Castle Brougham - We May Have An Issue

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Being a holiday weekend, we are running into a lot of traffic.  Along with people heading out of town and in a hurry, there have been a few accidents.  This picture shows a slow down in a construction area, which also had an accident, or as they call it, an incident.  The yellow sign says that if you break down, flat tire, or accident, just wait and they will show up and there is no charge for the service.

Open highway.  Although we are mostly on country roads, the maps occasionally direct us onto highways for short periods.  We have yet to take a toll highway, and there really aren't many.

Littering will bring you a huge fine.  We stopped to take a look at this reservoir, and this sign was posted.  We see no litter on the roads or highways.  However, Liverpool had quite a bit of trash on the streets.

We are now in High Hesket, a small town near Carlisle.   We were headed to Hadrian's Wall, a Roman fort and wall 173 kms long.  That's for the next post.  We had gone to the wall yesterday, and on the way back, we stopped for gas.  As we were getting ready for our turn to pump, a guy came down and started closing pumps behind each car.  No fuel.  We found another gas station 10 miles away.  They had fuel but were shutting down pumps one by one, and there was no diesel.  Diesel will reach $10 USD this week.  Fuel shortages caused by speculation, a true reduction in fuel deliveries, and the tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Back to yesterday and the Castle Brougham (pronounced Broom).  We were on our way to High Hesket, and Juan found this castle on our route.  We took it.  It was a minor charge for entry and free parking.  It is an abandoned castle and in ruins, but it has a long and interesting history.

Brougham Castle was built in 1214 by Robert Vieuxpont, the only lord loyal to King John.  They were powerful land owners that had at least two more castles in the upper part of England near the border with Scotland.

Over the next 50 years, the land had been confiscated and then returned to the family.  Later, it was given to the Clifford family through marriage.  The castle later became a military base during the fight for Scottish independence from England.  

The castle was so famous at the time that King Edward visited and stayed for a huge celebration that included the consumption of 63 sheep and 8 cows.  It must have been quite a bash.

One of the Clifford sons was deemed a traitor and executed.  After, the castle and the land were taken over by King Edward III.   During this period, the castle was robbed and ransacked on several occasions by the Scots.

The Clifford family handed down the castle to other family members over the next 200 years.  Again, the family had so many castles that they moved from one to another, and Brougham became less used and fell into disrepair.

By the 1700s, it had become the shell it is today. An attempt to restore the ruins took place in the 1800s.  A very creative stone mason did a superb job of graffiti by creating stones in the walls with their names and dates.  In 1930, it was taken over by the government and the conservation society.  

Amazing how many of the original parts of the castle survive 700 years later.  As usual, some of the stones and interior pieces were taken and used in constrution of other works in the area.  We have seen tombstones that are lined up and used as walls or perimeters.  

Off to Edinburgh today.  We found that accommodations in Scotland are very expensive, and we have chosen to stay in a hotel for the weekend.  After touring Edinburgh, we will head back down the East coast, stopping near York to visit Les' niece and nephew.  We met them in San Miguel de Allende earlier this year.  

We've made plans for our return trip to London.  The return is on the 18th.  We will stay at the Ibis Hotel at Heathrow on the 17th and return the car.  The next day, we will return to the Airbnb that we had at the start of our trip.  We are comfortable with the location as well as the ease of heading into London Central on the train (20 minutes).  On Monday the 20th, we go back to the hotel at the airport and take off for Mexico early on the 21st.

The trip has been more than we expected.  The British are very open and friendly people.  Every time we turn around and look for help, they are more than willing to help.  More to come.