January 1, 2016 by Adrian Colston

The end of the day at Powderham

A couple of days ago I had a quick walk beside the deer park at Powderham Castle.

Fabulous old trees and winter colours

The sun trying to shine through

The fallow deer in the park

I think I’ve been spotted too

April 7, 2015 by Adrian Colston

Haldon Belvedere

Haldon Belvedere (also known as Lawrence Castle) sits on the top of the Haldon Forest ridge at 244m above Exeter. It gives commanding views of Devon in all directions. It is also a landmark that it often visible and easy to pick out when on Dartmoor and elsewhere.

It is a folly that was built in the 18th century and is now maintained by the Devon Historic Buildings Trust. It is open most Sundays but you need to check if you are going to visit just to make sure. It is a wedding venue and hosts an amazing holiday flat which you can rent.

We went up yesterday afternoon to have a look around – what an amazing day for a visit. Here are a few photos.

Up the main drive

One of the three Towers – it is a triangular building

Restored in the 1990s but now again in need of a coat of paint!

A spiral staircase with 99 steps takes you to the roof

Amazing views over to Dartmoor – that’s Cosdon Beacon in the distance

Across to Haytor

In the afternoon sun

Spectacular rhododendrons around the grounds

Well worth a visit – it’s only £2 to get in but you do need to be able to walk up the 99 steps to get the best views from the roof

June 7, 2014 by Adrian Colston

Drogo in the sunshine

I was over at Castle Drogo yesterday morning (in the sunshine) for a couple of meetings and afterwards decided to pop down to the Castle to see how the building project was getting on and say hello to the Castle volunteers who I had worked with in the past. Drogo is currently undergoing an £11.5m project to stop it leaking – see here for details. I took quite a lot of pictures – the photo set can be viewed here.

One of the highlights of a trip to Drogo at the moment is a visit up the viewing tower – from the top you can look down onto the Castle ‘roof’ and watch the repairs being carried out.

View from the top of the Tower
If you double click on the picture it will increase in size revealing the amazing detail involved with the work (and the scaffolding)

A Castle covered in dust

All the granite blocks from the roof laid out and numbered on the lawn in front of the Castle

Inside the Castle Adrian Drewe’s room has been restored too – Adrian was killed in 1917 at Ypres.
The Castle is open and a special series of installations have been created to explain the project and the history.

Looking into the library – Mr and Mrs Drewe!

Lovely display of orange poppies at the Visitor Centre

The Project is progressing well and is definitely worth a visit – Drogo as a building site is an attraction in its own right. The volunteers and staff are all geared up to tell you what is going on and why. The Tower visit is a must (unless you don’t like heights) and inside the Castle there are some real surprises.

April 1, 2013 by Adrian Colston

4 Castles in 3 Days

Bank holiday weekend! Yay. The weather has been …. well its been kind – it may have been cold but it has been dry. We have been all out and about in droves. I have been carefully monitoring ‘my’ properties and I have been visiting others.

Been to Finch Foundry and Lydford Gorge today – both were busy and by all accounts both and Sexton’s Cottage in Widecombe have been busy all weekend – phew – the real worry with the weather was that nobody would come to the west country for Easter – that appears be untrue.

I spent the last few days visiting other attractions – the 4 castles – they were pretty busy too.

Here are a few pics