English Heritage, are they taking the pee pee?

[robgil]

We went to Framlingam castle today, Thers nothing there! The castle walk is closed and the only other attraction is the shop! They are only charging half price for tickets though to visit their shop.
I have to admit i didnt buy a ticket, i browsed around the shop then left.
Beware, it says nothing about this when you feed their parking machines in the car park, although i parked in the street beside the much cheaper to visit church.

A nice castle though and when its fully operational again it should be worth a visit, all the action seems to be on the castle walk but bring a head for heights, the tudor chimneys are worth a look.

Camera died but i got a couple of photos before it did so i will load them up when the bubba goes to bed.

 

[CatherineB]

What a shame, and I agree a bit of a cheek not to warn you at the carpark. Framlingham castle is great, though, we took the girls two or three years ago. They have a really good audio tour for kids, if you're into the "Horrible Histories" type of approach! And yes, fab chimneys!

 

[AMc]

Beware, it says nothing about this when you feed their parking machines in the car park, although i parked in the street beside the much cheaper to visit church.

Had a similar experience at Blickling Hall in Norfolk which is National Trust.
1st visit - pay to park, house and gardens supposed to be open. Ticket office shut and when walking around to the house that was locked and closed too along with the cafe. Went for a walk in the park but not what we had intended.
Second time - paid to park. House is closed on Tuesdays (IIRC) even though it's 1/2 term and there's a stream of people arriving and then leaving (we observed while working out where to go instead).
THIRD TIME we turned up, paid to park. Ticket office open but told that the house was unexpectedly closed that day come back tomorrow.

Now the Samphire shop has closed and we can't console ourselves with their lovely pork pies I'm not going back again. Very disappointing ... 3 times!

 

[Penners]

We went to Framlingam castle today, Thers nothing there!

You mean apart from a bleedin' great castle?

 

[robgil]

That and a shop.
I was at least expecting some jugglers and some jesters, the odd knight perhaps. Or at least a sign stating that the only thing the castle has to offer , the castle walk , was closed and the only other thing the castle has to offer , the shop , was of course open.

 

[Penners]

When you say "the castle walk" do you mean the walk around the top of the walls?

If so, then I do urge you to go back when it's open. It's well worthwhile. Although I've never encountered any jugglers or jesters!

Opening dates/times for EH and NT sites are always a bit iffy in winter - I've been caught out once or twice (although as a NT member at least I haven't wasted any car park money). Nowadays I always check online before I visit any such properties.

If you like historical re-creations, with all kinds of ancient arts and crafts being demonstrated, have you ever been to Kentwell Hall's annual event, in Long Melford? It usually takes place over a period of 3 weeks - in June I think. It's pretty expensive to get in (I can't remember, but I think it was around £13 each last year), but it's a fantastic experience.

 

[Juju]

Where I volunteer for the NT we often have to close on busy afternoons because we can only have around 200 people a day in the house as it's so fragile. It says in the guidebook that entry isn't guaranteed. People are usually very understanding but you sometimes get people ranting and raving at the ticket office staff and the volunteers in the garden! We do however put a sign up in the car park saying it's closed but people still walk all the way down the hill, obviously not believing it affects them! At least they don't pay for parking at our place.
Juju