Carlisle

 So many people said that they had never explored historic Carlisle that we arranged a visit on a blustery day in April.

We started at the Castle and were delighted that English Heritage’s site manager John Bonner was available to show us round. We spent 2 glorious hours exploring the most besieged castle in Britain. When you walk in to the outer ward you realise that it is still very much a working castle with a strong military presence and barracks named after various battles fought in by the Border regiments.

The highlight is the keep, which hasn’t changed much since it was constructed in the 12^th Century. We were lucky to be able to see the “Prisoners’ Carvings” close up and explore the cells (all of which are normally not accessible). John explained that these carvings were more probably the work of a jailer, as they show some knowledge of local nobility and heraldry.

We heard a lot about a Moravian engineer Stephan von Haschenperg, who seems to have been inept to the extreme when he built additional fortifications. Of course Mary Queen of Scots was the last royal resident of the castle paid for by Elizabeth 1.

 After the Castle tour, the group split up and some visited Tullie House Museum, the Cathedral and other local sites. Tullie House Museum currently has a marvellous exhibition of Cumbrian artists and new permanent galleries of the Borders Reivers and Vikings. Old Tullie House has permanent galleries of its nationally important collection of pre-Raphaelite art. We can also recommend the excellent café which we certainly needed after absorbing so much local history.

If you haven’t visited historic Carlisle recently, we can certainly recommend it for a day out, especially if you have visitors.  It is all a few minutes’ walk from the Main Citadel station and within a very compact area.