Published articles in magazines by Suzanne Reid

Some of us are lucky enough to have a holiday castle that will tow behind a car! I took my mobile castle to Yorkshire and Derbyshire during the summer but wherever you decide to take your castle, you won’t be too far from at least one real castle in the UK.

Castles began as defended settlements built during the Iron Age. At the most basic, men dug a ditch around the high ground on which the tribe lived, throwing up the spoil to create a ridge at the top. The whole was usually surmounted by a wooden palisade style fence, creating a secure environment inside, safe from wild animals and other tribes. Being on high ground they could be seen and oversee the surrounding land.

The most famous and best preserved is Maiden Castle in Dorset. This structure has a complicated system of ditches and ridges which make finding the way in more complicated and therefore improving the security of the location. There are several earthworks marked on the map in this area and they can be hunted out from Crossways Caravan Club Site.

The next prolific builders of defences were the Romans. The Iron Age settlers were overrun by the tremendous might of the Roman army at the height of its power. England is liberally littered with the remains of Roman fortifications from Hardknott Fort in Cumbria which was only occupied for 70 years to the site at Vindolanda just to the south of Hadrian’s Wall which was rebuilt several times and continued to be occupied in some form or another for nearly half a millennium.

The closest Caravan Club Site to Hardknott is Troutbeck Head and Vindolanda is just possible as a very long day out from here. The intrepid Roman hunter can even follow the route of Hadrian’s wall from coast to coast, provided you can make a very early start and take a picnic lunch to save time eating.

Motte and Bailey castles were built during the Norman period. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror wished to reward his knights for their faithfulness in battle with gifts of land within his new domain. This had the added advantage of scattering his own interest far and wide across the land. The knights needed to establish authority over their new estates and bring the indigenous population under Norman control.

To achieve this, they built castles. The keep or stronghold was built for the Knight to live in with his retinue. An area around the keep was walled off to provide accommodation for all the subsidiary activities, stabling for horses etc.

One of the biggest examples is Richmond Castle in Yorkshire and the most famous, the White Tower within the Tower of London. Dover Castle is built within the ditches of an Iron Age Fort and Pevensey is built within the old Roman Fortifications.

The Normans sought high ground to construct their Castles to dominate the environment and to be seen to be in charge. Clifford’s Tower in York stands on a manmade mound but Peveril Castle in Derbyshire clings to the top of a natural cliff dominating the village of Castleton. The Caravan Club Site at Castleton is within walking distance and very close to the main show caverns in Derbyshire.

The Normans reached Ireland where some stunning sites remain including Carrickfergus Castle, built in 1177 and still used until 1928. For sheer size it is advisable to allow a whole day to visit Enniskillen Castle.

From the time of Edward I Castles became places in which to live and not primarily fortifications. They took on the rectangular form with towers at the corners which many of us have in our mind’s eye as a ‘real’ castle.

The corner towers strengthened the defences and provided look out posts. The castles in Wales are superb, with many located around the coastline; most convenient for the twenty-first century sightseer who can mix a little sand castle building with some hands-on castle exploration. The Caravan Club Site at Min y Don is ideally situated between Harlech Castle and the sea.

From Min y Don you can get to Caernarfon Castle. This deviates from the usual rectangle and has hexagonal Towers overlooking the Menai Straits. It is the location of the Investiture of the Princes of Wales in 1969.

Through the Middle Ages many castles were so altered that they became more like fortified manor houses. Leeds Castle and Hever Castle in Kent are both good examples with Bodiam close by as a ruined example. Stay at Tanner Farm Park near Goudhurst to explore.

Eventually fortifications were almost forgotten. Some families abandoned their castles and left them to ruin. They went to live in more sheltered locations away from the inconveniences of being perched on a hillside in full view of every wind that blows and at the mercy of the rain and snow.

This can be seen at Bolton Castle in Yorkshire, not far from the Caravan Club Site at Hawes. The castle is great fun. From one side it appears to be complete but the other side shows its ruinous state quite clearly. The newer manor house further down the valley is only just visible in a tree lined park.

At Middleham Castle, along the A684, relocation happened much earlier with the twelfth century keep overshadowed by an earlier motte and bailey visible in an adjoining field.

In 1603, the crowns of Scotland and England became united under King James. The Picts evaded the Roman army and continued to live in tribes, consolidated into clans. Each clan had its own stronghold, many of which still survive into the twentieth century as homes.

Some can be visited. Craigievar, Crathes and Drum Castles, are all within easy reach of the Caravan Club Site at Banchory. Banchory is close to the Queen’s holiday retreat at Balmoral, part of which is open to the public when the Queen is not in residence.

After the Restoration in 1660 powerful families rebuilt their homes. They moved away from fortifications entirely and created instead our Stately Homes. For those who wish to experience a little of this grandeur try the Caravan Club Sites within the grounds at Chatsworth, Longleat, Blenheim or Sandringham.

Royalty still maintained their castles. Windsor Castle is well known to hold a place of affection in the Queen’s heart and yet its Norman origins are plain for all to see. The seat of the Dukes of Norfolk at Arundel in Sussex is another example. Stay on the Caravan Club Site at Littlehampton close to Arundel and perhaps take a long day to see Windsor as well.

Castle Drogo in Devon lays claim to be the last castle to be built in the UK. Its finishing touches were made in the early twentieth century. The Caravan Club Site at Newton Abbot is close by and within easy reach of Berry Pomeroy Castle.

Berry Pomeroy is perhaps one of our more haunted castles from the Grey Man who mysteriously appears in tourist photographs to the White Lady who lures visitors to the castle dungeon where she ended her life, imprisoned by her sister who loved the same man.

So, when you’re deciding where to explore next season try a few castles along the way.

Bolton castle

Chatsworth

Clifford's Tower

Drogo Castle

Hardknott Roman Fort

Middleton Castle

Middleton Motte and Bailey

Wheeled Castle at Brown Moor

Peveril Castle

Richmond Castle

Published in Discover Touring, Autumn/Winter 2012.

When was the last time you travelled by train? I’m not thinking about the crowded commute swinging from a strap like a monkey or the mad dash to the airport to catch a plane. I’m talking about going on a train just for the journey’s sake. For me the best option is a steam driven experience with the unique uneven pull of the locomotive, the smell of coal dust and the excited “I’m here, we’re off” message from the whistle.

You don’t need to go abroad. The UK is thought to have more heritage railways per square mile than anywhere else in the world and many of these lines are still growing. The preserved railway has become an important feature of our holiday heritage, perhaps reflecting the fact that Britain is the birthplace of the Railway. So, select any area in the UK and you won’t be far from an opportunity to sample the Great Age of Steam. Even the tiny Isle of Wight has 5½ miles of heritage railway.

Children have the most amazing fun on miniature railways. These are usually run by modelling enthusiasts, driving perfectly formed miniatures of some of the greats of steam whilst passengers sit astride the track on glorified benches behind. You’d be surprised how long it takes ‘children’ to grow out of this!

A variation on this theme is the model layout. These can be found at seaside resorts, within the larger complexes of the longer heritage lines and in many towns and cities. I have seen a good number during my life, being brought up as the only child of a railway buff father, but the best I have come across is an interactive one at Bourton-on-the-Water. Stay at the Caravan Club Site at Broadway, set on the site of a disused railway, with the Goods shed converted into a toilet block and a small tableau of railway memorabilia. Close by is the full size Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway which steams for 12 miles into Cheltenham.

With a little imagination you can stick to the small theme but move up a gear to the narrow gauge railway. Many of the narrow gauge lines in the country are rescued industrial lines, which grew out of the Industrial Revolution to move raw materials from mines to the coast, a canal or a factory. The Ravenglass and Eskdale, in the Lake District, is a particularly picturesque example. You will also find trains within other attractions such as the copper mines at Morwhelam Quay, Cornwall and the slate caverns at Llechwedd in Wales.

Narrow gauge covers all railways which are smaller than full size. The little steam trains of Wales show the variety very well. Probably the most famous is the line at Ffestiniog which links the town of Porthmadog to the slate caverns at Llechwedd. The Welsh Highland Railway runs the opposite way into Caernarfon. And still within the area is the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which, as its name suggests will carry you up to Snowdon’s summit with little effort. Views are stunning but this year it has the added advantage of being the heritage railway upon which the Olympic torch is due to travel. We have stayed at The Caravan Club site at Coed-y-Llyn which is quite close by. Extend your stay to visit The Talyllyn Railway which is the first heritage railway in the world. It provided the inspiration for the film, ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’.

At the large end of the scale are the full size railways on tracks reclaimed from Mr Beeching’s cuts in the 1960’s. These lines, added together, exceed 300 miles, nearly all of it run by thousands of volunteers keeping the magic of steam alive. More than 700 operational engines run on tracks criss-crossing the country. The Lavender Line in Sussex is one of the shorter ones at just 2 miles, but The West Somerset Railway runs for 20 miles from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead.

Some of the remainder of Mr. Beeching’s cuts have been turned into footpaths. Visit www.railwayramblers.org.uk for a countrywide selection. We found a path near Troutbeck Head Caravan Club Site in the Lake District with bridges still intact and the footpath the old track bed.

For a delightful flavour of our Industrial past stay at The Caravan Club Site at Presthope, itself on the site of a disused line, and visit Ironbridge where they have a short lengths of track, an early pioneer of steam traction and an incline plane. From here The Severn Valley Railway is within easy reach, travelling 16 miles between Bridgenorth and Kidderminster.

Many of the full size lines run seasonal specialities; Thomas the Tank Engine days for their younger visitors, time travelling days where local history societies join in the fun to recreate the time of Queen Victoria’s reign or the austerity of the two World Wars. Often the railway attractions are augmented by vintage road vehicles and other artefacts. Many of the longer lines run lunch or dinner trains which sometimes link in with another local event. Some lines are even more imaginative with murder mystery journeys. And, of course, Santa Claus visits them all in the right season.

At preserved railways, the stations are architectural gems along with bridges and signal boxes. At Swindon the Museum is built into the former workshops of the GWR (Great Western Railway). The GWR was largely designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and was initially laid to a gauge of 7ft ½in. This is much broader than standard gauge, 4ft 8½in. He calculated that trains would be able to travel much faster in a wider gauge and modern science has proved his calculations correct but the Victorians chose Standard Gauge because they felt trains travelled quite fast enough already.

At the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry part of the building is the oldest passenger station in the world and the Thinktank Museum in Birmingham is home to the world’s oldest active steam engine designed by James Watt in 1778.

In the countryside you can find viaducts, bridges and disused stations. In London and at some of the larger rail junctions and termini, the Victorian iron and glass canopies still remain. York Railway station is built on the curve of the track and retains its original charm despite being a busy twenty-first century station. In the summer steam services sometimes run to Scarborough and seeing a steam locomotive pull in around the curve at York is nostalgic, especially when the engine concerned is The Flying Scotsman.

The Flying Scotsman locomotive was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley who was also responsible for Mallard. Mallard still hold the speed record for a steam hauled train. This was set at 126mph on the Kings Cross to Edinburgh service on 3^rd July 1938. This world famous locomotive rests now in The National Railway Museum at York where the coaches forming Queen Victoria’s train can be contrasted with other royal trains and everyday carriages. The museum houses a comprehensive array of engines, goods vehicles and other railway paraphernalia.

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland run a series of themed journeys on the Mainline including a Steam and Jazz Mystery Train, with a free glass of wine, on Friday evenings in June from Belfast to a Mystery destination.

Literature is immortalised in our railways. The Keighly and Worth Valley Railway hosted the 1970 version of E. Nesbit’s tale, ‘The Railway Children’ and the Bluebell Railway did the same in the more recent version. In Scotland Harry Potter fans need to travel on the service called The Jacobite. This runs between Fort William and Mallaig over the Glenfinnan Viaduct which appeared in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’. Engine No:5972 has been renamed ‘The Hogwarts Express’ and painted in the distinctive maroon livery. When she is not on the mainline she is resting at the Museum in York.

Occasionally the Mainline hosts steam services run by companies such as The Railway Touring Company, www.railwaytouring.net. The Orient Express Company run steam hauled lunch trips from London Victoria using their authentic 1920’s rolling stock. These services recreate the days when travel was luxurious and adventurous. They offer a real ‘grown up’ experience but still offer a spectator opportunity, for those in the right place at the right time, to just watch a steam hauled train rock down the track accompanied by the sound of a steam whistle.

So, it doesn’t matter whether you are part of a young family, a retired couple looking for a spot of luxury or a railway enthusiast never happier than when rooting around in an oily engine shed, there’s something for you on the tracks this year.