Skipton Castle – A Family Day Out

December 18, 2012

 

Skipton Castle 3

At the weekend we were visiting some friends in West Yorkshire (and meeting their new beautiful daughter!) and on the way back we were going right past Skipton. We have been before as a couple but we thought it would be a nice place to stop for a couple of hours and we could introduce Lucas to Skipton Castle. It is one of the best preserved medieval castles in England and it has some amazing history having been through so many generations.

We were greeted at the entrance by a lovely gentleman who advised us it wouldn’t be particularly suitable for the pushchair, which we had remembered but luckily there is somewhere to leave it and we knew Lucas would be more than happy to go exploring. It was a cold day but the sun was shining and we had wrapped up warm. I have to say that I am really starting to prefer these wintery days out as the attractions are so quiet; we practically had the whole castle to ourselves! This is perfect with a little toddler as we could let him have a free reign without worrying about him getting in the way or losing him in a crowd.

Skipton Castle 1

Me and my husband have always loved visiting castles for the history but we weren’t sure if Lucas would be entertained; we needn’t have worried because he seemed to love it. A lot of the rooms have wooden floorboards which meant we could let him have a wander round and there are plenty of nooks and crannies for him to explore. He wandered around the rooms, feeling the brick work and hunting out stairs to climb. There were open fireplaces to explore, cannons to find and little windows to peep out of. Under our supervision he was able to have a great experience and I think he will love castles as much as we do. There is a suggested route to follow which we did try to keep to but Lucas did take us slightly of track (much to hubby’s horror). All the rooms have a little information board which we tried to read while a wriggling toddler was eager to escape. There is a beautiful Conduit Court with an old yew tree and the old kitchens, cellar and dungeons.

Skipton Castle 2

On the way out we were advised to return next year when they have plenty of events, having a look at the website I’m a little spoilt for choice but I think we will definitely try and make it to one of them. We are now on the hunt for more castles to invade, especially now we have stumbled upon the secret of quiet wintery days out!

We had a great time getting outdoors so I’m linking us up to Coombe Mill Country Kids!

 
Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

 

Previous Post Next Post

3 Comments

  • Coombe Mill

    Hayley this looks like somewhere you will be returning! Mine all loved castles when they were young, we used to make a point of going on any war reenactment days which always appealed to my boys! Lovely to have the freedom to explore and take things at your own pace on these deserted winter days too. A great find! Thanks for sharing on Country Kids.

    December 18, 2012 at 7:29 pm Reply
  • Vicki

    Looks like a wonderful day. It must be so magical as a young child going to castles. They must feel huge. A wonderful place to play.

    December 21, 2012 at 4:57 pm Reply
  • Smallstuffandme

    Looks like you had a lovely day out. We used to go to Skipton Castle quite a lot when I was little, I used to really enjoy it. I’ll definitely have to take my daughter, a quiet, cosy day out really appeals!

    December 3, 2015 at 9:03 am Reply
  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.