We visited the Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick, during Sue Shapland's interesting holiday based in Stratford-upon-Avon. It is a small and delightfully quaint collection of buildings which were once guild premises in the 14th and 15th centuries.
In 1571 Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, acquired them as a home for a Master and twelve pensioner soldiers and their wives. Now there are eight ex-servicemen, each in his own self-contained, modernised apartment. I imagine there is competition for places.
Our guide was the present Master, a retired army officer. He was a lively commentator and if he ever needed a second career, I am sure the stage would welcome him.
The buildings lie around the old west gate and comprise the chantry chapel and a courtyard surrounded by the half-timbered Guildhall, Great Hall, and Brethren's Kitchen (now a small cafe) and the Master's House with a garden behind it. The Hospital is often used as a setting for film and TV productions.
The Brethren attend a daily service in the chapel. The Great Hall with a magnificent timbered roof was, and still is, used for public functions. The Guildhall, once used for guild business, now houses much memorabilia and a local regimental museum.
The Master said he could distinguish British and German visitors when they looked in through his downstairs windows. If they continued to stare even though they were aware that the occupants could see them, they were German. If they quickly looked away and pretended they were really looking at the weather vane on the roof, they were British.
Ruth Adams