Summer visits worth talking about!
Where can you take groups on a memorable day out this summer? From cliff-top views to croquet lawns, English Heritage has a site to suit everyone.
Dover Castle, Kent
Don’t expect to see everything in one day at England’s oldest fortress. Its 2,000-year, action-packed history includes a Roman lighthouse, a Saxon church, a moat, the twelfth-century archery tower and, apparently, 12 recorded on-site ghosts.
The castle played a key role in Operation Dynamo – the evacuation of 338,000 British and French troops from Dunkirk in 1940. You can explore the castle’s secret tunnels, which became a nerve centre for operations headed by Winston Churchill. These include telephone exchanges, operations rooms and even an underground hospital.
Mobility scooters and wheelchair routes are available on site. Fantastic views can be seen across the channel from the battlements and, on a clear day, you can see Cap Gris Nez on the coast of France. There are several picnic areas, but you may just want to climb to the top of the keep and watch the ships go by in the busiest shipping lane in the world. There is truly something for everyone at this castle.
For more information on Dover Castle
Pendennis Castle, Cornwall
Pendennis Castle is on a headland, so wherever you choose to have your picnic you will have a fabulous view of the surrounding sea.
The fortress is spread over a large area, but there are plenty of nooks and crannies in the walls, so you can look across to St Mawes Castle. Battle buffs young and old will love the guns and cannons dotted about.
Make sure you arrive in time for the firing of the Noonday Gun: a 25-pounder field gun is fired every day in July and August (locals used to set their timepieces by it). The Royal Artillery Block displays authentically re-created barrack rooms and interactive displays. The café offers a fantastic range of drinks, snacks and Cornish cream teas.
For more information on Pendennis Castle
Peveril Castle, Derbyshire
Peveril has long been a favourite of visitors to the pretty village of Castleton in the Hope Valley of the Peak District National Park.
The short but steep climb to the castle top provides breathtaking views. From here you can explore one of England’s earliest Norman fortresses.
The former custodian’s cottage has been renovated to provide a range of facilities; there is improved access to the new shop, and a lift to the toilets. There are exhibitions and garden displays telling the story of Peveril Castle and the Royal Forest of the Peak as a place of authority and a location for hunting by royalty since the eleventh century. A visit to Peveril Castle offers an enjoyable day out for everyone.
For more information on Peveril Castle
Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire
The new interactive and graphic displays in the seventeenth-century Master Gunner’s House describes the turbulent 3,000-year-old story of the castle from prehistoric survival to modern warfare.
Also on display will be artefacts excavated at the castle, including a spectacular Bronze Age sword crafted by the very first settlers of the castle headland, which are coming back home from the British Museum. The Master Gunner’s House also houses a new tearoom.
For more information on Scarborough Castle
Walmer Castle and Gardens, Kent
Children can play hide-and-seek among the low branches of the grand old yew tree, or join other children playing knights and soldiers with replica swords and shields.
Send your gardeners off to marvel at the contemporary, formal and kitchen gardens, while you set up your picnic on the Oval Lawn. Imagine you are Lady Hester Stanhope and her uncle William Pitt enjoying a stroll on the lawn. There is also an excellent tearoom.
For more information on Walmer Castle & Gardens
Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire
Whitby Abbey is set high on a cliff top above the town, allowing wonderful views of the coastline and harbour.
Intrepid and literary types will enjoy walking up – or down – the 199 steps that Bram Stoker’s Dracula would have ascended when his ship was wrecked in the harbour in that novel.
Enjoy speaking (via interactive computer screens in the Visitor Centre) to a medieval monk. Ask him what the brothers would have eaten, where they slept, and pose the most popular question of all: "Where did they go to the toilet?" (the answer is given!). There are lifts for wheelchairs; good, wide pathways and plenty of benches.
For more information on Whitby Abbey
