Pontefract Castle: Wakefield, England

Number 17 - Pontefract Castle

We'd already seen three castles (Ashby de la Zouche, Bolsover and Sandal) on this day and were on our way to stay in one overnight, so Pontefract was the penultimate stop after a long day. There wasn't much of the castle left to see, though at the entrance there was a rather lovely herb garden that I took quite a fancy to. 

All that was really left of this ruin, was a long wall encompassing quite a good size area. We wandered round the edge and looked down to the town below.

Apparently Pontefract castle was really frightening when it was all in one piece, but hard to imagine that now with so little of it left.

Costs: free

Hints and tips: You wouldn't need long to get round this castle. Perhaps taking a little sword and shield to entertain yourself could be a good idea.

Sandal Castle: Wakefield, England

Number 16 - Sandal Castle

Oh Sandal. I am sorry to say but you weren't great, especially compared to Ashby De la Zouche which we saw earlier in the same day. 

The weather didn't help. but basically we parked up, walked over a hill and were presented with a wall. That was pretty much it. There was also a group of young gentleman smoking what I can only assume was a herb based substance. This made getting our photo a bit tricky, but we managed it.

The castle is best known for the Battle of Wakefield which was fought in 1460 during the War of the Roses. What we saw were the remains of the 13th century stone castle. You could walk to the top of a motte bailey as well and there were good views from that vantage point.

We didn't call into the visitors centre, though there was one and that may well have been really good. So if I went back, I would pop in there.


Cost: free

Hints and tips: it won't take you long to see and I suppose if the weather was nice you could have a picnic. It's also in a nice part of England so there is lots nearby to see and do.

Bolsover: Chesterfield, England

Number 15 - Bolsover Castle

Ah! Bolsover.

Now we have a slight confession about this. We hadn't planned to visit it, but kept seeing signs so we just thought we couldn't ignore them any more, if a castle was within our reach, we had to go. So we shot off the motorway and followed the brown castle signs.

However when we got there we realised it was HUGE and would probably take all day to get around. We just didn't have time. We were on a trip to stay in a castle in Durham and had a schedule of other castles to call in at on the way up. We were in a real quandry. Plus it was raining.

We walked round the outside and could see it looked impressive but decided not to go in. We've counted it anyway, as some of the castle ruins we do end up just standing by, but in the future we hope to make it back up there again to walk round.

Our apologies to English Heritage, who we're sure make it look very lovely for visitors. Apparently there are painted ceilings and everything!

It was built in the 1630s but must have had substantial work done to it as it still looked in great condition.... from the outside.

We did pop to the town to get a packed lunch for the car journey. Nothing exciting, just some hoola hoops.

Costs: £9.50

Hints and tips: ...go in

If you want to read about castles we actually did explore, check out my blog.

Edinburgh Castle: Edinburgh, Scotland

Number 13 - Edinburgh Castle

We visited Edinburgh castle while on a little mini break to Scotland to do some castle exploration. It was our third and final castle of the holiday (we'd already done Bothwell and Stirling) and we tried to leave a good half day for it, as we knew it was huge!

Walking up to the castle through the Royal Mile is really atmospheric. Though it wasn't festival season when we rocked up, I've been to Edinburgh Festival once and would certainly recommend it. It's like nothing I've ever done before or since, absolutely buzzing and such a large variety of shows, arts and food. Really great.

Anyway, back to the castle, it's massive. It sits on top of a giant hill that I've discovered was created out of volcanic rock. We discovered the structure was a castle within a castle; so you had two sections, an outer and an inner one. The outer section had lots of high walls and cannons, to protect the fortress. I guess they hoped no enemies would ever make it to the inner bit.

 

You accessed the inner castle by climbing some rather steep steps.

The inner part of the castles had palaces and rooms filled with art. As well as more museums and some beautiful flower beds.

 

Edinburgh castle started being built in the 9th century but has had new bits added over the years. In the 16th century it was nearly all destroyed, apart from the chapel, so we made sure we went in and had a look round there.

The views over the city were really breath taking, the castle was certainly in a good position to see everything all around it. A lot of people clearly work tirelessly to make it look spic and span as it was in great condition. We had a slice of cake and some juice in the tea room/cafe which was all very nice. 

We spent a rather large amount of time watching some of the guards keeping watch outside the interior palace. They have to hold these gun/sword weapons and stand there for hours protecting the palace. 

One of them had clearly been their ages as his arm was shaking - we felt very sorry for him, I almost offered to take over so he could grab a sandwich. I'm not sure how long they have to stand there, but eventually they marched around and swapped over. There was also a wedding party at the very inner most part of the castle. What an amazing wedding venue it would have been - if only we'd known before we each got hitched. I have to say, the bride's dress was a little revealing, but each to their own.

 

There was a military museum with lots of information about the battles fought and lost at the castle, and in Scotland in general. There was also a little cemetery just for the soldier's dogs.

We stayed as late as we could, but then our stomachs started rumbling, so we decided it was time for dinner. We walked about fifty miles to find a Chinese restaurant that tripadvisor told us would be good, and it was (though we moaned about having leg ache throughout)! I can't remember the name of the eatery, sorry about that...

Cost: £16 per adult to get into the castle

Hints and tips: Edinburgh is a great place to visit in it's own right, so why not go for a mini break and then spend a whole day at the castle, there is so much to do, we were rushed with only half a day.

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.

Bothwell Castle: Uddingston, Scotland

Number 11 - Bothwell castle

In April 2012 I surprised Chloe with flights and an overnight to bonnie Scotland. My aim was to do a castle or two but, unlike me, I had no real itinerary (though I knew we must do Edinburgh). 

Our flight was at 6am so we were in Scotland at 8:30am ready to go. Check in at our hotel wasn't possible until the afternoon so we decided to google any nearby castles. We got a very cheap train ticket to Uddingston which housed Bothwell castle. 

We dragged our suitcases across uneven paving, for what seemed like a life time, but eventually we found the lovely Bothwell castle.

I think the first thing that struck me was the colour, a rich terracotta. 

Very different to anything we'd seen up to this point. Bothwell was built in the 13th century and has been owned by a number of powerful families during it's history.

 

There was lots of information about which spaces formed each room and how they would have been used.

It was a ruin but lots of it was accessible and still in tact. We were able to climb sections and there were lots of passageways and window slits to peer out of.

The person managing the sight that day was a very chatty and friendly lady who even lent us a guidebook while we wandered round. 

We also ended up joining 'Historic Scotland' as we liked her so much, though we were assured we could use it in England too. 

Costs: £4.50

Hints and tips: it's quite a walk from the station, particularly if you're lugging suitcases around. 

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.