Arundel
Returning north from Arundel (via Littlehampton), I found that my parents, sister and nephew had visited a decade ago. Nephew (then 10) had been asked some questions by a Tourism bod.
Q: How did you find Arundel? A: who could miss it????
Q: What is the best thing about Arundel? A: The pretty girls!
I'm with No. 1 Nephew on the first question. You come around the corner, and there's the cathedral and that's pretty in-your-face-d*mn-fine, and then there is the CASTLE. Sussex has a tradition of not obliterating the skirting village/town or moving it off to a respectable distance, but letting it sit down comfortably against the great estate walls, so there is no need to look further for Arundel.
We visited the castle on Saturday morning. It was due to chuck it down and be cold, but the rain was over before breakfast ended. The castle has fabulous gates. I wanted to say that it was an 'all mouth, no trousers' kind of place, but once inside had to revise this to 'all mouth and Saville Row trousers'. I asked ExMemSec to give me Arundel as a birthday present. When he indicated that I should ask for something else, it was the garden designer. Who I discover is two people: http://www.arundelcastle.org/the-gardens/the-collector-earls-garden.html ExMemSec was still not that positive, so I asked for the Canelleto on the right as you look into the Canelleto room. I'd show it to you, but they don't allow photos.
I would have settled for a Cataloue Raisonne of Arundel, including the Canelleto, but no such thing appeared in the gift shop. Not even a post card.
I regret not pushing a hefty donation into the Fitzalan Chapel box, as it is clearly run by a separate organisation. The Trust which runs it has made good efforts to be limited-vision friendly: despite the uneven surfaces expected in historic buildings, I walked round with confidence (English Heritage, come here and learn!). The same cannot be said for Arundel Castle. It has a level of poor labelling and interpretation that I've not seen outside volunteer-run my-sister-has-a-photopcopier-at-work-her-boss-lets-her-use-it places since the 1990s, or in 'legacy' interpretation (i.e. things which haven't been replaced for 20 years). But here there were exhibitions from 2014, which were illegible. Created by people who don't know the basics of graphic design as explained in Father Ted: things which are far away, are small. There were also signs written all in CAPITALS. Signs written not just in italics, but in faux-calligraphy. Small faux-calligraphy, far away. As if we didn't already realise 'this place is old'. Why wasn't it in Latin - people with good eyesight were missing part of the 'it's old, and you can't understand it' experience which people with poor eyesight had. The kind of Latin used in 16th century Barcelona, just to be sure.
Q: How did you find Arundel? A: who could miss it????
Q: What is the best thing about Arundel? A: The pretty girls!
I'm with No. 1 Nephew on the first question. You come around the corner, and there's the cathedral and that's pretty in-your-face-d*mn-fine, and then there is the CASTLE. Sussex has a tradition of not obliterating the skirting village/town or moving it off to a respectable distance, but letting it sit down comfortably against the great estate walls, so there is no need to look further for Arundel.
We visited the castle on Saturday morning. It was due to chuck it down and be cold, but the rain was over before breakfast ended. The castle has fabulous gates. I wanted to say that it was an 'all mouth, no trousers' kind of place, but once inside had to revise this to 'all mouth and Saville Row trousers'. I asked ExMemSec to give me Arundel as a birthday present. When he indicated that I should ask for something else, it was the garden designer. Who I discover is two people: http://www.arundelcastle.org/the-gardens/the-collector-earls-garden.html ExMemSec was still not that positive, so I asked for the Canelleto on the right as you look into the Canelleto room. I'd show it to you, but they don't allow photos.
I would have settled for a Cataloue Raisonne of Arundel, including the Canelleto, but no such thing appeared in the gift shop. Not even a post card.
I regret not pushing a hefty donation into the Fitzalan Chapel box, as it is clearly run by a separate organisation. The Trust which runs it has made good efforts to be limited-vision friendly: despite the uneven surfaces expected in historic buildings, I walked round with confidence (English Heritage, come here and learn!). The same cannot be said for Arundel Castle. It has a level of poor labelling and interpretation that I've not seen outside volunteer-run my-sister-has-a-photopcopier-at-work-her-boss-lets-her-use-it places since the 1990s, or in 'legacy' interpretation (i.e. things which haven't been replaced for 20 years). But here there were exhibitions from 2014, which were illegible. Created by people who don't know the basics of graphic design as explained in Father Ted: things which are far away, are small. There were also signs written all in CAPITALS. Signs written not just in italics, but in faux-calligraphy. Small faux-calligraphy, far away. As if we didn't already realise 'this place is old'. Why wasn't it in Latin - people with good eyesight were missing part of the 'it's old, and you can't understand it' experience which people with poor eyesight had. The kind of Latin used in 16th century Barcelona, just to be sure.