Look away now if you don't like castles and ruins!

I feel like I'm about to bore everyone with my holiday snaps here, but having spent the last couple of months on a variety of road trips seeking out castles and ruins, it would seem rude of me to somehow not share, wouldn't it?

A short three day break last month started the proceedings. I've heard good things about Pembrokeshire over the years but had never actually got around to visiting it. That changed last month when Ian and I took ourselves off B&B-ing there on what was supposed to be a mini 'break' but in reality ended up being three days filled with a lot of walking and clambering over a few of the many fabulous ruins and castles to be found dotted around the landscape. I haven't ached so much in years from all the enthusiastic exercise but it was certainly worth every moment when you stumble across places like this;

The mighty medieval Pembroke Castle, birthplace of Henry VII, which looms large over the River Cleddau.

Or the romantic Carew Castle;

which evolved from a Norman fortification to the ruins of an Elizabethan Manor House.

Or what about Laugharne Castle;

which sits overlooking the Taf Estuary in Carmarthenshire and is perhaps more famous now for it's association with the poet Dylan Thomas who is acclaimed to have written many of his finest works from the boathouse spied way off into the distance here a little further along the Estuary;

Hmmm, and then of course there's Manorbier Castle which almost looks as thought it's been unceremoniously plonked down on the landscape;

overlooking a lovely sheltered sandy cove, where children and adults alike took advantage of the late evening sunshine and just enjoy being near the sea;

whilst other equally beautiful sandy beaches along the coastline lay seemingly undiscovered by anyone other than Ian and myself;

or perhaps that really wasn't the case as this stone circle perched on a cliff overlooking one of the aforementioned coves suggests;

Three days really isn't enough to take in all the beautiful attractions Pembrokeshire has to offer; we didn't, for instance get to visit Castell Henllys which has long been on my 'to do' bucket list, nor did we get to wander around the neolithic Pentre Ifan or Carreg Coetan Arthur, but they make at least three good reasons (amongst many others) to go back sometime and visit some more.

This summer really has proved to be all about castles and ruins which looks to continue long into the autumn starting with a day trip we took to Shropshire a couple of weekends ago which enabled me to traipse around beauties such as Stokesay Castle, the gatehouse of which I stood in front of for what seemed like forever in order to get a photo of it without someone sitting on the bench situated to the left of the picture in the afternoon sun,

Taking a photo of the exterior of the castle itself proved to be less problematic if viewed from the churchyard beside it;

though I am beginning to wonder if it's time to invest in a wider angled lens, as getting whole buildings into one shot can prove problematic at times;

We'd intend heading a little further north from here in order to go visit the ruins of Moreton Corbet but somehow ended up off the beaten track, where, quite by chance we stumbled across the beautiful Acton Burnell Castle,

little more than a fortified manor house built out of beautiful pink sandstone which literally seemed to 'zing' in the autumn sunlight;

And so onto Moreton Corbet Castle itself. By the time we arrived the light was fading fast. but rather than deter from our experience it seemed to add to the incredible atmosphere of the ruins which we were lucky to have all to ourselves. Not another soul in sight. Bliss! The ruins are maintained by English Heritage and comprise of a medieval anglo saxon stronghold which was then built upon at a later date to facilitate a Tudor manor house;

According to a direct cut and past from wikipedia, the site is reputed to be haunted;

It is said the grounds are haunted by the ghost of Paul Holmyard. He was a Puritan, who at the time of their persecution, was given protection by Vincent Corbet. But as the Puritans became more fanatical, Vincent Corbet felt he could no longer provide protection, and Paul Holmyard was forced to leave. Paul Holmyard took shelter in the nearby woods. One day, when Vincent Corbet was planning some more building work, Paul Holmyard appeared and put a curse on him. From that day, Vincent Corbet never lived in the building again.

which, looking at one of the last photos I took of the place I can well believe;

Not even the rather scary looking chimera looks like it would be enough to scare away the ghost of a determined Puritan out for vengence!