The Castle Inn

J had a phone call from the hospital a couple of days ago asking her to come in for a procedure. I postponed my trip to see my parents, and drove her there and back.

Whilst she went in to the hospital, I went for quite a long walk. First, up the hill, atop which sits this building. It sits next to the ruins of Halton Castle, and was built on the site of the castle gatehouse in the 18th century as a courthouse - thus the royal coat of arms. The courtroom on the first floor was reached by the stairs visible here, prisoners were housed in the basement. Now it is a pub. As I stood and took a photograph, men emerged carrying large containers - the lorry to the right is collecting used cooking oil for recycling.

One day I will have to look at the castle ruins, which now serve as the pub’s beer garden, accessed through the pub. I haven’t been into a pub in the last two years, and am still reluctant to do so. One day …….

At the end of my walk J contacted me to say the procedure had finished, and they would allow me in to sit with her. By the time we left she had been there five hours, and was very tired. But it all went well. The nurses are simply fantastic. And I love the Liverpudlian accents over this way, the sing song accents are great.