Dear Friends,   HAPPY NEW YEAR!   I send these good wishes to all who visit the castle and to overseas history lovers who read the Curator’s letter.   The castle looks as spooky as you could hope for as it waits for the Spring. No wonder we have so many people booking onto ghost hunts! If you would like … Read More

Dear Friends,   What a joy the thought of Christmas is. Some people suggest it is “just for the children” but I don’t agree with that idea.   Christmas breaks up the dullness of the long dark days, cold weather and itchy jumpers. There is fun, if you are determined there will be, and lovely food as well as some … Read More

Dear Friends, Welcome to November which has its name from the Latin meaning ‘ninth month’ and before anyone starts yelling “But it’s the eleventh month,” the Roman New Year used to be in March.  I know it seems strange how our ancestors changed the accepted norm over any one year, driven along by the full moon or new philosophies. At … Read More

Dear Friends, So October is upon us when the veil between the living and the dead is said to be its thinnest and when there was a tradition in this country to light a bonfire on Halloween so that the ghosts of our ancestors stuck in Purgatory could look down through the veil and be comforted by the sight of … Read More

Dear Friends,   Welcome to fruitful September, which was greeted with such enthusiasm by our ancestors for the abundance of the harvest season to be gathered in. This preserved in many ways for the cold winter ahead when food was in such short supply, and the storeroom was essential for survival in a vast majority of families. Markets still took … Read More

Dear Friends,   Welcome to August. It has been an extraordinary year so far. We have decorated lots of rooms and the castle is having a spruce-up on the building to make sure it is waterproof for scores of years to come. It’s highly specialist looking after a scheduled monument, so we have a tremendous team in who as I … Read More

Dear Friends,  Another happy month has passed by here at the Castle. We are fortunate enough to have a really cheerful band of colleagues here, which of course makes all the difference in looking forward to coming to work each day. We do! The romance of our wedding season being well and truly underway make the days even better. We … Read More

Dear Friends, Beautiful June is upon us with the brightest blue skies and hope for a warm summer showing herself.  It is the most lovely month in England with everywhere still fresh and bright green. We have had a tremendous amount of events with the Coronation adding yet another Bank Holiday so it has been wildly busy at this fortress … Read More

Dear Friends The month of May 2023 is one of the most historically important we have seen this century. It sees the dawn of a new reign, with the crowning of His Majesty King Charles III with Her Majesty Queen Camilla at his side.   You can imagine what excitement there is here at the heart of England in the King’s … Read More

Dear Friends, Welcome to April, and we are opening – hoorah! Easter Sunday is our big day, and there are lots of daffodils, with hope in the air for blue skies and lots of sunshine. On Easter Sunday and Monday we have lots of men in green tights – and women too – as it is our Robin Hood weekend. … Read More