Lockdown was meant to be finished , I was going to finish my contract, my daughter had finished sixth form and my wife could adjust her work, we were all set and booked a holiday!
Of course lockdown hasn't ended but we did have a holiday in Cornwall and I managed to squeeze in a visit to a castle, Pendennis
Splendid castle that was in use from Tudor times right up till the 1950s . I did like the disappearing gun and the two WW2 6" guns,although obviously the Tudor castle is more photogenic! I've included the later moat and glacis and stonework of the Vauban style additions ( and the 18th century entrance) for nundanket as he is in the process of building his own Vauban fortress, definitely recommended, a fun day out for all the family!
Next up, dark age buildings or another Hertfordshire War of the Roses battle report.
All the best Iain
Great pictures Iain, and what an excellent castle full of history, would imagine the pictures would be very useful for anyone building their own for gaming
ReplyDeleteHi Dave,yes a lovely castle and the photos are there as reference really!
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Lovely pictures…seems you had the weather for it too!
ReplyDeleteHi Mark, yes it was meant to rain for most of the week but it was mostly sunny! To be fair it must be particularly difficult to forecast on the very tip of England!
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Excellent photos from your excursion! The earthen ramparts look steep and high. What is the height of those structures? Glad to see you out and about for an enjoyable holiday.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan! I'd say about 20' high from the ditch/dry moat ,nice and sunny but not too hot!
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Excellent photos! Love the juxtaposition of the various weapons and defencesover the centuries. Disappearing guns are so cool, as ourTudor round forts and Vauban fortifications.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter! It's a nice example of defensive architecture from the 1540s to the 1940s,with lots of cool stuff!
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Nice trip around the castle! Seems like it was pretty empty.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was pretty quiet, you had to book and the numbers were restricted due to covid of course!
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Let’s consider it one of advantages of covid:)
DeleteVery nice coastal castle/fortress and weather! Here in Washington State, we've just gone back to "fully open for business" as of today, 1 July. No 6' distancing or masks in public places. Our big local convention is a go for September. That all said, private businesses can still mandate the wear of masks, etc. We'll see - I think the year and half or so of lockdowns and requirements have made a lot of folks think much differently here on out.
ReplyDeleteYes,I think it's going to be pretty challenging for a lot of people to just go back to normal!
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Excellent stuff Iain. I love the layering up of the different periods on the same site. Takes me back to my hols a couple of years ago. Thanks for the nod. Always good to see some inspiring sights.
ReplyDeleteI thought it might be useful for you! Yes the many periods of use is one of the really interesting things about it.
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Oh, what a beautiful place!
ReplyDeleteIt is that Michal!
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I always enjoyed trips to Cornwall when I lived in the UK, and Pendennis castle looks terrific.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely spot and a particularly nice castle!
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What a nice place to visit!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was Suber!
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Excellent pics of Pendennis Castle!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cyrus!
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I enjoyed seeing your pictures, it reminded me of a really enjoyable visit a few years ago. It is a fascinating place and your photos do it justice.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I was lucky the light was excellent!
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Very nice pics Iain and I am always a sucker for a castle but.....a fun day out for the whole family...really? I would bet your daughter might have had something she would have rather done, if she us anything like my offspring! Nice to have a family holiday together though, I suspect we may have seen our last ...son twenty in Sept and daughter just turned twenty two....
ReplyDeleteHi Keith, well we had been through all the second hand clothes shops (which is what she wanted to do) and we actually all agreed it was probably the best day of the holiday, my daughter is interested in history, more Mary and Elizabeth than Henry VIII though, if we go somewhere interesting and we're paying she could be coming with us for a few more years!
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Thinking about it, I have in the past had the family to refuse to look at anything old anymore after inflicting three churches in one day in Latvia, it still gets brought up! So a bit more softly softly and just the one in the holiday is a trade off!
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Thanks for sharing Iain, visiting a few castles whilst holidaying in this country is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteCheers Pat! Always good to see a castle!
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Splendid pictures Iain…
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly some lovely ordinance to look at/play with…
I do like visiting castles…
All the best. Aly
It was a lovely castle Aly!
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Glad you got away, not a castle I think I know ?
ReplyDeleteIt's one of a series of defensive artillery forts that Henry VIII built along the south coast,there is also St Mawes across the sound at Falmouth so that between the two of them they could cover the sound, they didn't really have enough strength on their roof to withstand indirect fire as the designers were only thinking about walls, it was definitely a transitional period of castle/defense design.
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Nice vacation pics. America is definitely short on castles but we make up for it with outlet malls. 😀
ReplyDeleteQuite a lot of star forts! But I agree, you're way ahead of us on outlet malls!
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Nice you could get out for a trip!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was! Thanks for popping by Markus!
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Not a castle I've visited but it is a rather interestin gmix of styles, the Vauban bits are really interesting as few of this style exist in Britain.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good mix of fortifications through the ages!
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Fab pics Iain! I miss going to the odd castle seeing as so many were close enough back when I lived over there. Pembroke and Haverfordwest were big favs from my teens
ReplyDeleteThanks Dai! I guess you've gone from lots of local castles to very few!
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