Arundel

Arundel must be one of my favourite places around here. It has everything: a castle (with a Duke and his family still living in it), a cathedral, a lake and lots of little quirky things to see. In fact, I have so much to share about Arundel that I will probably not be able to do it all in one blog! The castle warrants it's own blog, as does the cathedral!

Town Centre

The town centre
Long ago there was a well from which the owner sold drinking water to the citizens and made himself a pretty penny.

The buildings show their medieval heritage.
The checker pattern told illiterate peasants that a butcher worked there. One has an anvil at the top to indicate a blacksmith's shop.

The road from town centre towards the castle. One of the steepest main streets in the south of England!

Looking back from the top, down towards the town centre

View of the castle from outside the grounds

Other buildings near the town centre. Just some of them...

The Post Office. Not an original halftimber but a fairly modern one built in a style to fit in.

Our favourite tea room. Earlier in its history it was a stable.

The most interesting shop as it contains everything from a flea to an elephant!
Also, one of the few &Daughters shops I've ever seen (it usually is &Sons)

Ruins of Black Friar Priory by the river Arun, at the foot of the castle.

Walking to the lake from the castle

To walk from the castle to the lake behind it, you can pick one of two options - the short walk and the long walk.

The short walk

The short walk is following the road between the castle and the lake. I am rubbish at guessing distances, but it is not very far. It is a beautiful walk with lots to see on the way there.

The entrance into the castle, at the bottom of the hill (Retha)

The path next to the road, with a canal on the side of it.

A glimpse of the castle from the path

Arriving at Swanbourne Lake

The long walk

Taking the road up the hill, past the cathedral, you cut across the park, past the folly, cross the tracks where the racehorses are exercised, climb over the style, walk along the gravel road (slightly longer) or slip-slide down the slope (slightly shorter) to get to the other end of the lake. Definitely the choice for the fitter amongst us, but also offers beautiful views and a bit of exercise to boot!

A misterious wooden 'castle' that peeks over the wall (Retha)

View down one of the streets towards the sea

View of the cathedral as you walk past (Marianna)

Hmmm... I thought I had a photo of the lych gate, the folly and the style, but no. So here we are almost at the lake!

I like trees! Another lovely one!

Some sheep taking shelter from the sun (ok, this doesn't happen a lot but it happened to be a warm day when this photo was taken!)

There are lots of birds on and around the lake. We often go there to feed the birds. The Bird and Wetlands Sanctuary is just next door.