Castles, forts, hillforts, fortifications and other similar attractions and places in Britain. They may have been primarily built for defence – but may also be symbols of power.
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 been spent on the place over the last nine centuries, and a tantalising glimpse into […]
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 Highland and Lowland. It has witnessed so much of Scotland’s history, including two of its
A tour of Stirling Castle Read More »
Scotland
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 known unit stationed there was a company of bargemen – possibly some kind of specialised
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 associated with Britain’s wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (1874-1965); thus, including a remarkable Churchill Museum,
The secret Cabinet War Rooms Read More »
London
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 the mountainous northern region of the most northerly province of Imperial Rome, it was one
The road to Mediobogdum Read More »
North West England
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 of London, have been omitted because I wanted to include a couple of castles that
Ten favourite British castles Read More »
British Stuff
Eilean Donan Castle, ubiquitous star of movies, calendars, biscuit tins and tea-towels, is pretty much a 20th-century creation. Rescued from almost total ruin, it says something for its rebuild, and the success of Scottish tourism, that it is not only one of the most photographed and visited castles in Scotland, but also one of the
Is Eilean Donan Castle a fake? Read More »
Scotland
Scarborough Castle dominates the Victorian Yorkshire seaside resort from a massive precipitous headland bulging up from the North Sea. The fortress has a fascinating three and a half thousand year, often bloody, story to tell, but one of its more dubious charms seems to be that the ghost of Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, and
Who haunts Scarborough Castle? Read More »
Yorkshire and the Humber
You can’t imagine Edinburgh without Edinburgh Castle – it is one of the City’s landmarks, dominating the skyline, perched on a seemingly impregnable, daunting, volcanic rock at the end of The Royal Mile. On a bright day, perhaps at festival time and viewed through the colours of Princes Street Gardens, it is ambiguous; fearsome yet
Formidable Edinburgh Castle Read More »
Scotland
We are in the east of England, on the Suffolk coast. The town of Aldeburgh was once a thriving Tudor port; that’s where we’ll find the fort. And Thorpeness, well – Thorpeness was purpose-built in the 20th century – and that’s where we’ll find our house in the clouds. Few people now will have heard
From a house in the clouds to a fort Read More »
East of England
I’m gazing up through the empty keep, where long-dead feet once paced across floors that have themselves long-since vanished, rotted away. Here’s Brougham Castle, scenically sitting on the south bank of the River Eamont a couple of miles outside Penrith, just off the A66. Someone should write a song about that road… get your kicks,
Two thousand years at Brougham Castle Read More »
North West England
To the north of Portsmouth, on England’s south coast, is Portsdown Hill, a long chalk elevation that dominates the city and harbour 400 feet below. And on the top of Portsdown Hill, the Victorians placed five large forts – from east to west: Fort Purbrook, Fort Widley, Fort Southwick, Fort Nelson and Fort Wallington. Redoubts
The folly of Fort Nelson Read More »
South East