Photograph posted by TrevBatWCC with the description: Just 1km from home as the crow flies is Sandal Castle, built in the early 12th century. There's very little of it left these days, but being one of the highest points in the Wakefield area, it does offer splendid views all around, and still attracts many visitors despite the lack of stonework! Being a fine day on Bank Holiday Monday with some sunny spells, I took the Z6 walkies, its first time out for several months! As close to home as it is, I've not visited the Castle since 2009. It has quite an interesting history, the Castle being involved in the Wars of the Roses, and the Battle of Wakefield took place here on 30th December 1460. During this battle, Richard, the 3rd Duke of York, was mortally wounded by those nasty Lancastrians (sorry, Kath!). From then on Sandal Castle fell into decay, and was completely unoccupied from about 1600. In 1646 on the orders of Parliament the Castle was stripped of its defences. The nursery rhyme 'Grand Old Duke of York' was written about the Castle, with the titular 3rd Duke of York referring to Richard III. The song is said to refer to either the frequent movement of soldiers to and from the castle, where the Duke had his treasury, or to the movement of soldiers just prior to the Battle of Wakefield. Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 3 (Act 1, Scene 2) is set in Sandal Castle. (images taken 27/05/2024) Many thanks to Helen (helenlinda), Richard (DicksPics), Isabel (Chinga) and Dave (HobbitDave) for their User Awards on my previous upload, HumVee, most appreciated [emoticon][emoticon] Raw images processed in Nikon Capture NX-D, tweaked in Nik Collection's plugins and Photoshop Elements 2020. Thanks again to everyone for your vote & comments on my previous uploads, it really is appreciated and encouraging [emoticon][emoticon] Trev [emoticon]