HTML Code CreatorMiddleham Castle
Richmond Castle, which is managed by English Heritage, is supposedly only open on Saturdays and Sundays in winter but because it is Christmas Eve it will closed tomorrow.
So today was the only opportunity for us to climb up on the ramparts which of course we had been looking forward to all week.
We excitedly walked up the hill clutching our hard earned money to purchase tickets along with a large group of Australians but guess what, it was closed! There was even a coach party later in the day who were on a day trip to Richmond and who presumably had been promised a visit to the castle in the rain. So all we could do is take a picture of the keep from a pub car park.
We did spot that the pie shop only had two people queuing outside, not an opportunity to miss as on previous days the queue has been much longer so to cheer ourselves up after the disappointment we bought ourselves a nice lunch. We thought the long queues were a Christmas phenomenon but apparently there is always a queue, it shows that if you sell good food people will beat a path to your door.
Later we did manage to visit another English Heritage Castle at Middleham which is only 9 miles away. Just like at home where many castles were built to keep out the Welsh here they were built to keep the Scots in their place. This one is famous for being the birthplace of Richard III.
As you can see some of the walls of Middleham Castle look a bit precarious and was it wise to climb to the top in a gale, we survived and Gill even managed to keep her hat on.
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