Tag: castle

Exploring Caithness

Caithness in the far north east corner of mainland Britain is full of ancient brochs, cairns and castles and gorgeous beaches. But hardly any people or traffic.

Caithness is the county that covers the far north east of Scotland. You might think it’s so far away that there won’t be much to do and see there apart from getting your picture taken at the John O’Groats sign, but you’d be wrong. You could really dedicate an entire holiday just to exploring Caithness and still not see everything. Even though I’ve travelled round it several times I still have plenty of reasons to go back and I know I won’t run out of things to do any time soon.

Continue reading “Exploring Caithness”

Exploring Mey – Scotland’s Homeliest Castle

The Queen Mother turned a derelict castle on the far north coast of Scotland into a beautiful home. I went to explore and found a place I never wanted to leave.

Who doesn’t love exploring an old castle? Whether it’s clambering around ruins or wandering through stately rooms decked out for the 1800s there’s just something about a castle that will pique most people’s interest.

The best kind of castle though, at least to me, is one I really could imagine living in. And to help facilitate my imagination it’s best if the castle actually looks like a home I’d want to live in; the sort where I really have to restrain myself from pulling a book off the shelves, flopping on the sofa, putting my feet up and pouring myself a coffee from the silver pot (there’s always a silver pot).

The Castle of Mey is just such a castle.

Continue reading “Exploring Mey – Scotland’s Homeliest Castle”

A Tale of Two Castles

Did you know that Shetland used to be part of Norway? And that a lot of the Norse ways survived even after the islands became Scottish? Visiting the two castles is a good way of learning about the history of Shetland during the time of the Earls. This tale of two castles gives a brief outline of the history and helps you to plan your visit to the castles.

Shetland has two castles both of which date back to the time when the Isles were ruled by Earls. Even though both castles are in ruins, there’s enough left of each one to make them fun to explore.

I’ve been to them both several times now and each time I go back I feel surprised by how much of them there is left once you get inside. With both castles, but especially Scalloway Castle, I always get the feeling that they’re bigger on the inside. Now where have I heard that before? Continue reading “A Tale of Two Castles”

Cardiff Castle – In Photos

Out of all the castles I’ve seen recently, Cardiff Castle is by far the best. It packs in more WOW! factor than all the rest combined.

My A49 road trip had quickly turned into a castle themed road trip and the castle theme continued as I headed into Wales and made my way down to Cardiff. It turned out I’d saved the best till last as Cardiff Castle was the most magnificent of the lot. Continue reading “Cardiff Castle – In Photos”

Is Craven Arms Shropshire’s Best Kept Secret?

A sign about mammoths lured me into this little town I’d never heard of.

Why have I never heard of this town before?

I had no intention of going there (obviously, as I’d never heard of it), but ended up spending two nights. Continue reading “Is Craven Arms Shropshire’s Best Kept Secret?”

Ludlow in a Day

From eggs to aliens – my day in the Shropshire town of Ludlow.

Ludlow is known as a foodie destination. I wasn’t that impressed with the food side of things, but did find plenty to keep me interested on the day I spent there as part of my A49 road trip.

First up was the Ludlow Food Centre. This is slightly outside Ludlow itself along the A49 in Bromfield. Continue reading “Ludlow in a Day”

A Castle Themed Road Trip

My recent road trip took me down the A49 and into Wales. I saw a lot of castles.

Look at a map showing the route the A49 takes through the county of Shropshire and you’ll spot a whole lot of castle symbols. The county is absolutely packed to the brim with castles.

The Shropshire tourism website claims the county has 32 castles plus 25 hillforts and quite a few abbeys and monasteries. Continue reading “A Castle Themed Road Trip”

Road Tripping the A49

I’m sure there are more glamorous roads to take a road trip along and there are definitely more famous ones, but I’m also sure I’m not going to be the first person to trip the A49.

Where? What?

In the UK roads are labelled with the letters M, A and B with a number following the letter. Unless they’re really tiny in which case they may have a name, but they don’t have a label.  Continue reading “Road Tripping the A49”

Conwy

A castle on a rock and a tiny house.

I didn’t know much about Conwy. Make that, I didn’t know anything about Conwy, but I wanted to stop off somewhere on my way home from Snowdonia and so was on the lookout for somewhere interesting where I could spend a few hours. As I drove past Conwy it winked enticingly at me from down below the road. I turned off and followed signs for the harbour. This, I realised once there, was completely separate from the main town. I parked up (free) and went for a wander. It was quite pleasant with lots of yachts gently bobbing and a restaurant, but not a lot else. 

After a quick wander round the harbour I got back in my van and found the old town fairly easily. I parked in a pay and display car park at the base of the old walls and went for a walk along the top of the walls and a look round the old castle. 

The castle, a World Heritage site, dates from 1283 and was commissioned by Edward I. It’s built on a rock and has eight huge round towers protruding from it’s curtain walls. It gained its strength from its position atop the rock and so lacks concentric walls (an inner layer of walls) as they were not considered necessary.  

The inner parts of the castle lie in ruins, but enough can be seen to imagine how it would have looked in days gone by. From the battlements I got good views over the town of Conwy lying inside the old town walls, the suspension bridge designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1826, and of the course the inside of the castle. The Great Hall is 125ft long and fills the main space inside the castle. Apart from this there is a chapel, cellars, dungeons, kitchens and so on. 

Leaving the castle, I walked a bit further along the walls before dropping into the town. The town walls are over 34 mile long and have 22 towers scattered along their length. It’s possible to walk the full way along the walls but I cut it short as I wanted to have time to look at the town as well.  

I had a quick look at the smallest house in Britain which is on the shore front. It measures 1.8m wide and stands 3.05m high. I didn’t go in as there were already a few people inside and so I would have had to wait – its size obviously limits the amount of people who can go in at any one time. I could see pretty much everything there was to see from the doorway anyway.

 
I popped into Plas Mawr which is an Elizabethan town house known for its fine decorative plasterwork and also visited Aberconwy House which is a 14th century merchant’s house. The houses are in the care of Cadw and the National Trust respectively and so I didn’t need to pay to get in. I would have liked to have spent longer in both places but was aware of the time ticking away on my parking ticket; indeed when I mentioned to the lady behind the desk in Aberconwy House that I would have liked to have spent longer there but couldn’t because my parking ticket was running out, she advised me to hurry as the parking attendants can be very keen. 

 

At least I got to see what Conwy has to offer; enough to know I’d like to go back and spend a bit more time there, and I had a very pleasant afternoon exploring a new place and breaking my journey home.