Penrith

We left Longtown for the last time and made our way down to the Lake District. On the way, we stopped off in Penrith. This is a small town with a castle, so we had a look.

It's ruined, I tell you!

Penrith Castle is a ruin. There’s a couple of placards explaining about it, but not much else. It detained us for about 10 minutes. It’s picturesque, though.

Next we headed to nearby Brougham (pronounced “broom”) Castle (pronounced “castle”). Guess what? It’s a ruin. There’s a bit more to see here, though, and we were able to ascend to the top of the tower via a spiral staircase, to admire the views from the top. The castle was built in the 13^th century by Robert de Vieuxpont, on the site of an old Roman fort called Brocavum. In common with many castles in this area, it featured heavily in the wars between England and Scotland – Edward I used it on occasion. It was owned by the Clifford family for many a year, but was attacked and sacked in 1388. The castle wasn’t well maintained and fell into disrepair in the 16^th century, but was briefly restored by Lady Anne Clifford. After her death it was again left to decay. It is today administered by English Heritage.

View from the top

Also in the area is Mayburgh Henge. This is such an uninteresting place of interest that Sattie couldn’t find it on “Places of Interest”. It consists of a single stone in a field. 

Nearby is King Arthur’s Round Table. This again over-promised and under-delivered. It’s a semi-circular ditch in a field. 

It's a ditch in a field

We circled back to Penrith to find some lunch, and formulated a plan for the afternoon. This involved a visit to another henge at Castlerigg, but we were thwarted in that endeavour by the Cumbrian constabulary, who had closed the A66 due to a serious accident. Instead, we headed into the Lake District and over Kirkstone Pass, towards Windermere, where we’re staying for the next couple of days.