One of our passions is castles, and there were plenty to go at in Herefordshire and Shropshire.
First on our route was Stokesay Castle, one of our favourites. The colourful gatehouse contrasts with the main castle building, built from cold, hard granite.
A few miles from Hay-on-Wye, on the banks of the river, are the ruins of Clifford Castle Built in 1070 to repel a Norman invasion, the castle saw service until the 1400s. But after Wales was conquered it had no purpose and quickly fell into ruins.
On our journey we stopped at Croft Castle, a mansion house dating from the 1660s when it was built to replace an earlier fortified building.
Our next stop was much more of a ‘proper’ castle: Ludlow, the regional foodie capital, has a spectacular castle which was established around 1075 and is one of the first stone castles to be built in England. It is as impressive today as it was the day it was built.
And our final castle for the weekend was Clun Castle. Only a few small ruins remain and we were unable to get as close as normal so we settled on a distant view.
We love the castles along the Welsh border and there are plenty more to visit - so we'll be back.