Castles of Interest

[Chrissie777]

Yes, Chrissie, it was Kim's, as Francis has also said. Lovely bookshop. And heaps of other children's authors too, plenty with dust jackets.

PS: We were actually expected to reach our B & B outside of Marlow at 4 p.m. on the 17th of May, Saturday, but didn't make it before 5 p.m. due to the bookstores and the long distances between them. But when we met with Francis and Izzy on Jersey a few days before, he recommended those 3 used bookstores very highly for finding the missing EB books.

[Francis]

Chrissie wrote

Francis, I remember Badger Books (it's next to a parking garage where a woman tried to commit suicide on that Saturday in May 2014 when we were in Worthing, so the police did block the surrounding roads, but let us walk through to Badger Books. They were so kind and called Kim's in Arundel and it turned out that they had one of the EB books that I was searching for. So we went to Arundel next (and regretted not having time left to visit the castle which looks right out of a fairy tale

Both the gentleman and lady in Badger books are lovely people (I often have a chat with them) so I am not surprised they were helpful. Hope you come over again in the near future, Chrissie.

[Lucky Star]

I spent an enjoyable afternoon at one of my favourite castles today; Hever Castle in Kent. The childhood home of Anne Boleyn it has been beautifully restored and together with it's boating lake, rose garden, maze, Italian gardens and sundry other attractions makes a wonderful day out.

[Eddie Muir]

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your afternoon, John. Chick and I have been to Hever Castle several times and we love it there.

[Julie2owlsdene]

Looks lovely, John.

[Katharine]

Looks very interesting. My daughter was talking about Henry VIII and all his wives this morning. It's a pity Hever Castle isn't a bit closer to us so I could take her to see it.

[Courtenay]

Ooh wow! Hever Castle is not far from where I live - another one I really ought to visit and haven't yet.

[Moonraker]

We had a trip out to nearby Wardour Castle the other afternoon. Here are some of the photos I took. Wardour is managed by English Heritage but still owned by a branch of the Arundell family.

Since our last visit 20+ years ago, floors have been reinstated, so there is much more to explore now. Well worth a visit.

Incidentally, the two pages of script included shows how our grammar/punctuation has evolved over time.

[Eddie Muir]

Fantastic photos, Nigel. I was interested to see how our grammar/punctuation has evolved over time.

[timv]

Re: Wardour Castle.

There is a connection between Wardour Castle and Enid; it was previously owned in the later medieval period by the Stourton family, the Lords Stourton, who also owned the Stourton Caundle estate in North Dorset including Stourton Caundle Manor Farm which Enid bought in the 1950s. The disappeared 'Stourton Caundle castle' site at SC Manor Farm, with its extant medieval chapel nearby, was presumably what inspired Enid to create the 'Finniston Castle' site search in Five On Finniston Farm, and she put the chapel into the book. The idea for the fictional 'Lords Finniston' was presumably based on the real Lords Stourton - and Wardour Castle did have a famous siege where an absent lord's wife led the defence, though in the English Civil War (1643/4) not in the 1190s as in the book.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Great photos, Nigel! A lovely, rugged-looking old castle.

[Lucky Star]

Look's fabulous Nigel. Great photos.

[Rob Houghton]

Another interesting castle - Ashby-de-la-zouch castle in Leicestershire. It's quite small, but it has a secret passage you can explore, which goes from the kitchen to the tower, and also a ruined tower you can still climb up, for spectacular views!

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visi ... ch-castle/

[pete9012S]

Absolutely stunning photos Nigel.Thank you for sharing them.
You must have a really good camera?

[Moonraker]

I have - but these were taken with my iPhone 4S!

Yes, Eddie; me too! I bet Michael Edwards would have been fascinated!