Montgomery castle is located above the small village of Montgomery close to the England/Wales border, 8 miles from Welshpool.
Built in 1223 (to replace the original 1071 fortress) by Henry III and then Hubert de Burge from 1228, it went on to become a meeting place for the welsh prince's. Most famous of these being Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, who was also proclaimed 1st Prince of Wales by Henry III actually in the castle. It was owned throughout the centuries by many families including the Mortimer's. The castle was eventually destroyed on the orders of Oliver Cromwell after the Civil War.

***VISITING INFO***
The Castle is now owned and maintained by CADW.
It is *free* to all to enter all year round, but only assistance dogs are allowed, it is also a non-smoking site.
There are no toilets here the closest being in the town centre. There is also no 'shop'.
There is a small (also free) car-park a short walk from the castle.
To walk to the castle from Montgomery centre you have to walk up the steep hill to it (we drove!!) although it seems like a nice walk as there are also walking paths crossing through it.
I would also say that being a castle ruin some parts are not very wheel/pushchair friendly and it can be a bit of a bumpy ride!!

WARNING - There are no barriers on the walls (and it's a big drop) so it's not recommended to lean over to much or let the kids stand on them!!!!

***A PICNIC AT THE CASTLE***
We had decided to go on a whim, having three children bored at home with 'nothing' to do, as we only live about 8 miles away we decided to go for a picnic there as something a little different!

Like I said we drove there and had no problem parking, the path up to the castle is flat enough for a pushchair and no overly over grown. Upon turning the last corner to be greeted by the castle and you can appreciate the position it is in, you can see for miles from up there, the scenery is amazing!!!
To access the castle you have to walk over a modern wooden bridge, and it is deceptively high as well, again this quite bumpy due to the metal wiring like layer to stop slips.

Although it is a ruin and it is hard to imagine it as a castle and to even have roofs, CADW have put up plaques stating which room is which and the function etc. There is still the well/dungeon, which I'm sure was my son's favourite part!! There is also the main hall, guard rooms etc - make sure to check out the grooves which held the portcullis too, it added to the image of the castle when it was standing.

(From the top of the ramparts it is also possible (on a clear day) to see the Roman road that runs through here, although not in tar not stone)

Coming out of the castle you can walk down and around to the 'gardens' and the through the original moat, all around here are huge piles of masonry from the castle, which gives the ruin an atmosphere!! While we were walking around the bottom of the castle you realise how big and tall it actually is which is huge!!

After all this walking we picked a spot in the middle of what would have been said moat and set up the picnic, needless to say my two eldest loved running around and pretending to swordplay.

Eventually, after one last walk and photos, we decided to head home, we were there for around 2 hours and the children loved being there in the fresh air.
To me it is a free trip out, getting the children out and enjoying something different.
I would definitely recommend a visit if your in the area!