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Wednesday 3 June 2015

Scarborough Castle

High up on the headland, towering above Scarborough are the impressive ruins of Scarborough Castle.

Peter scarborough castle
Worth the uphill walk
One bright afternoon last week, we took a trip up to the English Heritage site to see what was on offer, and it ended up being a lovely afternoon out. There isn’t really any easy parking for the Castle, but we were able to park in the graveyard at the bottom of the hill, and take a peruse of Anne Bronte’s grave on the walk up. Be warned, the walk is steep, and once you actually get up to the gate of the castle prepared to be out of breath.

South Bay
South Bay from the Castle
Once through the souvenir shop (which is where you pay to enter the castle), some great views open up around you. There’s a road leading up to the castle, and if your just tall enough to glimpse over the walls on each side you start to see the east coast stretching out for miles. We were lucky, it was a lovely clear blue day so the view was unhindered. At the top of the hill is the Master Gunners house, the place to stop for a cup of tea and a piece of cake after that demanding walk, and then there are lovely picnic areas and walks nearby the cliff edge (kept safe with fencing). From here you can look out over North Bay and admire the rows of beautiful white and pastel Georgian townhouses, now mostly occupied with the towns B&Bs, but still looking beautiful. Walk further around and you can see South Bay in all it’s glory.

knight
Secretly, I wanted the armour
Back near the Master Gunner’s house they do little enactments and suchlike, perfect for children. We got to see someone getting kitted up in replica armour (secretly I was jealous, I wanted to wear the replica armour, that’s another story though), and then we walked up into what’s left of the castle.

Scarborough Castle 3
Purpose built platforms and North Bay behind us
Going further and further up into the remnants of the building on purpose built platforms the view just grows increasingly impressive, although there’s no escaping that sea breeze at those heights. There’s lots of places around the wall and the grounds to take in amazing views of Scarborough and out to sea, bring binoculars if you have some. As with most English Heritage sites there’s plenty to read about the history of the castle, including the role that the site played during WWI.

If I was to go back, I would most likely pack a picnic and thoroughly enjoy the space that’s on offer up there. It’s a perfect way to spend an afternoon, with or without children, and there’s plenty to occupy everyone. If you are ever in the area, Scarborough castle has to be on your list of places to see.
Scarborough Castle 1
A beautiful spot for a picnic

3 comments:

Vix said...

What a view! I do love an atmospheric ruin and that looks perfect x

Rachael said...

Wow what a view from up here! In all my years of being a Yorkshire lass, while i've always seen the castle from afar, i never visited it!

Armelle said...

Definitely the kind of landscapes I like !

http://caetera-moda.blogspot.com

xx