Carisbrooke

We did visit Carisbrook Castle this year, perhaps our fifth lifetime visit, despite our heritage membership having lapsed. But we took care not to lie about in the long grass on the banks outside, having been badly bitten by grass-living bugs of some sort on a previous occasion.

The car parking machine at the car park next to the castle was quite challenging, not helped by being in full sun. The better class of car parks give their machines - and the punters trying to use them - protection from the sun.

Having passed the car park challenge, we found an impressive shop in the ticket office.

Made it through the shop to find a different Shere Drop to that offered by Wetherspoon's.

The view from the first bench of the day. In the middle of the day, benches in the shade were at something of a premium. Senior banter about charging for them, in the way of deck chairs in the Royal Parks in the olden days.

A new-to-me trolley. Maybe convenient to get in and out of a car, maybe not so comfortable to sit in for a protracted period. Unfortunately, I did not get to chat to the occupant. Maybe more than £2,000 worth according to reference 7.

These trees below the ramparts looked healthy enough, despite being on top of a hill in the middle of a dry spell. A lady trusty explained that the hill in question took a good bit of rain, some of it in the form of serious downpours. Talk of mist rolling around the ramparts first thing some mornings. Maybe they catch the rain coming in from the southwest.

This on the way to take tea and scone from the cafeteria. A scone which turned out to be rather heavy, so either a bit stale or plucked from a freezer.

Teasels nearby looking well, with the plants and leaves making interesting patterns in the bright sunlight. One could see why Monica Poole liked cutting them.

Shortly after that we came across what looked rather like an elderly, bleached telegraph pole lying at the foot of the wall, with the notice snapped above.

I was puzzled about the royals involved - were they the Langtry ones - and by the rig of the yacht, which, with its gaff, did not look very Bermudan too me. Furthermore, the spinnaker boom looks deployed to me, rather than in use. Not quite the same thing. 

Time to investigate and intending to start with the royals rather than the yacht, I put 'prince of wales 1893' into Bing and up comes reference 8. Mind reader or what?

Where I find that the yacht was scuttled on death-bed instructions from George V, who had it from his son Edward VII, who was indeed the Langtry royal. And that the yacht started as a cutter, snapped above - where the topsail does not look like that in the previous snap, which much have incorporated some subsequent change.

More confusion at reference 9, where what appears to be the same image as that used by English Heritage is dated to the yacht's maiden run in 1893-1897. Should I email the heritage people for clarification?

Then I wondered today to what extent the yacht's considerable success as a racer was to do with the wealth of the owner.

Interesting history in modern times, with a replica built in Russia for a Norwegian and which wound up in Cowes. Where it seems they have stopped work on this replica and are thinking about a rather different one. Plenty of money still left in the big yacht coffers.

Took our picnic on a bench underneath a walnut tree, supplemented by commentary from a trusty.

In the margins, we learned that while wasps might be interested in bits of apple core, they are not interested in raisons. Presumably they need to be cooked, or at least soaked, to make them accessible.

Followed by a stroll around the formal garden, the preserve, I believe of Princess Beatrice, daughter to Queen Victoria, sometime castellan, where we came across the bush snapped above. Google Images suggests the black mulberry or reference 10, which looks plausible enough. Once again, a lot of the images turned up by Google Images were from Reddit, which I have just learned is social media for geeks, for people with hobbies or hobby horses. Maybe I should join in?

Onto the elaborate chapel. Did it cost as much as the roughly contemporary yacht?

There was not much in the way of joins in the masonry to be seen, so I started to take a closer look.

Zooming in on this column today, the only join I am confident about is the one running under the saintly feet. There must be one up too somewhere, but I can't find it. Perhaps a good quality join can be brushed over with a mixture of resin and stone dust making a more or less invisible join? Maybe with modern tools and machinery you could work with larger pieces than the medievals? Must take notes next time.

For me, the composition as a whole was rather let down by the altar piece, which I did not care for at all. From the same stable as the rather more elaborate, secular piece above the stage at the Wigmore Hall?

Onto the small museum where the were several fireplaces playing to reference 3. With the one above including built in seats, but not a mantlepiece.

Trying out the headgear in one of the rather pleasant seats built into the bow window to the left of the big fireplace. It seemed very heavy, not really the thing for a long hot day in the saddle at all. And what about the matching coat and trousers? Furthermore, while it might give some protection against penetrating weapons, it would not give so much protection against heavy blunt instruments, at least not when applied to the top of the head. Maybe that is why both Normans and Saxons in the Bayeux Tapestry (aka the Canterbury Embroidery) wore skull caps with iron trimmings. Cushioned interior?

I could just about work out how the clock part of the clock on display worked, but I completely failed on the chime part: I could not work that one out at all. Maybe if it chimed when I was there? Made by one John Moore of Clerkenwell in 1819. Who is to be found at reference 11.

A fireplace with neither seats nor mantlepiece.

And so to Ryde, its benches and its beach, followed by home and lentil stew. Having neither seen nor heard any grasshoppers during our visit to Carisbrooke, despite there being plenty of suitable grass.

PS: following the talk of oranges at reference 6, in the course of looking for the non-existent 'Carisbrooke one', I was interested to come across reference 5. It seem that island oranges were already disappointing in 2023.

References

Reference 1: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/carisbrooke-castle/.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carisbrooke_Castle.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/07/an-evening-digression.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/08/carisbrooke-two.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/08/oranges-good-and-bad.html.

Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/07/saints-thomas.html.

Reference 7: https://efoldi.com/. One of those websites which talks talking to you. It may take you a few clicks to work out how to turn it off.

Reference 8: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMY_Britannia_(Royal_Cutter_Yacht).

Reference 9: https://k1britannia.org/. 'The K1 Britannia project is bringing one of the most iconic classic sailing yachts of all time back to life as a force for good'. Clearly a place to put on our to-do list for our holiday for next year.

Reference 10: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morus_nigra.

Reference 11: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Moore_%26_Sons.