Portchester castle

As a teenage trainee journalist on our local newspaper, The News, I was lucky enough to be given Portchester as one of my "patches", keeping tabs on local events of interest.

This meant that I could eat my packed lunch at Portchester castle, often sitting at the very top of the Norman keep (actually, it wasn't quite so high when the Normans first built it) enjoying the fantastic view across the upper harbour.

It still remains one of my favourite places to visit, and I often sneak off in the car, just to spend an hour or so, just walking around the grounds and getting another "fix" of that view from the top of the tower.

Originally built by the Romans, who were responsible for the outer "curtain", with its projecting bastions, Portchester Castle was added to over many centuries and served many different roles, including one as a prison for French prisoners in the Napoleonic Wars.

A favourite spot for family picnics on a nice day you can't better it, and on a dank old winter afternloon it still has a magic that is all its own.