Farewell then, English Heritage. Thanks for the memories.
And so, it ends. After 12 calendar months, our English Heritage membership expires in a few days. It's been quite a good year. It has made us explore the heritage locally and even driven our choice in holidays, too!
The family membership cost us about £70. I has, completely, and without qualification, a little bit of a bargain.
It started when I realised in June of last year that we were heading, in August to Brixham and in October to Scarborough. Noticing that English Heritage held three properties near Brixham; Berry Pomeroy, Totnes and Dartmouth Castles (all within driving distance). We also knew that membership also opened the doors of Scarborough Castle and Whitby Abbey. Again, places we would be near in October. For £70 this seemed an excellent opportunity to access some good sites. With all the entries for these places we felt that we could break even on the £70 if we didn't take membership and paid for access. At my last reckoning. The amount of money we would have spent to gain access to the English Heritage sites we have visited in 12 months comes to £576!
A remarkable figure! Terrifying really. It has, literally, required travelling all other the country but it has been great fun. So, here is some highlights!
Longest Drive to visit a place!
Though not a difficult drive we did take a day trip to Corby, in Northamptonshire to see a place called, Kirby Hall. It was a very long way to go for a day, just over 160 miles. It's a nice place and was worth the trip but it did make for a long day however!
Best Local site
Without even a shadow of doubt this has to be Bolsover Castle. It is somewhere we have often seen from the motorway as we've headed north. I had never been before we joined. We've been quite a few times after this. It is not too far away. It is very impressive and easy to get too. We've seen it in the rain and we've seen it in the sun. The views can be spectacular, dependent on the weather.
Oddest Place Visited
The Wellington Arch in London. Built in honour of the Duke of Wellington; Victor of the battle of Waterloo, and nemesis of Napoleon. It is a large arch just Buckingham Palace. You can actually go inside and take in the views from the balcony. It used to be a police station, too. Quirky, but fascinating place.
Poshest place visited
related to the above. Wellington's London home, Aspley House, seemed quite standard when you entered through the front door. You then went into a side room and then, before your very eyes, were some of the most amazing dinner sets and centre pieces. Gifts, all of them, but not just from friends, but from some of the most famous Kings and Emperors of the 19th Century. All for defeating, Napoleon. Eye watering and undoubtedly worth a small fortune. Next to these a collections of Marshall's batons from most major European armies and swords, gifts, again, from Monarchs. The upstairs rooms were lavishly decorated and seemed more the home of a prince than a subject. He was a unique subject though, wasn't he, The Iron Duke?
Scariest Place to Visit
Have you even seen the steps leading up to and down from both parts of Tintagel Castle? Seriously, they are utterly insane (and a tad terrifying)!! Good for the Calves though!
Least Ruined Site
I am going with Brodsworth Hall, here. Aspley House has already won a category. Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire, is essentially, the largest, most impressive time capsule you could ever wish to visit. It is frozen in time. English Heritage have put an awful lot of work into this site and it's been worth it. We've visited a couple of times. It's a pleasure to go.
Best Abbey visit
Has to be, Rievaulx Abbey. By a country mile. It is a behemoth of a building. Enormous in scope and size. But, what, truly makes it is its setting. Buried deep within a North Yorkshire Valley. In itself a beautiful place. Rievaulx is striking, by for its size but also the remains, that, unsurprisingly, remain. If you could not find a sense of spirituality at this site then there is no hope for you. It is jaw dropping. I cannot explain the power and presence of some buildings. Rievaulx is a perfect example of the dominating power of architecture. It also had function, too. It powered a local economy. I wished, while I was there, that I could have seen it in all its complete glory.
Best Castle visited
This is a tough one because one thing we have visited a lot of is Castles! Big ones, small ones; Ruined ones, complete ones; Ones on Mounts, ones on the level. It's too hard really, to pick a favourite. I'll do a few. Dartmouth Castle is lovely, nestled on the hillside of one side of the entry to the river dart from the English Channel. Conningsby Castle for its Octagonal keep. For its location and walk, you cannot really beat Dunstanburgh Castle. For it's size and importance, I really enjoyed Kenilworth Castle, hugely impressive.
Foggiest Castle with no views whatsoever
Scarborough Castle. It's large and quite impressive. I say quite, as, when we visited it, it was covered by a thick layer of fog. It was a bit like visiting it in the dark. We groped our way around the site. We did see the former Roman Lighthouse. What we couldn't actually see was the town of scarborough, that the castle sits above. A trifle disappointing but we still enjoyed the fog and the drizzle.
So, in the end. We visited all of these places below; All impressive Castles, Manor Houses orAbbey's. They stretched from near Scotland to Cornwall, to the west midlands to the east midlands. Some, as you can see, we visited much more than once. We, I think, enjoyed them. It was quite a year, all in all and I think we have certianly had our money's worth from English Heritage,
The family membership cost us about £70. I has, completely, and without qualification, a little bit of a bargain.
It started when I realised in June of last year that we were heading, in August to Brixham and in October to Scarborough. Noticing that English Heritage held three properties near Brixham; Berry Pomeroy, Totnes and Dartmouth Castles (all within driving distance). We also knew that membership also opened the doors of Scarborough Castle and Whitby Abbey. Again, places we would be near in October. For £70 this seemed an excellent opportunity to access some good sites. With all the entries for these places we felt that we could break even on the £70 if we didn't take membership and paid for access. At my last reckoning. The amount of money we would have spent to gain access to the English Heritage sites we have visited in 12 months comes to £576!
A remarkable figure! Terrifying really. It has, literally, required travelling all other the country but it has been great fun. So, here is some highlights!
Longest Drive to visit a place!
Though not a difficult drive we did take a day trip to Corby, in Northamptonshire to see a place called, Kirby Hall. It was a very long way to go for a day, just over 160 miles. It's a nice place and was worth the trip but it did make for a long day however!
Best Local site
Without even a shadow of doubt this has to be Bolsover Castle. It is somewhere we have often seen from the motorway as we've headed north. I had never been before we joined. We've been quite a few times after this. It is not too far away. It is very impressive and easy to get too. We've seen it in the rain and we've seen it in the sun. The views can be spectacular, dependent on the weather.
Oddest Place Visited
The Wellington Arch in London. Built in honour of the Duke of Wellington; Victor of the battle of Waterloo, and nemesis of Napoleon. It is a large arch just Buckingham Palace. You can actually go inside and take in the views from the balcony. It used to be a police station, too. Quirky, but fascinating place.
Poshest place visited
related to the above. Wellington's London home, Aspley House, seemed quite standard when you entered through the front door. You then went into a side room and then, before your very eyes, were some of the most amazing dinner sets and centre pieces. Gifts, all of them, but not just from friends, but from some of the most famous Kings and Emperors of the 19th Century. All for defeating, Napoleon. Eye watering and undoubtedly worth a small fortune. Next to these a collections of Marshall's batons from most major European armies and swords, gifts, again, from Monarchs. The upstairs rooms were lavishly decorated and seemed more the home of a prince than a subject. He was a unique subject though, wasn't he, The Iron Duke?
Scariest Place to Visit
Have you even seen the steps leading up to and down from both parts of Tintagel Castle? Seriously, they are utterly insane (and a tad terrifying)!! Good for the Calves though!
Least Ruined Site
I am going with Brodsworth Hall, here. Aspley House has already won a category. Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire, is essentially, the largest, most impressive time capsule you could ever wish to visit. It is frozen in time. English Heritage have put an awful lot of work into this site and it's been worth it. We've visited a couple of times. It's a pleasure to go.
Best Abbey visit
Has to be, Rievaulx Abbey. By a country mile. It is a behemoth of a building. Enormous in scope and size. But, what, truly makes it is its setting. Buried deep within a North Yorkshire Valley. In itself a beautiful place. Rievaulx is striking, by for its size but also the remains, that, unsurprisingly, remain. If you could not find a sense of spirituality at this site then there is no hope for you. It is jaw dropping. I cannot explain the power and presence of some buildings. Rievaulx is a perfect example of the dominating power of architecture. It also had function, too. It powered a local economy. I wished, while I was there, that I could have seen it in all its complete glory.
Best Castle visited
This is a tough one because one thing we have visited a lot of is Castles! Big ones, small ones; Ruined ones, complete ones; Ones on Mounts, ones on the level. It's too hard really, to pick a favourite. I'll do a few. Dartmouth Castle is lovely, nestled on the hillside of one side of the entry to the river dart from the English Channel. Conningsby Castle for its Octagonal keep. For its location and walk, you cannot really beat Dunstanburgh Castle. For it's size and importance, I really enjoyed Kenilworth Castle, hugely impressive.
Foggiest Castle with no views whatsoever
Scarborough Castle. It's large and quite impressive. I say quite, as, when we visited it, it was covered by a thick layer of fog. It was a bit like visiting it in the dark. We groped our way around the site. We did see the former Roman Lighthouse. What we couldn't actually see was the town of scarborough, that the castle sits above. A trifle disappointing but we still enjoyed the fog and the drizzle.
So, in the end. We visited all of these places below; All impressive Castles, Manor Houses orAbbey's. They stretched from near Scotland to Cornwall, to the west midlands to the east midlands. Some, as you can see, we visited much more than once. We, I think, enjoyed them. It was quite a year, all in all and I think we have certianly had our money's worth from English Heritage,
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Berry Pomeroy Castle |
|
Totnes Castle |
|
Dartmouth Castle |
|
Scarborough Castle |
|
Whitby Abbey |
|
Rievaulx Abbey |
|
Pickering Castle |
|
Helmsley Castle |
|
Old Hardwick Hall |
|
Bolsover castle |
|
Bolsover castle |
|
Kenilworth Castle |
|
Clifford tower York |
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Conisbourgh Castle |
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Bolsover castle |
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Brodsworth Hall and gardens |
|
|
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Wingfield manor |
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Roche Abbey |
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Lindisfarne Abbey |
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Bolsover castle |
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Kirby Hall |
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Bolsover castle |
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Brodsworth hall |
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Warkworth castle |
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Dunstanburgh castle |
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Jewellery tower |
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Aspley house |
|
Prudhoe castle |
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Tintagel Castle |
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Bolsover |
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