...was Windsor Castle built under the flight path of Heathrow?
A plane approximately every 2 minutes flying over the top of the castle and the city becomes a distraction from what is a very eye catching environment.
Taking the train from Paddington and changing at Slough (rhymes with plough, not tough) we were deposited literally in front of Windsor Castle which for all intents is the London home of the Queen, Buckingham Palace being the weekday office.
It is a majestic site as the stone of the castle looks newish and that is because the stone used in its construction contains a silica which leeches when wet and self cleans the stone.
As it is an official royal residence photographing it is limited to in the main external shots hence the photos in the blog.
We visited Queen Mary's Doll's House - a replica of the layout of a royal residence, the Drawings Gallery where there was a very fine exhibition marking the 90th birthday of the Duke of Edinburgh and the State Apartments - being rooms set out to show how royalty lived in past years but some of which are still in use today for official occasions.
Following that we took the Round Tower tour which allowed us to climb the Round Tower (obviously) but which (not so obviously) is not perfectly round.
This gave a superb view out over the city of Windsor, the Park associated with the castle and also the town of Eton.
On the east side you could see all the way back to the City of London and the south side gave a very good view of the Long Walk which stretched 4.4kms into the distance.
Following that tour we went into St George's Chapel where 10 kings of England and numerous others including The Queen Mother and the ashes of Princess Margaret are interred.
The chapel is also where the Knights of the Garter meet every June, interestingly Military Knights who provide support for the Order of the Garter are allocated accommodation by the Queen on site at Windsor Castle.
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| Military Knights accommodation to right |
You too can have a house in the country by Windsor - you just need to afford the lease (8,000 quid per month!)
A very worth while day visit to Windsor concluded with a pub meal at the King & Castle before the return trip back to Paddington
