Distant Day Out - Windsor

It was my mum's birthday recently, so we headed off to Windsor to celebrate. That also means you get a special royal blogpost today, filled with castles, bridges, and private schools. This post also means I've blogged about Berkshire! 

Windsor

Windsor's probably best known for being one of the homes of the royal family. The current royal house is even called the House of Windsor, ever since they renamed themselves from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha over a hundred years ago. It's also why we have the Royal County of Berkshire - no other county is as royal, and it's all thanks to Windsor.

One of the royal family's residences is Windsor Castle, it has been since the early 12th century when King Henry I decided to celebrate Pentecost here. It was originally built as a standard castle, the kind only constructed to protect yourself from enemy forces. William the Conqueror chose Windsor precisely because of its location on the Thames, which was helpful when it came to defending him against invading troops from London. It was also built close to a series of Saxon forests, which has now become the Windsor Great Park.

 

Since Henry I, the castle has been renovated several times, with Henry III adding a palace in the centre, with building efforts taking nearly twenty years. King Edward III rebuilt the palace in the mid-14th century, with further renovations carried out by Charles II and later George III, meaning the castle today is comprised of various different architectural styles. A fire in 1992 destroyed a large section of the interior, leading to further refurbishments, and today it's where the King and Queen spend their weekends, apparently. 

Windsor Castle is therefore the longest continuously occupied royal residence in the world. It's also one of the largest, with over 1,000 rooms within its walls. I'm not sure what they're all used for, but that might be because I didn't wander inside the castle. You can visit Windsor Castle, it's just that tickets are quite pricey, and it adds up when you visit with your family. 

 

However, you can always head over to Windsor Great Park and walk along the Long Walk to admire the sheer scale of the castle. I probably should have brought my camera with me, the photo I took doesn't really capture its size well, but the views from drones are fantastic. I didn't spend long in the park, so I couldn't admire the deer or fungi, but I'd love to come back one day.

Windsor town centre

Windsor is otherwise just another place where people live. That goes without saying, but I imagine most people who visit would go only for the castle before immediately heading back home. There's the pretty high street, with Union Jack bunting hanging from shop fronts everywhere you go, with all the designer fashion you could ever want. Continue heading down the high street, though, and you'll find yourself face to face with a preserved locomotive.

 

Yes, there's a random train station in the middle of the town centre. This is Windsor and Eton Central, which for a time was a pretty big deal. It opened in 1849, initially called just Windsor, but was rebuilt for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, where it was transformed into a stunning building with a royal waiting room. In that time, it was also briefly part of the Tube as part of the District line. However, the station has since declined to the point it's basically just a massive stub, sharing space with a shopping centre.

 

I also saw this fountain not far from the castle, and thought it looked pretty. This is the George V Memorial Fountain, unveiled in 1937 in honour of the first king from the House of Windsor. Truth be told, he's only the first because he created the house, and that was only due to anti-German sentiment during the First World War. Still, it's a cool fountain.

Windsor Bridge

I'll quickly mention the bridge that passes over the Thames. The original Windsor Bridge was built in 1070, as part of the Normans' attempt to fortify their newly conquered London. However, due to it being wooden, it often fell into disrepair, leading to the construction of a new bridge around 1242 from recently felled oaks from the nearby forest. This bridge faced similar issues, but was only replaced around 1824, with a new iron structure that still stands to this day. It's been pedestrianised ever since 1970, though.

It also happens to link Windsor with another town, one far smaller but arguably just as notorious. I also visited it that day, but deliberately kept it from the title, just as a bit of a surprise. I'm not sure how excited this sentence has made you, though.

Eton 

Eton's home to only 5,000 people, and it's pretty isolated. Windsor Bridge being closed to cars means the nearest crossing's a few miles away, and the town itself is hemmed in by various fields and the Thames. It's got a pretty high street, I suppose, which is starkly peaceful on a Sunday morning, but otherwise I wouldn't have much to say about Eton, if it wasn't for a certain school.

 

Eton College is the largest boarding school in England, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. He wanted to give seventy poor boys housing and an education free of charge, with the aim to provide them with his knowledge, but somewhere along the way, his initial plans have seemingly fallen to the wayside. Today, Eton's best known for taking innocent 13-year-old boys and converting them into 18-year-old men who seem to be thoroughly detached from the outside world, before being packed off to Oxbridge. Twenty Prime Ministers have been educated at Eton, including Sir Robert Walpole, the first PM, and Boris Johnson, one of the worst. It's worth noting that if the college was a town, it would be only three times smaller than Eton itself, that's how significant it is.

Now obviously I couldn't enter Eton, it's all private land anyways, but I have to admit the college itself looks pretty wonderful on the outside. There's also the surrounding library (pictured below) and chapel, which are similarly stunning. However, if you want to visit Eton as a tourist, this is as far as you'll get to go. Unless you want to walk onwards to Slough, not that that's how I'd use my free will. It's an elite boys' club, and you'll never be in it. 

 

Heading back over the river into Windsor, I did wonder whether going to Eton was all that necessary. I guess it was interesting enough to see where so many of the UK's former leaders started out, though it's hard imagining Boris Johnson as a feral lad playing the Eton wall game and enjoying Eton mess, whilst dressed in a tailcoat, alongside his best friend David Cameron. 

Epilogue

I guess Windsor is probably the most high profile place I've blogged about in this series so far. The castle alone has international recognition from monarchy fans scattered all over the globe, and the town itself is small enough that the castle has a pretty big footprint on the whole area. And yet this isn't even the original Windsor - that can be found down the road, better known as Old Windsor. 

I'd like to end with two questions, one more specific than the other:

• Windsor's officially in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the only royal borough outside of London. A few weeks ago, I went to Maidenhead - don't ask why - and I have some photos. The only problem is I don't know if the post itself would interest you guys. So I'm wondering: would you want me to write about Maidenhead, if only to see what the rest of Berkshire's like.
• Lastly, have you ever been to Windsor? If so, did you love it? And have you been around the Great Park, and how beautiful is it really? I'm just planning my next day trip, don't mind me!