Our Adventures in England: May 2013

Wednesday 29 May 2013

A Weekend of Castles: Dunstanburgh

The Great Gatehouse

When we planned our weekend trip to Alnwick and Bamburgh we had no intentions of stopping at Dunstanburgh. In all honesty, pretty much every town in the north of England has it's own castle or castle ruin. Our hosts at the guesthouse insisted that Dunstanburgh was something special and not to be missed. They gave us directions on how to get to this castle. There are no roads here, just a nice walk from the car park along the beach.
Dustanburgh is an intriguing castle. No one really knows why it was built. It does not stand in a place of strategic military importance. Nor is it near any local villages or along any sort of main road. Historians know that it was built by the Earl of Lancaster, who was fiercely opposed to King Edward II, his cousin. Just down the beach is Bamburgh Castle, Edward II's stronghold. Speculation is that Dustanburgh was built to intimidate the King and outshine the King's castles.

Looking down inside the gatehouse.

There were steps leading to the top of the great gatehouse. I just knew
Scott would not be satisfied until he climbed up there!

The castle is nearly surrounded on three sides by fields. On the fourth side is the North Sea.

The Lilburn Tower - set on the highest point

Entrance through the gatehouse

We spent an hour or so walking through the ruins of this castle before heading back to the car. We did see some interesting sights along our walk as well.

Meet the Neighbors

This area is filled with field after field of rapeseed. The brilliant yellows were on
full display this weekend!

The beach here is beautiful and wide at low tide.

WWII pillboxes dot the dunes along the beach. You can see the castle ruins in the background.

We have really enjoyed our relaxed weekend exploring some of the castles in the northeast of England. The three were quite different from one another and each spectacular in it's own way. We sure hope you have enjoyed them as well!

Tuesday 28 May 2013

A Weekend of Castles: Alnwick

Yesterday we drove to Bamburgh Castle on the North Sea coastline. We spent the night in Alnwick, a great little market town. No North Sea today, but our day does include both Alnwick Castle and Alnwick Castle Gardens.

Alnwick Castle dates from Norman times. This castle has been owned by a member of the Percy family for the past 700 years, going all the way back to 1309 when it was bought by Henry Percy. The castle saw countless raids by the Scots, survived numerous sieges and civil wars, and even played a role during the Second World War, housing girls from the Newcastle Church High School who were evacuated here. Since 1981 part of the castle has been used by American students of St. Cloud State University, Minnesota. This castle is also among the most filmed locations in northern England. Scenes from Becket, Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves, Elizabeth, and The Dark Knight were filmed here. Perhaps more famously, however, are the scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as it is known here in Britain (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.), and Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. Alnwick is currently owned by Ralph Percey, 12th Duke of Northumberland, and it is still a family home. Because of this, and the priceless art collections inside, no photography was allowed in the interior. Suffice it to say that the state rooms in this castle are wonderful. Here are some favourite photos of the castle and grounds.

Castle gates

This is deep inside the castle. On the very left is the entrance to the state rooms.

We came across some "characters" whilst we were inside this castle.

Yikes, a smoke snorting dragon! That's a wagon handle in front
of the woman and in the wagon......the dragon's egg!

Broomstick riding lessons were being given on the day we visited. This was huge with the children.
Imagine taking broomstick flying lessons in nearly the exact same spot where Harry, Hermoine, and Ron
had their first lessons at Hogwarts! What fun!

Some of the very best views of the castle were from outside the gates.

After exploring this wonderful castle we spent several hours walking through the gardens.

This fountain was just magnificent! Can you see the tractors near the steps on each
side? There were 8 or so of these available for the children to ride around the
base of the fountain. They had a great time picking up buckets full of pebbles
or water from the fountains and dumping them over one another and the ground.

We had a really nice day at Alnwick Castle. I would have to say it is definitely one of my favourite British castles. Our hosts at the guesthouse we were staying in recommended one more castle to visit before we head west to Whitehaven tomorrow. Getting there involves a walk of about 3/4 of a mile along the sea. Sounds like fun!

A Weekend of Castles: Bamburgh

Scott and I have enjoyed travelling to Spain, Ireland, Austria, and Holland this year. Add in two trips back to the U.S. already for me, and it has made for a busy time! This past weekend included a bank holiday and the weatherman held out the tantalizing prospect of sunny weather for at least two of the three days, so at the last minute we decided to do a driving holiday and headed for the east coast of England. We spent two nights in a wonderful guesthouse in Alnwick (pronounced "Annick" for our Colonial friends and family) and had a great time leisurely exploring 3 very different castles. First up: Bamburgh Castle.

Bamburgh Castle was originally built during the first century. The Vikings destroyed the original structure in 993. The Normans built the nucleus of the current structure.
Henry VI ruled from here for a short time during the Wars of the Roses before Bamburgh fell during a seige.
The castle changed hands many times over the years and was finally bought by a Victorian industrialist, William Armstrong. Armstrong completed renovations and restorations begun by earlier owners of the castle and it is still owned by the Armstrong family today. It has been the site of several movies.

Castle Entrance

The King's Hall

The ceiling in the King's Hall is made from Siamese Teak.

What's a castle without armor and weapons?!

The castle is built atop a rock outcropping.

Bamburgh Castle sits along the North Sea. After strolling through the castle and grounds, we opted for a walk on the beach. It was a gorgeous sunny day, even a bit warm for May by northern England standards!

Just like all boys, if there is something to be climbed Scott wants to do it!
This time he climbed up on the rocks to take photos of the castle across the beach.

Thought I would take off the shoes and socks and stick my toes in the North Sea.....

Oh My Goodness! Hurry up and take the photo Scott! This water is absolutely frigid!
I couldn't stand to have more than one foot in the water at a time!

Just a little side note for trivia fans from the "Bamburgh Castle Handbook": "The sand dunes here were the location for actor Richard Burton and actress Elizabeth Taylor's romantic interludes."

We wound up our visit to Bamburgh and headed to Alnwick to find our guesthouse and some dinner. Tomorrow we are going to Alnwick Castle. I heard that groaning and mumbling about "another castle"! Alnwick is a bit of a treat, though, and our day includes a walk through the gardens. All in all, a bit of a treat!

Baelo Claudia

Down the coast a few miles from Tarifa are the ruins of a Roman City: Baelo Claudia. It is one of the best preserved Roman cities in Spain, and also one of the most complete. Here you can find a Forum, temples to various gods, administrative buildings, market, theatre, baths, city gates, and even the remains of ancient aqueducts. Archaeological investigation is on-going here, and there is also a nice museum which details the original city as it is known, historical information about the site, and artefacts.

From investigation, archaeologists have determined that the original Roman city was constructed in the 2nd century B.C. A commercial city, it is believed that the main industry here was fish salting and, while Baelo Claudia was never a huge thriving metropolis, it was a fairly prosperous city for it's time. Scientists don't know why or how the city was destroyed although there is some degree of speculation that earthquakes, common in this part of Spain, were responsible at least in part for the demise of the city about a century after it was first begun.

There were a series of 3 different aqueducts to bring fresh water into the city from the surrounding hillsides. This city had fountains, cisterns for holding water and at least one nice Roman bath for it's residents to use.

The Basilica of Baelo Claudio

The Basilica would have been the place where local magistrates oversaw small civil and mercantile cases. It is one of the largest and most grandiose buildings in the city. In the Basilica stands a reproduction of an original statue of Trajan, a great Roman Emperor.