In 16 something or other a Bristol merchant, actually Sir Maurice Cook, a one-time Master of the Merchant Venture’s had a son, but a gypsy woman told his wife he would never make the age of 21. As he grew older his father put him in a tower of the house he had built overlooking the Avon Gorge, so that he could attain that age. It was cold and so firewood was sent up to him on a pulley and in the morning he was found to be dead - killed by the poisonous venom of a Viper hidden in the woodpile! So the Romany was right after all and the house became a ruin. A certain Doctor Goodeve purchased the wreck when he returned from India after a successful few years as a surgeon and in 1858 he built the current house which is where I have been today and where I will be tomorrow; I hope I don't find any Vipers in the attic - it would be a first, but, so far so good ...   more »