Not Around Preston

Durham Castle stands across Palace Green from the cathedral on the loop of the River Wear. However, to the north and east, it is surrounded by buildings and to the west by trees, making it rather less apparent. And as it has been used as a university college since 1837, it is not somewhere you can just wonder in. However, over the summer you can rent rooms, and for a reunion of a friend who was at the college 40 years ago, I did just that. This is a view of the castle from the railway viaduct - the cathedral being rather more prominent. And the reverse - the view of the viaduct from the castle. Construction of the motte and bailey began in 1072, the motte being the mound and the bailing being the tower - now considered the keep. I was sleeping in the room just up from the centre of the image. Despite being on the ground floor of the keep it was an 86-step climb to the room. The view from the window. The castle is laid out around a roughly pentagonal courtyard, with the keep at the east...