Off the Beaten Path: UK Castle-Seeing on an 'Off-Day'

Last fall my college roommate and I studied abroad in Lancashire, England. Cheap and with a small travel window between our classes, we had to take advantage of our student train passes and the sights within Lancashire and surrounding counties. We soon discovered that weekend travel schedules hamper our maneuverability, but this led to one of our most memorable adventures: a trek to Beeston Castle.

The weekend plan entailed spending Friday and Saturday in Chester, one of our favorite UK cities. Chester has a gorgeous Roman wall to walk, movie-set-but-real architecture, and is a perfect springboard into Wales. We loaded our backpacks, embraced the idea of wearing one pair of jeans for the weekend, and planned our itinerary with all the savvy of American tourist naivety.

We planned on taking a train or bus to Beeston Castle on Saturday and then hit some Wales Castles on Sunday. Up early, we trooped through an idyllic ghost town in search of bakery breakfast. Only McDonald's and Burger King operate on American tourist schedules, so we settled for muffins and bad coffee from McD and did not heed this sign.

The train station was deserted. Across the city (all on foot), we discovered only one bus ran to Beeston and we'd missed it. However, the kindly gentleman told us to take a bus to Tarperly and get off at the Red Fox Inn. The castle would be a short two-kilometer walk up the road.

We thought: Two kilometers? No problem!

UK public transportation is a godsend to poor, Midwest American students. However, buses take a long time to go a short distance. We also learned that a short "two-kilometer" jaunt in the UK must be as the crow flies. The roads wind like a snake suffering from colic.

We had to be two kilometers into our trek (with loaded backpacks and loaded bladders) by the time we saw our first sign telling us Beeston Castle was two and half kilometers out. The day was gorgeous, sunny and warm, but nature can only wait so long. We finally marched into a tiny village, not Beeston but all the buildings were sporting the name, and found-miraculously-a tile shop open on a late Saturday morning.

I abandoned my roommate to awkward conversation with the startled Brit. He was amazed we'd walked all the way from Tarperly, but he did not clue us in to the trek still to come.

We wound past thatched roofs, goats, green hills and green trees, cows, and more curves than we thought possible. It seemed each sign read the distance to the next sign and so forth. Still, we took joy in feeling like hobbits without the doom of Mordor pressing on us.

Finally, we spotted castle ruins high on a hill top, but our signs had disappeared and the road looked to curve around it. We debated cutting through a field. Then we gambled on taking a left at the fork and shortly tripped into Beeston, a tiny village of three buildings, a bus stop, and a bicycle.

Our signs reappeared. Feet aching, starving and thirsty, we heaved up the steep bluff. Our efforts paid off.

Beeston Castle is remote to other tourist castles and late September is the off (and free) season. The welcome center had ice cream, a gift shop, and locals. At the bluff's peak we had a rewarding panorama of Cheshire and Wales in the company of locals enjoying a Saturday picnic, flying kites, reading books, and snuggling.

We flopped on the grass, had a lunch of cereal and warm water, and basked. We were in England, we were intrepid.

We had to walk back to Tarperly or miss our return to Chester. The welcome lady had been surprised and impressed we'd walked to Beeston, then downright flabbergasted when we declined a taxi to Tarperly. It felt good. For once we could disprove the paradoxical American stereotype of laziness and rushing.

The walk back was invigorating and familiar. We were empowered by our first castle ruins experience, our first off-track adventure, the brilliant sun and lush grass, and the pleasant surprise on the locals' faces. Yes, we were sore, sweaty, and exhausted by the time we collapsed in our bus seats, but throughout the rest of our adventures in the UK, this day of wandering was one of our best.