Conwy, being quite a small town, would have had a travelling physician during the 11th and 12th centuries. He perhaps would have been a barber-surgeon who would come round once or twice a year by use of a travelling caravan, pulled by an ox or horse. He would take off cancerous growths, any deformities of the skin and perform some internal operations.

Prior to that it was the Dark Ages, where we go back in time to hocus pocus magic rituals. After the Romans left, taking their good health practices with them, the locals were left with nothing but local witchcraft - or healing craft.

Witchcraft was like what we classed now as quack medicine. You would go to see the physician with your back bent double. They might say a prayer or some magical words - 'wjamaflipiwhotsit' - light the feather and burn it under your nose. Of course, the smell of burning feathers is so acrid it would make you go 'ahhh' and stand up straight!

Some witchcraft was also trick psychology. If you understand how people think, you can understand how something as simple as getting someone to throw an acorn over their shoulder, but keeping their mind occupied in other ways, could free up a frozen shoulder.

Someone would visit a wise woman with a frozen shoulder. They would offer up an acorn, wave their hand over it in a magical way, place it in the patient's hand and tell them to clench their fist tightly round the acorn and carry it with them all day;

'until the very last dying rays of the sun do show themselves. At this time, you need to be standing on fresh running water, where the sun is facing you and the stream is bringing the last rays of sunlight towards yourself. And I charge you to put your right foot in the stream, your left foot on dry land (preferably by a magical willow tree) and shout at the sun 'let I be cured! Let I be cured! And throw the acorn as far as you can over your shoulder.'

Under normal circumstances, if you're in pain your mind wouldn't let you work through it and let you bring your arm up very quickly to give a good throw - but keeping your mind occupied - sun, water, foot, foot, tree, throw - you forget about the pain you might feel and start the process of freeing up the shoulder. Is it magic or trick psychology? If you fool the mind, the body will play along.