Bodiam Castle | - Click on the image above to view gallery
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 Portcullis and studded doors of the gatehouse. Bodiam Castle is a fantastic place to visit; it is on the Kent and East Sussex border and is looked after by the National Trust. I would imagine it must be a very popular place to visit as there is a large car park and lots of suitable places for picnics in the warmer weather. You can also travel here on the steam trains of the Kent and East Sussex Railway, which sadly weren’t running today so perhaps we’ll have to make another trip here one day travelling in style. The castle itself though is a photographer’s dream except today the strength of wind meant there was no chance of any reflections in the moat and when you climbed up onto the tops of the towers the strength of the wind meant it was impossible to hold your camera still. The only way to take pictures in this situation was to lean up against a wall and hope the way you felt you were moving wasn’t going to show in the picture. I certainly wasn’t going to lean over the wall and look at the long drop down to the moat below without holding on tight.
Back in 1385 Sir Edward Dalyngrigge asked the king if he could improve his country house and turn it into a castle. He was given what was called a licence to crenellate, in other words he could make his country house look like a castle. Sir Edward did far more than that though: he wanted to show off his power and wealth as well as defend the surrounding countryside. Debate continues over whether Bodiam was a fortress, a grand and comfortable house or both. One look at the moated castle and I have to think he was definitely out to impress his visitors just like it does hundreds of years later.
 Inside the castle walls it’s no longer complete although the gatehouse and one of the corner towers have been restored and you can climb up to get a fabulous view of the surrounding countryside. There is an impressive portcullis too, still with the original wood but then you realise it’s a complete sham because there is nowhere for the mechanism that would raise and lower it. It still looks impressive hundreds of years later, so if it was meant to impress it certainly did the trick for me.
We enjoyed looking around all the rooms trying to imagine how they would have been when the castle was occupied, but on this very windy March day I can only imagine it would have been very cold at times as they wouldn’t have had any glass in the windows. Brrr!
After having a good look around the castle we decided a walk along the River Rother would be nice. We could see a path through neighbouring farmland that could make a circular walk, but we had to cross a water-filled ditch to get to it. We passed the farmer on his tractor so asked exactly where we should go rather than cross his fields looking for a way. The wind by this time was enough to take your breath away and a couple of times it almost knocked me off my feet. The only way I could possibly take any pictures was by kneeling down.
The last time we would have walked in wind this strong was on the fells in the Lake District, somewhere it’s not so unusual, but by the side of an East Sussex river was not what we expected. All the time we were looking at the increasing clouds wondering if we would get back to the car before the heavens opened. We certainly didn’t hang about and got back to the castle just as we felt a few spots of rain. Two minutes later and it was bouncing off the windscreen of the car: now that’s what I call good timing. A fabulous day out: it’s somewhere well worth a visit and I’m sure we will return another day
 Impressive couds as we start our walk.  Back in the car just in time.
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