Interior Details

 I recently visited Raby Castle with my mum, which was really nice. It is a wonderful medieval castle with a fascinating history. It was built in the 14th century (although the original battlements date back to the 11th Century), it was the scene of the plotting of the Rising in the North and a parliamentary stronghold during the Civil War. 

The castle was originally built by the Neville family however in 1569 it was forfeited to the Crown following the failure of the Rising in the North and since 1569 the castle has been owned by the Vane family the current owner being the 12th Lord Barnard.

While I am not great fan of the aristocracy it is nice to see such historic building preserved as they provide a fascinating insight to the past.

I have included a few shots from the interior of the castle.

Back Street History

Today's shots were taken around the back streets of Versailles. Obviously when people visit the city the main thing they come to see is the fantastic royal palace but the grandeur of the palace spreads out into the surrounding streets as can be seen in the final  picture with its magnificent gold decoration and impressive lion head door knockers. I chose to share this image in colour because the gold would be lost in black and white.

The other pictures however work better in black and white because it gives them a better sense of history and given how old these buildings are I think it needs that. I had thought about a colour exposure for the first image to bring out the glorious wisteria however it was the patterns in the stone work that I wanted to highlight.