Conisbrough Castle

On the way back from picking Connor up from his half-term holiday with his grandparents we popped into Conisbrough Castle run by English Heritage. While looking at the map showing other English Heritage sites, we got to thinking. There are at least 10 sites within easy travelling distance of our home, another half dozen or so on the route we take for regular visits to family members, and, yet more within easy travelling distance of where we’re going on holiday over Easter. It was a no-brainer then to get the Joint annual membership! Looking on the map now, it’s amazing how many sites there are across the country – certainly more than I imagined – so I think we’ll get our money’s worth!

Conisbrough Castle is just a couple of miles off the A1 in the vicinity of Doncaster – it’s the first junction north of the A1/M18 junction and is a small ruined castle with a renovated tower. It is very nicely priced for the casual visitor (£5 per adult) and easy to find once you get off the major roads. As is the case with most castles, it’s on elevated ground but the walk up from the car park wasn’t too arduous even for these knackered legs. However, the wind did seem to rush through a bit so it felt colder than it actually was. Apparently the views from the top of the tower are excellent, but my fear of heights stopped from going that far up so I contented myself with trying to take arty shots of the ruins themselves.

Even if you’re not interested in English Heritage, I’d recommend the castle as a lay-off point on any journeys up this way. The ticket office doesn’t have a coffee shop but there is a coffee dispensing machine there you can get a drink if needed. In fact, that’s my only negative comment. Even a small cafe/coffee shop selling hot drinks and biscuits would be an excellent addition and would certainly have taken a few more pennies off us today – Jude disagrees though ;)