Tutshill, Wyedean and Chepstow

[babynick34]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6842
From: babynick34
Subject: Tutshill, Wyedean and Chepstow
Date: 8/14/00 12:49 pm  (ET)

Hi all.

No guesses for where I went today... that's right, to where Jo spent
most of her childhood.

You can find some photos in the Album: Tutshill, Wyedean and Chepstow.

Tutshill Primary has changed since Jo went there I expect. I've taken
two pitures of the main school building - the oldest part of the school.

Tutshill overlooks the town of Chepstow, and the river Wye runs in the
valley between Tutshill and Chepstow. Jo and Di used to play near the
river - and this I feel is an important fact as you will see later.

On the other side of the A48 from Tutshill is Wyedean
Comprehensive. Wyedean Comp. looked very much like my old school... mainly
single storey buildings, with the main enterance and teaching block
being two level.

Now the interesting bit. Down the hill from the schools is Chepstow,
on the other side of the river Wye. As luck would have it, Tutshill
overlooks the town of Chepstow - and at the exact point where the bridge
is over the river, stands Chepstow Castle.

Chepstow Castle is now a bit of a ruin (and as we know, if muggles look
at Hogwarts, all they see is a ruin). One of the parts of Chepstow
Castle that is open to the public is the cellar. This is the perfect
location for snapes classroom. It's dark, only one window (hole in the
wall these days), and steap passage of steps leading down to it. I've
put some pictures of it in the photo album.

Now, I'm not saying that Chepstow is the location of Hogwarts. Indeed,
it is not the location, as we know the location must be somewhere further
north, most likely in Scotland around Perth/Edinburgh/Aberdeen.

However, Jo and Di would have visited Chepstow on a number of occasions
throughout their childhood. In deed they probably did projects on the
castle as part of their school work. Being so close to Jo's home... I
feel it must have had an infuluence. The castle has large solid wood
doors for example... stone passageways, a great hall (with no roof - so
looking up you do see the sky as it really is), towers, and of course
the damp, dark, cellar room... which is quite large and perfect for
taking a potions class.

What do you think. Having a castle near by when throughout childhood,
do you think it would have some significance, or do you think that
Hogwarts is just based on pure imagination?

Nick.