Middleham

Take to the saddle and ride as fast as you can

Until you reach the fair town of Middleham,

Amongst the ancient rivers, wild hills and the dales

Where wise men walk and the north wind sails,

Hidden behind the township are the ruined walls and towers

Of a castle that was caught up in a feud between flowers,

This once northern cardinal, was full of growth and humour

That saw the cannons wrath, along with that of Tudor rumour,

For this was a palace of the movers and the shakers

The home of young kings and the Lords, who were their makers,

A place, now reborn as a home of equestrian training

It’s another faster furlong they work towards gaining,

Whilst the ghosts of royal blood and ancestry

Remind us, that this land was not always free.

By Malcolm Dewhirst