Stirling Castle: Stirling, Scotland

Number 12 - Stirling Castle


We got the train to Stirling and decided to walk to the castle. We absolutely took a wrong turn and ended up on a wood lined path, with the castle above is. We couldn't work out how to get in and just kept walking and walking until we were behind it. 

We were about to despair when we reached the entrance randomly from the back (I assume this is the frustration many of the enemies felt when trying to get in). There was a large green and a rather imposing statue overseeing the land. There is a gatehouse where we got our tickets. Then it was time to explore. 

Let's not beat around the bush, Stirling castle is breathtaking. There was so much to see and do, you could easily spend all day there, unfortunately we had also set out sights on visiting Edinburgh on the same day, so we had to be realistic with our exploring mission.

The castle was built in the 12th century, but new bits have been added over the years, so visually many of the buildings looked very different. 

With lots of people in medieval clothes we couldn't resist asking some questions about the history, and I have to say the re-enacters really knew their stuff. We popped in to one of the palaces, which had been decorated in the style of years ago. A man dressed as Henry VIII had a chat with us and then have Chloe a giant unicorn horn to pose with. The unicorn was decided on to be the supporter of the Scottish Royal coat of arms, and James V owned lots of tapestries which featured unicorns.

I think my favourite part about the castle were the gardens. They were immaculate, and had stunning views. 

I dread to think how many gardeners they need to employ and to keep it looking so lovely, or how long it takes them all.

 

We ended up being there in April 2012, which is when Stirling Castle celebrated the end of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. This meant lots of soldiers in uniform plodding around and a canon salute which was deafening. Chloe loved it! It seemed this was a very rare occurrence, so it was very lucky we were there on that day. 

Cost: £14 for adults

Hints and tips: Train tickets in Scotland are really reasonable so if that's an option for you, take it. If you have kids, there were a good amount of fun activities to keep them entertained. On your way up the hill in Stirling just takes the steps by the big statue or you'll end up taking the extra long route, like we did. 

Stirling castle has it's own blog. However if you'd like to read more about this blog, and why we ended up taking on this castle challenge, check out my first blog.

Tower of London: London, England

Number 10 - Tower of London

I feel like we've cheated the Tower of London as we didn't actually go inside. We were on a schedule involving Thai food and Matilda the musical (which is fantastic and everyone should see). 

Chloe and her husband came to see us in January 2012, and I thought it would be nice to walk to the Tower along the river.... from Victoria. This was a mistaaaaaake of grave proportions. It was a LOT further than I realised. The walk seemed to go on for miles, but they certainly got a decent tour of London as we passed the London eye, the Oxo Tower and all the bridges.

Although it's called a Tower, it is in fact a castle and was built by William the Conqueror in 1066.

In it's lifetime it's been used as both a prison and royal residence... which seems a little contradictory but hey ho. I think if we had ended up going inside Chloe might have made a smash and grab for the Queen's jewels and ended up in prison herself, so it's probably for the best that we didn't.

You could tell from the outside the castle is huge and sprawling. Lots of towers, walkways and turrets. And it also looked like it had been built at different times, with more modern sections being added on. 

I'm sure we'll end up back at this one in the future to do the interior. 

Following our brief viewing we went for a cupcake at the marvellous Beas of Bloomsbury which certainly warmed our hearts, as it was a bit nippy. 

Cost: £22

Hints and tips: It can get extremely busy so if you can maybe avoid weekends or school holidays. It's huge, so make sure you give yourself enough time to get around it. I would personally get the train/tube as driving in London is like a nightmare from hell, and the tube is quicker all round.

Pevensey Castle: East Sussex, England

Number 3 - Pevensey Castle

We visited Pevensey castle in September 2010. 

To be honest, from the outside it doesn't look like much. I'd spent quite a bit of time there as a child and just thought it was an old crumbling wall and a huge field. But what I didn't know, was there was an actual castle bit in the middle of this area and that had a few pretty jazzy things.

For one, there was a pyramid of, what I can only assume were boulders, all joined together. I tried lifting them without any success.

The castle was about in the 4th century, so amazing any of it is still standing to be honest. It was the last and strongest Roman fort and was where William the Conqueror and his army landed in 1066.

You could climb up the walls and stand on the wooden platform which had a great view of the outer castle walls.

We were given an audio guide when we went in. It gave lots of interesting information especially as we descended the spiral staircase to the dungeon. 

 

They had actors doing little pieces as if they were alive way back when, as we entered the dungeon the prisoner on the audio recording started telling us what it was like down there. His monologue finished, with 'help me, heeeeeelp meeeee', we power walked up those stairs pretty sharpish.

 

It's not got the structure or beauty of somewhere like Bodium, or the number of activities, but we still had a lovely time. 

The weather was a bit windy on our visit but you could have a nice relaxed picnic if the sun was out. We went in, over a wooden drawbridge, and decided to go all out and get the audio devices that tell you the history of the castle.

Cost: £5 approx

Hints and tips: There weren't any places to eat or anything but it is in the village of Pevensey which has some nice pubs and restaurants.

If you want to find out why we're visiting all these castles, check out my first blog.