Kendal Castle

I like Kendal castle. I like the fact it's on top of a hill - although I guess that's not altogether uncommon for castles - and also the fact that when you look out from its walls, you can quite easily imagine that the view would have been very similar when it was first built. OK, so Kendal would have been a bit more basic and you wouldn't have seen any trains but the hills and valleys won't have changed much.

And I like the fact that there's no great fanfare about it. You don't have to buy a ticket to visit it, hell, there's not even a fancy entrance. It does have a couple of interesting information panels and a few railings to keep you away from the dangerous bits although, that said, there's nothing to stop you climbing all over it. 

We took my folks and the kids up there today for a picnic and a bit of kite-flying. However, the wind was disappointing and only Abi managed to keep a kite in the air for any length of time and even then only by running around like a maniac. Still, the food and company were good, and it was almost warm. That was enough for me.