On my list of destinations I had several “castles” and estates that have been turned into public spaces for whatever reason. This was one of them and was situated at the end of a trail. There was supposed to be a trail head behind a local restaurant but there was also another entrance down a nearby dirt road – again a hard find. It was a set of steps aside the aforementioned road with a tiny cut off on the other side. Though it was poorly marked it was marked so we headed into the woods not really knowing what we’d find. Turns out hills. We found one steep hill after another that went deeper into the forest before dumping us out into a pasture and then at the top of the last hill a phenomenal view of everything below – a beautiful pastoral scene sprawled out ahead of us framed in the distance by the blue ridges of a mountain. A tractor plowed back and forth and a field of lilacs added additional color. I was already happy and we hadn’t even found the castle yet!

As it turns out the castle was just around the corner. I had seen one head on photo of it online and that was enough to get my interest but really this ruin was large and multi-dimensional. You could see three different fireplaces on three different floors and ivy grew everywhere giving it an English countryside feel to it. It afforded all sorts of opportunity for oddly angled shots and lots of whimsy. “This looks EXACTLY like a scene in a book I’m reading!” I smiled, happy today’s adventures were not a disappointment. I always fear they’re going to be when I take someone with me because this fool does piss poor research and likes to just go… but that’s OK, I had a wonderful day and so did she so it’s all good! I may be back in the fall to see how those trees look from way up here…

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!