Skipton Castle

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Whilst in Haworth, Yorkshire, we decided on the Saturday to visit Skipton, the home of the best-preserved medieval castles in England in spite of a three year seige during the Civil War.

For centuries the market town of Skipton was hidden for safe keeping beneath the castle walls where successive Lords of Skipton are buried in the Parish Church, the most famous being George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, one of her Admirals agains the Armada.

The road from Haworth to Skipton is straightforward, through a series of roundabouts and well sign-posted. There was no car-parking around the castle itself but the market town has ample car parking around by the canal. We visited on a Saturday and there were only a few market stalls beside the canal. The town however, was many cafes and shops and parking available up the centre of the main street, with a quaint shopping mall on one side. From the main street, the castle tower was in full view. After obtaining admission tickets went thorough the main entrance and saw the castle in all its glory. There were lots of grassy areas around it together with the castle shop and the castle cafe. Also, the remains of a chapel to the left where we were able to watch a falconry display; a visiting 'team' for the day which all added much interest to our visit. There were peregrine falcons, long eared owl and barn owls. The children there were able to put on the leather glove and have the birds sit on their hands whilst listening to a short talk on each of the birds.

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