Tag: Portchester Castle

Old farts railway adventure Portchester

When we got off the train at Portchester station, it was hotter than either of us had envisaged. We’d set out on our Old Farts Railway Adventure knowing it would be warm. It was 25 June, after all. We hadn’t expected the sky to be quite so cloudless or the sun so hot, though. From my previous trip with CJ  in 2015, I knew it was about a mile from the railway station to the castle. A mile is no distance, and at least I knew the way. Even so, when we passed an old-time bus going to and from the station, I was miffed we hadn’t known about it earlier. It would have saved us a hot walk and brought back memories of hopping on and off the dodgy platform at the back as kids. 

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Portchester Castle, a tough climb, amazing views, a ghost and a bit more graffiti

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22 April 2015

In the end we decided to give it a go. What was the worst that could happen? Having bigger feet, CJ found the wedge shaped steps quite difficult and even I had to watch my footing as they were quite slippery in places. At least there were small windows at intervals so it wasn’t dark. As we climbed, a strong memory of climbing these very stairs once before came back to me. When my boys were little, possibly before CJ was even born, we’d visited the castle. The one thing I remember about the visit was the climb up this spiral staircase and a slight feeling of panic that one of the boys would slip. Continue reading Portchester Castle, a tough climb, amazing views, a ghost and a bit more graffiti

Portchester Castle, stinky moats, prison cells and scary stairs

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22 April 2015

When I said I thought I might go to Portchester Castle on Wednesday Commando Junior’s ears pricked up. He got that look, like a puppy that wants you to take it for a walk, and I knew it would be cruel not to take him with me. Bearing in mind the Tuesday debacle when I ended up dashing home in a panic I checked out the train times carefully and told him, if he didn’t get up in time, I’d go without him. It did the trick and we set off bright and early for the train station.  Continue reading Portchester Castle, stinky moats, prison cells and scary stairs