The story of Henry the Forgetful

History

The story of Henry the Forgetful is one of Hampshire County Council's Story Trails: easy-access countryside walks of around a mile, each with its own story to share with children on the way. In January 2012 the council said it was developing six more trails after its first six, and its Story Trails page of December 2012 lists Henry the Forgetful, at Odiham Castle near Greywell, among the new ones, with a story bag to borrow from Odiham Library. The trail starts where the Basingstoke Canal towpath crosses the entrance to Greywell Tunnel, follows the towpath to the castle and goes back the way it came. The council says the canal, originally a transport system for agricultural produce, was derelict by the mid-1960s and that a campaign began for its restoration, and that the tunnel, which collapsed in 1932, now blocks navigation to the canal's original end at Basingstoke.

The story is set in June 1216. Henry is a pilgrim walking from Winchester to Canterbury in the hope of curing his forgetfulness; he comes upon a French army camped near Odiham Castle but cannot remember what he meant to tell the garrison. The siege was real. The council says the castle was built between 1207 and 1214 and that in 1216, shortly after it was finished, it suffered a two-week siege by the French. Odiham Parish Council records that Louis, the French Dauphin, took Winchester on 14 June 1216 and then marched on Odiham, where the garrison of three knights and ten sergeants held out until 9 July, when they surrendered on terms that let them keep their freedom, arms and horses.