After a relaxing ride along the whole of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, we found ourselves in Pickering with a couple of hours to occupy ourselves before the last train back. We could wander round the streets and maybe grab a brew in a café or… WE COULD GO TO A CASTLE!
Time for another castle! We’d had a brilliant day out at Harlech earlier in the year, so while me and the boy were staying with Anma and Grandpa at the caravan, we took the opportunity to pootle round another. Grandpa loves castles too, so he joined us for our day out – this time to Conwy Castle. We parked up at Morfa Bach car park (postcode LL32 8FZ) and paid £4.50 for over four hours parking – Conwy is a big one. And with Rowan all kitted out as a knight, we headed through the pedestrian tunnel towards the imposing walls.
I love castles. Whenever I picture a castle in my head, invariably it will be something akin to what I would have drawn as a child – imposing stone walls standing proud on a hill, turrets and battlements, arrow slits and a huge portcullis. So when we decided to visit Harlech Castle in North Wales, I was very excited.
With its dramatic mountain scenery to the north, and rolling green fields in the south, Arran is said to be Scotland in miniature. The A841 circumnavigates the island in 55 miles and there is lots to look out for along the way, whether you have ten minutes or a couple of hours. Below are some of the many other things we enjoyed whilst out and about on our honeymoon.
Earlier this year, we took advantage of some dry sunny weather and went for a day out in Beeston. The plan was to walk from Beeston Castle, around Peckforton Castle to get back to Beeston in time to explore the grounds. A walk around these two towers was something I’d had in mind for a while so I already had a shiny new OS map of the area (any excuse). There is parking outside Beeston Castle (postcode CW6 9TX ) and after going into the castle to pay the fee, and getting a quick bite to eat at the Sandstone Café we found the start of our route.
At the start of this year, my friend Flick was over from Ibiza. We decided to catch up whilst walking in the Lakes, because going from a pleasantly warm 12 – 15 degrees to single digits in Manchester wasn’t enough of a temperature change – close to freezing on the fells was what was required.
Another one of our adventures from our recent holiday to Cornwall saw us visiting a place I have been to a number of times before – Tintagel Castle. Parking in the town, we paid £2 for the day, then walked down the main street, passing its little shops heading down towards the castle. We stopped for a pasty (I was very excited to find a vegan one) and, as we were visiting a castle, Rowan spent some of his pirate booty from the previous day on a sword so he could be a knight. Continue reading
Exploring the Landscape 