...now, where were we? A yes... we were in the Round Tower...

Looking out from the tower top you can also follow the curtain wall to the second intact tower.

Sadly walking along the wall is no longer an option, so we must return to the castle grounds to make our way to the Woodstock Tower.

The primary function of the tower nowadays is education and there are displays and activities aimed at the many children who visit the castle. However until fairly recently the Woodstock Tower could be rented as a dwelling.

I know someone who lived here in the late 1960s and recall one of his endless complaints being about the bathroom. Well let's see if we can identify why that might have been... here's the bathroom.

The eagle eyed among you will note there are no taps with this tub... hot water had to be carried up three floors from the kitchen. How'd you fancy carting buckets of hot water up these stairs? Just imagine how many you'd need to fill that bath!

Maybe it'd be easier to just stand on the roof with a bar of soap when it rains! Do you think the folk in the Round Tower will be perving us?

No radio or TV here either... external aerials were no allowed. Still for entertainment you only had to make your way downstairs and outside...

...where you could play with the giant chess set, as long as it was daylight.

More later.

As promised yesterday I'm going to be posting some images of Caldicot Castle today, the venue for my proposed off-the-wall blog-meet... Medieval Madness.

Long-time visitors to this blog will already have seen images of the Jewel in Monmouthshire's Crown... the main entrance of which looks like this:

Caldicot may well have been fortified and the garrison undoubtedly defended the castle from time to time, but it is not one of those structures that was heavily beaten up. Although the towers at the front corners have sustained substantial damage, two of those at the rear are intact and in fact have been lived in until fairly recently.

Looking at the main entrance we see a row of windows at the first floor level; the banqueting hall is behind these.

From inside the castle grounds, the main residence including the banqueting hall shows traces of its Tudor makeover.

It is generally thought that one Prince Hal was conceived at Caldicot... as an adult Henry VIII returned to the Caldicot area on occasion.

Looking down the left side of the castle we see one of the two in-tact towers. This one is currently as display gallery offering the chance for visitors to see items of furniture and artefacts.

From the top of the tower we get an excellent view back over the castle grounds and Second Severn Crossing in the background.

I'll be posting more images later in the day, so if you are among those interested in the Medieval Madness blog-meet be sure to come back and visit again.