Bleak House

The winds whipped around Hurst Castle this afternoon, and above its battlements towering grey slabs of cloud sped east, whilst around its walls the Solent and the sea wrestled with the tide, the waters thrashed, the castle was completely surrounded, engulfed in the elements. I felt uneasy, aware of my remote location and its potential dangers, and this was a relatively gentle day, I imagined how the area would be transformed into a nightmarish environment by a fierce storm. I've always had a healthy respect for the sea, well, that's not strictly true, it's more a mix of a fear and respect.  I wondered what it must have been like to have lived here, in one of the early garrisons, when the site would have been even more exposed. In a storm it would have been a bleak house, no doubt. The walls of the original Henrician Castle are forbidding, matching their location, and they may sport thick walls with small windows and embrasures, but even so, being inside whilst nature threw her wildest at you for days must have been a grim duty. The isolation too. The spit is long, thin and exposed, trying to negotiate it during a storm would have been (and still would be) treacherous at the least. I imagine you'd have been cut off for days at a time sometimes. And the seas!  Man, the waters are always boiling menacingly here, where the forest rivers gather to meet the sea.  What I'm trying to say is, I wouldn't want to get caught out here in proper bad weather. Still, Hurst is a fascinating multi-period fortification in an beautiful location. I've painted it grimly as today dictated, although on a sunny day, with a warm breeze, blue skies and great panoramic views for miles, it's lovely. Honest.