The Great Welsh Border Castle Challenge
How many ruined castles can you visit in one day?
“Uncle Simon, why is there a goat on top of that castle wall?”
My nephew stares at the white adult goat fifteen feet above us. A series of frantic bleats fill the air and, suddenly, three sure-footed kids join their parent on the narrow, stony ridge. “And how did they get up there?”
We’re in Richard’s Castle, on the Herefordshire — Shropshire border. Although just a collection of isolated ruins erupting from the rolling earthworks, these crumbling walls are substantial enough for any young nephew, to imagine attacking forces advancing from the south. We leave the goats bleating incessantly, and clamber up a series of eroded steps to the stone foundations of a tower, perched at the castle’s highest point.
“I can see for miles!” my nephew exclaims.
I point out the Malvern Hills, nearly 25 miles away, whose outline is reminiscent of a sleeping dragon.
