Sunday 14 September 2008

Castle Drogo

Castle Drogo
Image from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-castledrogo

Yesterday my mother-in-law and her partner took us to a National Trust property near Exeter. The property was called Castle Drogo and is the last castle built in England. It surprisingly large inside considering the outside looked quite compact. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos despite taking the camera with us. There was an additional tour (at cost) that took you on a quick (and don't underestimate the word!) visit around the roof. To be honest, the tour was not really worth doing unless you are particulary desparate to take in the views which, to be fair, were quite amazing - an endless panoramic of Dartmoor.
After a picnic outside the castle, we walked around the gardens and shop. Then decided to walk along one of the public paths. My mother-in-law, feeling unwell from a cold, chose the shortest walk (0.8miles) so we set off. The signs were not the most comprehensive and we ended up following the signs for what turned out to be the longest walk (3.5miles)! Fortunately there was a quiet country pub in the middle of the walk set in the foot of a valley. The walk back was somewhat teasting as everytime you walked an ascent, a descent quickly succeeded and you ended up on the same level. Considering Castle Drogo's car park was at the top of the valley, this convoluting route was proving irksome!

We had a great day, although I did feel for my mother-in-law walking the route back as she was feeling quite rough by the end. We all had early nights last night!

2 comments:

Paula said...

Looks lovely. We're both members of the National Trust, but haven't visited any properties since having the Podlings. Somehow priceless antiques and toddlers doesn't seem like a good combination! We used to love it though.

Lainey said...

Yeah, I can see your worry! Plus I don't imagine old houses where you can't touch anything would appeal to the Podlings anyway, or any child for that matter!
There are some nice walks on the National Trust listings though - little chance of breakages then!