I grew up in Okehampton, Devon.
My playground and 'back garden' was Dartmoor, the local woods and Okehampton Castle. This was in the good old days before mobile phones and generally over-protective parenting. I and my friends would be outside from dawn 'til dusk and we spent a lot of time at the castle.
The custodian in those days was a lovely gentleman called Harry Palmer who let us in for free and taught us all about the history and told wonderful ghost stories. Much of our time was spent looking for the ghost of Lady Howard. In all my times there I'd never so much as felt the presence of a ghost, let alone see one.
Finding dog-friendly places in the UK is tricky. And confusing, especially as Britain is supposedly a nation of dog-lovers. We aren't allowed to take her on any beaches during the summer months and most other attractions forbid dogs.
Okehampton Castle is dog-friendly. So on this latest visit to the UK, we revisited my old stomping ground.
Little had changed in the intervening decades; some areas were railed off due to health and safety concerns, ancient brickwork had been made safe but otherwise, all was exactly as I recalled, of course.
Intriguingly, there were two rooms that Kita absolutely refused to enter. Nothing would budge her, and if a Shiba doesn't want to do something, there's very little you can do about it.
But overall she loved the place.