Castle Pleasure Grounds

The castle grounds are lovely. It’s a wonderful place for walking and enjoying the views with the locals as opposed to bus loads of tourists. Treat yourself to an ice cream, relax on a bench and watch the world go by.

A beautiful public open space and gardens which surrounds the Castle building and has many facets. I grew up visiting the Castle grounds and sadly took it for granted. It was not till I moved away for a number of years that I realised what a wonderful and unique space this actually is. I fed ducks here as a child, revised here as an adolescent and dare I say met ‘boys’ here too. Many fond memories.
The facilities encompass all of the following. A park which has an amazing wooden fort, rope bridge, sand pit, and a ‘bouncy’ floor (so todays generation do not get the same kind of scars I have on my knees!). This is free and open in daylight hours. A tree-​lined Riverside walk makes a welcome distraction from the hustle and bustle of a busy day, and there is much wildlife to be seen including the aforementioned ducks, geese, swans, squirrels, water voles and wild rabbits. Its fab for a bit of peace, to educate children, or for excercise. Many local fishermen also use these banks daily.
There is a cute little café which serves hot and cold food, and ice creams etc,. where you can eat inside or out. Tennis courts, crazy golf, and tennis courts for those so inclined (at a small fee for equipment). Good toilet/​washroom facilities. A bandstand which is 100 plus years old and still in use for singers, windbands and brass bands. Also loads of open space for kids to play football or just burn off a bit of energy. There are picnic benches available for the public and small wooden shelters should the sun not be kind. When the weather is hot the grass is scattered with sun worshippers just catching the rays.
The piece de resistance of all of this for me though has to be the ‘formal gardens’ which are a series of highly colourful raised beds with pathways and steps winding betwixt.
The Castle Grounds are often host to local events too, ‘Battle of the bands’, the local carnival, bank holiday fairs, various arts and music festivals. Probably most famously last year it was honoured with Prince Charles and a huge parade marking the merger of several local regiments to form a new unified’Staffordshire regiment’. Whilst I am not a Royalist I was proud to see event televised and showing our local beauty in a positive light.
The best part about all of this is, in the main, its all free!!! No entrance fee. I sometimes think that more could be done with the space available — but possibly its better the devil you know. I think if the council had to spend money developing more attractions it would be in danger of becoming ‘commercialised’ and lose its essence (along with the free entry too no doubt).
There are historical ruins and the like also in the grounds — but I am afraid this is not my forte. For those of you that way inclined the Castle and its grounds would make an interesting and enjoyable day out.