Deciding that it was time to get away and see the countryside coinciding for my overwhelming urge to live in a castle got the better of us and I managed to hunt out a weekend trip to the Yorkshire Dales that incorporated a stay in a castle.

The trip was £100 a head. That included, the transport (up, back and all around), accommodation at both a backpackers and the castle, two breakfasts and one medieval feast. The bus left Friday night, allowing people to finish work and head to the meeting point. There were two groups of 16, each group on a bus. From London, we drove effectively non-stop through to the city of York, arriving about 11.30pm. The tour guide/bus drives forces everyone to participate on some group bonding games and activities on the way up. So by the time your there you're well acquainted with the group and the time has flown by.

Upon arriving at the hostel, the group ascended on the bar until about 1am when you could visible see everyone falling asleep where the stood. It is surprising how much sitting on your arse for 4 hours tires you out.

Yorkshire Dales
The next morning, we were greeted to toast and cereal before given a whirlwind tour of York. After the tour, we were given 4 or 5 hours to explore for ourselves. Considering it is the middle of summer, it was strange to see a thick fog in the morning which didn’t lift until mid-day. There are a few interesting things in/about York. The original city had a defensive wall completely encircling it except for two entrances. The walls are almost completely in tack with only a small section missing. We spent a good 2-3 hours walking around the walls and taking photos. Guy Fawkes used to live in York, and his house is still there. And there is a very nice old ruin of a Methodist church, back in the day the king of England was under the effective command of the church, which was run by the pope in France. The king at the time didn't like this, so he created his own church, 'The Church of England', placed himself at the head of the church and burnt the other churches to the ground. He did have an ulterior motive to all this. He also wanted a divorce from his wife, which the old church would not allow.

Assembling back at the hostel, we jumped in our bus and went to Asygarth falls. Made famous by the Kevin Kostner version of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. We hung out there for an hour or so before moving on to Wensleydale cheese factory, to do a spot of cheese tasting. This particular cheese is made famous by Wallis and Grommit. There were a good 15 - 20 cheeses, some of which were very nice, other of which were not. We even bought a block, a nice smoked cheese.

You will have seen in pictures and maybe on TV, dry stone walls all over the English country side. Well it is true, they are everywhere. In the 19th Century, a few land owners held titles for most land in England. The government at the time passed a law forcing the owners to give away large amounts of their land. Of course they gave away worst, least profitable sections away. These blocks of land were littered in large stones, the new peasant land owners, picked up these stones to make the walls. This was also due to a requirement that the land had to be fenced off in order to claim their new land section. The walls have been standing for hundreds of years without mortar or cement.

At this point we dropped in on the highest water fall in England. We weren’t very impressed. Some of the group went for a swim, those who had and sense, did not. Yikes, it was cold. We hung out there for a few hours until it was starting to get dark and it was time to make our way to Bolton Castle.

Bolton Castle
The 14th century castle was perfect. It was just as you wanted it to be. Decaying from war and age. But enough of it standing that you can go inside parts and look around and stay. When we arrived, we weren't allowed to look around. We were taken straight up to a room on the second floor and given an array of clothes to pick through. We were dressing up into medieval times. Some of us looked good, while others looked like a peasant. As you can tell by the lack of photos of me, I was a peasant. It was getting towards 8pm, so they took us through to a Hall, where our medieval feast was laid out. The owner, Lord Bolton greeted us and told us the story and history of the Castle and his lineage. They made the food mildly authentic; the feast consisted of some cooked chickens, a lot of stew and other vegetable slops. But we ate our fill. Beer and wine was provided. After dinner we had a couple of boat races and drinking games before the tour organised games began.

At this point, we still had not looked around the castle, had no idea what sort of condition the other 90% of it was in and it was getting towards being pitch black. We split off into groups of 5 or 6 for a scavenger hunt type game. Each team was given a map of the castle, and a clue. Using this clue we had to find in the castle an item. The items dressed one of our team into a king. A crown, cape, sceptre, cross and shield. We had only a single lantern for each group. The race was on. It was a serious laugh, there were people running in all directions, in the dark, people lost their groups and therefore their lantern bearers. The castle is surprising large. There were a lot of pigeons nesting in parts of the castle, and as groups of drunken peasants ran through the decaying rooms they tended to suddenly fly out of the dark, scaring people. You were constantly hearing screams and laughter.

Once the teams finished up, we gathered back in the dining hall next to what was now a raging fire. A few more drinks later and we were ready for our next task. Blind folding our now 5 kings, we headed down to the hedge maze outside. With the group standing around the edge of the maze, the object was to yell directions at the blind king to try and get him/her out of the maze first. Upon exiting the maze jugs of beer had to be downed to finish.

The two winning teams, one from the scavenger hunt (Aarons team) and one from the maze (Carmens team), got to throw water logged sponges at the heads of the losing teams while they were in trapped in a stocks. Much fun was had by all. Few more drinks, and a ghost story tour later, each finishing in “and it happened on a night, just like tonight” and we were allowed to sleep anywhere in the castle we liked. Some went outside, some by the fire, and the rest scattered around the rooms.

Having explored the castle in the dark, the next morning we had the opportunity to do it again but this time by light. Lots of pictures in the gallery, go have a look. The castle took significant damage by canon fire in the 17th century, when one of the Kings was being overthrown by civil war. You are only able to climb one of the towers, as one is completely destroyed and the other two are hollow shells. Only about ¼ of the castle remains in useable condition. The rest has no floors, ceilings, with only the stone walls, arches and foundations remaining.

Sunday
After having a final look around Bolton Castle, we packed up, and headed for Sherwood Forest for a bit of an exploration and a picnic lunch. Can't say there’s much there, just trees. Surprising that.

On the way back to London we stopped off for a friendly round or two of Archery. I would just like to point out I bet Carmen :+) Then we arrived back in London about 9pm. Phew, it is exhausting just writing about it. A highly recommended trip!

.