Tuesday 25 March 2014

Castle Adventures

Raglan Castle
Living in South Wales, we're blessed with a fair number of local castles, in varying states of decay.  So Squeaky & I decided to have a little adventure to one of the castles we haven't visited before, Raglan Castle, in the hope of finding ourselves a brave knight or a handsome prince.  What? A girl can dream, right?



Anyways.  Raglan Castle, somewhere not far from Monmouth, and just off the A40.  Admittedly we went because Squeaky's school homework was to visit a castle & write about it, but I wanted to go somewhere different, rather than the ironworks owner's folly at the top of the road.  But an adventure is an adventure, even if there is an ulterior educational motive behind it.  Right?

Small archer
Pretentious arty moment
We were lucky to have a dry day, not many of those round here at the moment, and the sun even peeked out from behind the clouds for a while, just long enough for us to enjoy a picnic in the fountain courtyard.  We did everything it's posdible to do in the ruins of a 15th century castle.  Climbed to the top of the tower, imagined what it would be like to live in the bedrooms, shot imaginary arrows through the defences, went down into the spooky cellars (including a wine cellar! There was none left, I checked!), took pretentious arty photos through anything with a hole in, and were very glad we didn't have to use the soldier's toilet in the fortifications!
The soldiers' toilet
Squeaky and I came to the conclusion we'd love to live in a castle, but we'd prefer one with a roof and some glass in the windows!  It's just a bit too air conditioned for my delicate sensibilities.  That said, there's a lovely cafe, with free wi-fi.  All mod cons, almost!

Exploring castles can be a dangerous pastime, apparently.
Our castle adventure is linking up with the Coombe Mill Country Kids linky.  Show them some love!  Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall 

5 comments:

  1. Now that is what I call a proper castle with moat and all! My boys would be super impressed with this one. I think Wales is spoilt for castles, we will have to visit one day. Thank you for sharing some lovely photos and of your day on Country Kids.

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    1. If they like moats, your boys would LOVE Caerphilly Castle. They've got a huge moat, with loads of ducks, geese & swans, and a trebuchet in the castle which they use to entertain tourists and frighten wildlife launching things into the moat.

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  2. Oh my goodness, that brings back memories! I took French hubs to Raglan Castle 10 years ago when we were over in the UK on holiday from France, fast forward and we're now living in the UK, but I still have such fond memories of our trip there - maybe we need to go back but with the kids this time.
    #CountryKids

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