Given that this is a new blog, I feel at liberty to delve back in time to previous experiences. In this case another bagged castle. This time, Arundel. I think one of the most spectacular views you can have of castle, is to drive westwards past the town of Arundel on the A27.
Now, I admit I haven’t done the train journey past the town, so I can’t comment on that. Built around the 11th century, the castle was damaged during the civil war and then refurbished during the 18th & 19th centuries. As you might expect, the grounds are magnificent. Whilst we were visiting, there was a medieval fayre underway, which included amongst other things a jousting contest. I fully expected this to be nothing more than a show, but apparently it’s a global competition which is taken very seriously. The suits of armour cost £25,000. They hit each other with proper lances, they might only be made of balsa wood, but they certainly shatter on impact. The rooms in the castle reflect the populace of the wealth and style of the owners. It only goes to reinforce my incomprehension at how somebody can live like that, of course it matches the lifestyle of the times for people of wealth. The castle itself is even more magnificent close up. It is like the cathedrals, the amount of effort to construct places like this, given that people power was the most widely available resource. We were staying in the Norfolk Hotel, appropriate given that the castle still today is the residence of the Duke of Norfolk. I had wanted to go and see the castle after seeing it for the first time not that long ago, so I’m very happy to have achieved that goal.
