5 June 2026 Ashby de la Zouche
Today was not a good day. Some days just don't go as you had planned, but I still got things done. I had planned to go to Ashby de la Zouche Castle in Leicestershire, then visit the town of Leicester to see their cathedral and castle.
Ashby de la Zouche Castle was started by the de la Zouche family back in the 12th Century, when King Henry III was in power. The first de la Zouche in my family tree that had ties to the castle was Alan de Porhoet de la Zouche, who died in 1190 at the castle. The last one I have is Joyce de la Zouche, who was born in 1318. The last direct heir to the de la Zouche inheritance died in 1399, and the de la Zouche lands were turned over to the Hastings family.
Most of the Hastings family that I have in my family tree were from before the time when they took control of the castle. William Lord Hastings was a Lancastrian support, and on very good terms with Edward IV. He received the castle in 1462. Edward was deposed by the "Kingmaker", the Earl of Warwick in 14 70, but when Edward took back the throne in 1471, William Lord Hastings had become one of his biggest supporters. He marshalled 3000 Leicestershire men at arms together to help Edward IV back into power. After that, William Lord Hastings fortunes greatly improved.
Serious improvements were made to the castle with this newfound wealth given to the Hastings family by the Crown. Hastings became a well sought after courtier, and gained a lot of influence. Unfortunately, Edward's brother, Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, saw Hastings as an impediment to his kingly ambitions, and not long after Edward IV had died, Richard III had William Lord Hastings executed. Hastings was buried in St. Georges Church at Windsor Castle, which had originally been started by his friend, Edward IV.
In 1487, Richard III restored the family inheritance to Hastings wife Katherine, and his 9 year old son, Edward. Edward the son was not as astute in increasing the family fortunes through his courtesanship, but he married Mary, the daughter and heir of the Hungerford family, and wealth was again flowing to the estate.
The ancestors that I have associated with this Castle are:
I did visit the parish church next to the castle to see if I had any ancestors buried there, but no luck. There was a Hastings Chapel just to the right of the High Altar, but the Hastings' that I found there came long after my ancestors had died out and moved on.
My next stop was the City of Leicester, in particular, the cathedral there. I got to the city just after noon, and it must've been a market day, because the city was packed. To add to that, parking was impossible to find. After circling the city center for about 45 minutes, I found a parking garage about a half a mile from the Cathedral. When I pulled in, all the machines weren't working, and they wanted me to pay via the different parking apps that you can download.
This pay by app is a scam if you are from outside of England. I tried to set my account up when I was at home before arriving here, and I couldn't get past the verification stage to set up my account. i tried this again once I got over here, and the app doesn't recognize my phone number from the States as a mobile number, just a landline, and they couldn't complete the registration. I've had it up to my ears with parking over here, and I will saw, since the last time i was over here, it's gotten out of control.
When I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express for 4 nights in Shrewsbury, the parking lot at the hotel was a pay and display lot, but I was told that if you register your car registration with the hotel, you are good to go. Thats BS. 4 days later, my rental car company sent me an email saying that the car park at the hotel accused me of a parking violation there. The car park was charging me 100 pounds, and the rental car company, SIXT, popped me with a 40 pound processing fee that they debited directly from my credit card. I called the hotel, and they canceled all four of the parking violation charges. Then they sent SIXT an email and a text telling them that the charges had been canceled. I even sent their customer service team an email explaining everything, but they never responded back to me.
Today SIXT contacted me, and said that I had 2 more parking violations, and had already popped me for 2 more of those canceled violations, 40 pounds x 2 (Actual US dollars was $53.64 for each instance). I emailed them again today, and voiced my displeasure, and a few alternative courses of action that I planned to take if they didn't refund me my money. They did respond to that one, by saying it may take a couple of days before they get back with me. If they still haven't been reversed by the time I turn the rental in, I am going to get my $200.00 out of their hide, Guaranteed. More to follow. My blood pressure can't take this crap. England has changed a lot since the 35 years ago when I was just a Captain deployed over here. Thanks for listening. I do feel better now. Bust day tomorrow. 5 places planned before staying in Norwich for 3 nights. Next week this time, Terry and I will be in York. 23 days in, 27 left.
