Short Tails About A Young Viking, Bodiam Castle

Today we thought we'd go for a trip to visit Bodiam Castle. It was built around 1385 in by Sir Edward Dallingridge and his wife Elizabeth. His military career had brought him prestige and wealth so he decided to show it off by building this magisterial sandstone castle (see extra image of it surrounded by its' moat). When it was first built it was rendered in white plaster so it must have been even more of a striking sight than it is now.
It's most tumultuous period was during the English Civil War of the 1640s. Its owner at the time was John Tufton who, unfortunately for him, was on the losing Royalist side. This resulted in the Parliamentarians issuing him with huge fines which meant he had to sell the castle. It was then partially demolished and the interior was left to fall into disrepair and collapse to prevent it being used in future conflicts.
In the 18th and 19th centuries it became a popular spot for visitors interested in romantic ruins. A later owner, John Fuller, purchased it to prevent further demolition and, along with subsequent owners, helped restore it to the way it looks today. It was eventually bequeathed to the National Trust in 1925 by Lord Curzon. As you can see it's had quite the history!
To enter the castle itself we had to walk through the Barbican (the remains of a fortified outbuilding), along a bridge over the moat, through the gatehouse and underneath the portcullis to enter the interior which is open to the elements but still features lots of interesting architecture. It is here where I took my main image of this young viking with his dragon tails! His grandfather (silhouetted by the bench on the right) was taking a  snap of him in his full resplendently surreal get up (he was mainlining pure joy at this moment!) and I just liked the way the image appeared in front of me for a second or two. I also liked how the man in the distance sitting down plays with the scale of everything else in the shot. The dragon theme was to do with the best selling book series How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell.
After taking our photos we headed up one of the towers which had fifty-six very steep steps to its summit. We didn't stay there very long as we both don't like heights very much and the battlements at the top were a bit too low for our liking! Just as we were about to leave it tipped it down (of course we had left our umbrellas in the car) so we had to seek cover under one of the big trees in the grounds until it relented. As soon as we headed to the car park, typically for our trips lately, the sun came out, the temperature went up and the blue skies appeared. Therefore, we decided to stop for a pint and sit in a lovely pub garden for a while. We chose the Black Horse at Pluckley and this is where a new record was reached. Our first time paying £7 for a pint In Kent - the way things are going I think this will soon become the norm. Still, we had a great time and we've got many more castles in Kent and East Sussex (they have quite a collection) to visit and photograph.