Not a Castle for a Disney Film



I left work a little later this evening, after visiting a local Italian restaurant with a friend for our first catch up after lockdown. Leaving the Castle around 9.30pm, I noticed the beautiful light shining down on the red sandstone which produced an illuminated shadow across the top half of the Castle. Beautiful.

It made me smile as I got on my bike to cycle home, as I remembered some of the comments that have been made about the Castle. This rugged frontier fortress may not be the chocolate box image that people associate with castles, but it has a beauty in its own right. We have had international visitors in the Museum who come to reception and asked where the Castle is. I remember once taking a couple back outside the front of the Museum and pointing to the Keep 'Over there' I explained. Not quite sure what they expected.

But one of the best comments was by an Australian visitor who left a message about the Castle on Trip Advisor. An observation that Carlisle wasn't really a Castle made us all think that their perspective was clouded by watching too many Disney films and their expectation was more turrets and arched windows. Sorry to disappoint but Carlisle is a real Castle with a long and illustrious history not Cinderella's twee little home. So as I left work this evening, I looked back at the solid walls glowing orange in the sunlight. Carlisle is certainly lucky to have a Castle like this.

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