Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is one of his most famous characters, the tragic antihero who has one of the most quoted lines in the bard’s work, “To be or not to be…”. Hamlet’s home is the Danish Royal palace, Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, so when we had the opportunity to see Hamlet in…
My recent trip to Northern Ireland, like many of mine, included a trip to Carrickfergus, where any visitors cannot fail to notice Carrickfergus Castle sitting by the sea, dominating the town as it has done since its build in 1177. The castle was built by John de Courcy in 1177, who used it as his…
On my recent trip to Poland, I went back to visit Wawel, or Krakow Castle again. I have been there a few times, but even in a city with so much impressive architecture and grand buildings, the castle that dominates one end of the old town is a must see. There have been buildings on…
I’m in York today, and one of the outstanding monuments in the centre of the city is Clifford’s Tower. The tower is the remainder of the Norman keep that formed part of York castle that was built under orders from William the Conqueror to stamp his authority on the formerly viking city of York. The…
I wrote earlier this week about a trip to the fantastic Bolsover Castle, one of the many fine properties managed by English Heritage, and so, with castles in my head, here are some castle jokes. You may need some defense from these… Of course, they come with the usual lack of guarantee of funniness or…
Anyone who has spent any time in Scotland will know that you do not have to travel far to find a castle, or at least a fortified building, and I have visited several and stayed in a few. However, I recently visited one that was slightly different from any other to which I had been.…
We found ourselves in North Yorkshire this weekend visiting some friends, and took the opportunity to return to Skipton, and to visit Skipton Castle. It was a relatively easy choice as, as well as being an interesting historical site which is easy to get to and has plenty to see, is suitable for both a…
Among the many excellent sites managed by English Heritage is the ruins of Kirby Muxloe Castle, or Kirby Castle for short, in Leicestershire, not far from Leicester itself. It is an interesting site in the small town of Kirby Muxloe, in a residential area of the town. The castle is actually a fortified manor house,…
I mentioned previously about some of the great sites from various parts of our history that are managed by English Heritage, and among these is Ashby de la Zouch castle. As the name suggests, the town has a Norman connection, with the castle dating back to a 12th Century fortified manor house, which was extended…
On Easter Day on Sunday, we went, like many I’m sure, for a family outing. We headed off to Kenilworth Castle, one of the many sites managed by English Heritage, which was certainly more successful than some previous days out like this one… I have recently mentioned some prehistoric sites that English Heritage look after,…
When I was a child, the name Crac des Chevaliers conjured up an image of knights and chivalry that embodied the little figures of men in chainmail with white tunics that I had at the time. As I got older, I learned more about the remarkably more complex world of the Crusades, and how the…
I blogged recently on travelling in part of the Balkans, in the guise of Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Another interesting part of the region that does not normally rank highly in the tourist lists is Albania. We visited Skoder in the north of Albania, and the nearby Rozafa castle. Albania is an interesting country with a…