“Castle!” calls my daughter from the back seat as we round the bend in the highway. It is our third day in England and we still can’t believe that castles and medieval churches seem to pop up on the landscape every few minutes, interspersed by Tudor buildings and thatched cottages. These are not things we see back in Australia and we are fascinated by the scenery passing by.

When we were planning this trip Beth’s first request was to see Bodiam Castle. Back in year 7 she had studied it with a friend, and she built a cardboard model with her dad. We still have it, overlooking my rainbow shelves at home. Even with all my big clear out I couldn’t quite part with that cardboard castle. I still remember the hours they put into it. Beth’s friend also built a model of a friendly Halifax Gibbet to demonstrate beside the castle – they have very fond memories of that exhibition night!

Anyway, we can credit our Robertsbridge trip to Beth’s fondness for Bodiam Castle. Without her, we wouldn’t have found that gorgeous cottage to spend our first night, so yes, Beth, we are grateful!

At dinner in the George Inn the woman behind the bar took us aside to give us some inside tips about seeing the castle. “Go past the turnoff” she said “and don’t peek. Keep going until you cross the train line and THEN you can turn around and go back for your first sight of the castle”. We did. And a more “castle-y” looking castle would be hard to find.

The lore is that it was based on the “perfect castle”” described in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, one of the King Arthur tales. It was plastered a bright white on the outside and reflected full size in the gleaming moat. Trees were cut down around it not only to take away hiding spots from any potential attacker, but also to make it more impressive and Arthurian.

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