pay for the likes of them today?

Traders were there in force and went away with many of the best lots. Ornaments and household goods were knocked down for modest amounts, and people from local villages may well have gone home with some of them.

THERE is a place in the dales, just off a busy road, where a curious ceremony took place in ancient times: the christening of calves.

It is a legend that has been passed down, though the exact details of it are shrouded in mystery. The spot is marked by the base of a medieval cross, known as the Christening Stone, in a field on Keith Lamb’s Doe Park Farm, just outside Cotherstone, on the way to Romaldkirk.

It was listed in 1999 as a monument of national importance.

The belief is that a calf was christened there each May Day, though when this started, and how long it went on, has never been recorded. But it would supposedly be a sedate gathering at which the latest addition to a local herd was baptised, given a name and wished a useful life.

It may well have been thought to bring good health to all the cattle in the locality and prosperity to their owners.

The stone is one of a number of wayside markers listed in the dale around 1870 by the Reverend WR Bell, vicar of Laithkirk. Two respected modern historians, Ken Fairless and the late Denis Coggins, wrote in 1999 that in the distant and pagan past there were rituals connected with the first calf of spring.

They added: “It is indeed possible that some such ritual survived at Cotherstone and was later christianised to involve baptism rather than sacrifice. There is, however, no direct evidence that any such activity ever actually took place.”

It was thought the original cross on the site may have been connected with Thwaite Hall, on the other side of the road, as part of the stonework was discovered there. Messrs Fairless and Coggins felt the field would not be an appropriate site for a preaching cross or market cross for Cotherstone, nor would it have served any useful purpose as a way marker.

The Northern Echo: The ancient relic known as the calves’
christening stone
The ancient relic known as the calves’ christening stone

But they felt it could have provided a welcome resting place for a funeral party which had crossed the River Balder on its way to Romaldkirk church.

Another possibility was that it could have been a memorial cross, perhaps for an early owner of Thwaite Hall or someone connected with that property, which was known to be of some importance, years before it was run for a time as a boarding school.

Mr Lamb, who has lived at Doe Park all his life, says sheep often lie near the stone — and sure enough one was resting peacefully there when I called to take a photograph.

SOME property developers from elsewhere in the country may be tempted to this corner of the world thanks to a piece on the TV show Homes under the Hammer this week.

There were fine shots of Bishop Auckland, with presenter Martin Roberts praising the town centre as charming, and the high street as full of character.

Then a married couple, Alison and Sean, bought an endof- terrace house at auction for £42,000. It was said to be on an estate ten minutes from the town centre. They had wanted to buy it earlier when it was on the open market, but it was too dear for them then at £67,950. Once they got it for a bargain sum, which was £3,000 below the guide price, they spent £7,000 doing it up.

A local estate agent, Sue Stephenson, then looked it over and valued it at £85,000, saying this would be her asking price if she was selling it.

The couple were delighted to hear they could make a potential profit of £36,000 after their fairly speedy and modest improvements. This is a much better return than possible on most other houses featured on the programme by Roberts and his co-presenter, Lucy Alexander.

But Alison, who grew up in Bishop Auckland and is now a PR manager in Manchester, said she and her Canadian husband would be renting it out at £380 a month rather than looking for a quick profit.

The Northern Echo: Martin
Roberts and
Lucy
Alexander of
Homes
Under The
Hammer
Martin Roberts and Lucy Alexander of Homes Under The Hammer

It could well have made other developers wonder if there are further lucrative deals to be found in this locality.

The popular morning show has led to an increase in the number of viewers who try to buy houses at auction sales. It has dealt with properties in Darlington, West Auckland and various villages in this area in recent months.

DOES anyone remember a man who uttered the word Numbers in reply to just about any question?

I’ve been assured he lived on a farm not a million miles from Hamsterley. Apparently if he was asked if he had ever been to Newcastle, or just about anywhere else, his answer would be: “Number of times.”

If questioned about whether he knew Arthur Robson, or just about anyone else, his retort would be: “Have done for numbers of years.” How big was his farm?

“Numbers of acres.” How many sheep did he have?

“Numbers of them.”

He became so well known for using the word that his farm was often referred to as Numbers. People would ask him pointless questions just to see if he gave the expected reply.

But when did he live in this locality? The person passing on the tale said he didn’t know exactly, but added: “It must have been numbers of decades ago.”