The Gauntlet

Ronald Welch

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Review

Peter Staunton and his friend Gwyn are exploring the area around the ruins of Carreg Cennen castle, when Peter stumbles across an old gauntlet buried in the hillside.  When he picks it up, he sees mist all around him and hears shouts of battle.  Later, at tea, when the boys recount the tale to the local historian (who happens to be the Vicar), they discover that there is a legend attached to the castle - and to the gauntlet.  His curiosity aroused, Peter returns to the castle by himself, and dozes off in the sunshine.  When he awakes, things are not quite as they were…

He finds himself transported back to the Fourteenth Century, to a time when the castle is bustling with life, and he is the son of Roger de Blois, Lord of Carreg Cennen Castle.  He soon adapts to the new way of life, learning to hawk and to shoot longbow, but it is only when the castle is besieged by angry Welshmen that the real fighting begins...

I first read this exciting historical adventure when I was a schoolboy (I've got a sinking feeling the year was 1974 or 1975), and was reminded of it when a customer mentioned that her son had loved another book by Welch, Bowman Of Crecy .  It's a well-written book, full of historical fact - and still as much fun on the second reading as it was on the first! - review by Dan Fenton