What a beautiful sunny day it was today. We’ve had a stretch of beautiful weather here in North Yorkshire and boy do I appreciate it. My whole everythingness feels lifted and lighter and happy and I just can’t wait to get outside and enjoy every precious minute of it. Today we took advantage of the “locals get in free” offer at the castle. We have been once before, in 2011, and although nothing changes it feels good/slightly weird/very enjoyable to go into a little area of the town of which you are very aware and is very visible but see it from a different perspective. We looked over the wall onto the canal rather than up at the castle from the little pathway under the castle and had a bit of an explore of the rooms.
This is the courtyard – all of the windows face into the courtyard as it is completely enclosed and therefore more protected than having them look out from the exterior of the castle. It is very houselike on the inside here, like a little bit of a stately home, as opposed to the outside of the castle which is all towers and crenelations and big doors. You can just imagine people living here, can’t you? It’s a rather homely castle. I think perhaps it’s the glass in the windows and that the upstairs floors are wooden that does it.
I can’t remember which room this was, either the Day Room or the Bedchamber but it’s a rather sweet bay window. I didn’t take many photos because my battery went but I snapped a few of interest and just for comparison here is a window in the watchtower …
The walls are just a wee bit thicker on the outside! That’s full height as well, I could stand in there no problems.
Now I don’t know about you, but I bloody love castles and how people lived in them and what all the clever bits did and how they used to defend them. In school I won a tube of Mini Eggs for my *perfect* (paper) model of a Motte and Bailey castle. It had a working drawbridge and everything! They are fascinating. I love how contained it is, there is even a chapel. It makes me want to get a big coffee table book on interesting bits on castles, or watch a good series of documentaries about castles or something. Something I really love is castles (well any old buildings really) with secret bits, like secret rooms or priest-holes and things like that. And lots of staircases! I always wanted to live in a house with two staircases, or a secret room. It would have been such fun as a child to play in a house like that! We (my family and I) did once visit a house that had two staircases, in Norfolk, and it was great because you could hide and run away from each other and things like that. Great fun.
I said I snapped a few bits of interest, and this interested me. It’s a tree with pretty bark. No idea what type of tree as it didn’t have any leaves (which at least narrows it down to deciduous) but I liked it.
TTB was not terribly keen to be taken out and we had some angry shrieking on the way there until he found that he can see quite a lot from this position and enjoyed having a good nosy at everything going on. He also discovered that castle rooms echo really, really well and so he made sure to get some shouting practice in as well. Rather sweetly he started chattering and cooing excitedly when we were in the big room overlooking the canal. Sometimes he just sees things that he likes and gets all excited and vocal about them. This includes things like crochet cushions (understandable), the mirror (understandable) and then things like light switches (weird) and the tube of toothpaste.
It was our first real day out as a family of three and it felt special and small-time momentous because of that. A few things have changed in our lives recently and we are all feeling much happier for it. Also, it was very nice to have a day out that was only ten minutes walk (on the way there, tis uphill on the way back!) from our house so I didn’t have to carry a changing bag or worry about a car journey or anything. Just an hour out of the house doing something good and on a lovely day … yes it was just really good and I felt so happy that we did it. Well worth 75p on the local paper!
I think you would have liked my home that I owned over 10 years ago, it had three small staircases, but big enough to hide under and beside the downstairs fireplace, on both sides there were two doors, one went under the house and the other into a room, you had to squish down and climb down into a little room, big enough for a table and couch then climb up through another little doorway into an enclosed double bed area. My eldest son loved it, his own little man cave. Down the last staircase it wound around to under the house where there was an office and bunk beds with a sink. Was a lovely house but very cold with all the levels and yes it was built on the side of a hill. TTB is growing so much and I laughed at his shrieking.
xx Sandi
Hi, What a lovely day!! Castles!! Love them, but have never seen one never mind been in one!! My husband’s family from long ago use to live in a castle, he was Sir John Earle and that is all I know!! TTB is so cute and growing in leaps and bounds!!
Love
AMarie
Such a lovely post and so wonderful to see you looking so happy and confident with TTB!!! The castle is fab! I miss all the castles and National Trust properties in the UK alot. We had loads in Sussex (National Trust properties that is, not castles!) and we spent many a Sunday afternoon ambling around them. You should think about joining cos you get great discounts on entrance fees! Have a great day! xxx
Hi Heather, thanks for taking us around the castle. I love the view through the winter trees on your fist picture and the amazingly thick walls. I love castles like your which aren’t ruins ….I like to see how the people would have lived in them.
Jacquie x
What a lovely post. I’ve had a bit of a thing about castles ever since I studied them in detail for my O’Level History a gazillion years ago. My 12 year old is studying them now and I had to admit to my love of the word ‘crenellations’….
You MUST go a little further up the road and see the snowdrops Heather, it’s glorious at this time of year. We are contemplating The Castle this aft, although tis much colder today, we were too busy to go yesterday.
TTB should be big enough to turn round in the carrier so he faces outwards now? he might like that seeing as he is such a big nosey parker!
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A grand day out indeed! Lovely reading all about it. You might like Dan Snow’s Battle Castles if you’re into castles – I think it’s on Discovery Channel (I don’t get that channel) but there is a book too. You could castle to your heart’s content!
Jones x
Ahh to live in a house with a secret door (behind a book case?!) or secret passages and tunnels… Even as an adult I would have so much fun :D Bargainous trip. Good to hear you’re all doing well, hope more good changes come too! x
You need the usborne ‘see inside castles’ lift-the-flap book. For TTB, of course ;-)
Ahh to live in a house with a secret door (behind a book case?!) or secret passages and tunnels… Even as an adult I would have so much fun :D Bargainous trip. Good to hear you\’re all doing well, hope more good changes come too! x
Dear Heather a lovely castle post. We used to love exploring them.I have lost count of how many I have been to. Dudley castle is the nearest
but the favourite is Ludlow by the river. xx
Hello Heather! I enjoyed your grand day out at the castle. xx
Heather, I just read the best book. Been a long time since I enjoyed a book as much.
“I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith.
J.K.Rowling quoted: “This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I’ve ever met.”
Castles are just plain fascinating!
Beautiful! I’m also a castle lover ;-)….always so nice to just wander about and to imagine how people used to live there ages ago…
Love from Mirjam.