The Ryedale village of Sheriff Hutton is unlikely to be on most people’s tourist trails. Yet it is a reminder, if one is needed, that history, like love, is all around us. Frankly, the first I heard of the place…
The castle at Penrith
Penrith Castle doesn’t encourage the casual visitor, unless arriving by train. The railway station is conveniently opposite the castle (probably built on the top of its medieval outbuildings), but anyone driving into town who isn’t a committed castle collector could…
Molly visits Pevensey Castle, a Very Important Place
We bowled up to Pevensey Castle on a blue-sky day in the company of Molly. Molly, I should say, is a small dog of exceptional poise and dignity, but has no relevance whatsoever to our story. She is mentioned merely…
A pilgrimage to Lindisfarne, the Holy Island
To visit Lindisfarne, a tidal island at the tip of north-east England, is to enter a different world. It is a world of saltwater, seabirds and saints, a world of mudflats, mead and mystery that is still revealing its secrets.…
Brough Castle, Cumbria
The bleak ruins of medieval Brough Castle perch on the western edge of Church Brough, a peaceful collection of attractive, solid, old dwellings huddled round a small square with St Michael’s church in the background. The village of Brough is…
The Needles – a tale of shipwrecks, Victorian forts and Cold War
The Needles, enormous 100-feet (30-metre) high chalk and flint stacks off the most westerly point of the Isle of Wight, are part of the Island’s iconography, and one of Britain’s most recognisable coastal features. They are an exposed eroded section…
Warkworth
North East England does many things rather well, and one of them is castles. There are dramatic coastal castles, like Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh, grand castles like Alnwick, frontier castles, like Norham, and castles you can stay in, like Langley Castle.…
Craster to Dunstanburgh
There are several reasons to go to the little Northumbrian coastal village of Craster. It is famous for its kippers, offers several pleasant eating options, an art gallery and is a popular base for bird watchers, fishers and walkers alike. …
Kenilworth
Awesome is an over-used word these days, but Kenilworth Castle in its prime must have been exactly that. It still is, in so many ways, its vast red sandstone ruins giving more than a hint of the money that has…
A tour of Stirling Castle
You can see it from miles away. Stirling Castle stands guard from the top of a massive volcanic plug, with steep cliffs on three sides, towering above the ancient crossing over the River Forth and the route armies take between…
Arbeia upon Tyne
I’m driving through the terraced urban landscape of South Shields, in search of a Roman fort. It is called Arbeia, a name believed to be a Latinised form of the Aramaic for ‘the place of the Arabs’, because the last…
The secret Cabinet War Rooms
There are many secrets buried beneath London’s streets. Once classified, but no longer, is the underground complex beneath the Government Offices Great George Street (GOGGS) near Whitehall, in Westminster: the Second World War Cabinet War Rooms. These will forever be…
The road to Mediobogdum
The men of the 4th Cohort of Dalmatians were a long way from home. They were undoubtedly cold and Hardknott Fort, which the Romans probably knew as Mediobogdum, must have seemed like the end of the world. Certainly, situated in…
Ten favourite British castles
Just for a bit of fun, here are ten of A Bit About Britain’s favourite castles. They have been selected randomly – I just like castles and could easily have chosen ten different ones. Some obvious choices, like the Tower…