A bumper year for English castles

Good news stories from the past seven days

Clifford’s Tower in York
Clifford’s Tower in York reopened in 2022 after a £5m renovation
(Image credit: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

Last year was a bumper year for castles, as record numbers flocked to visit them across England. According to English Heritage, which looks after more than 400 sites, monuments and buildings, ten of its attractions drew their highest numbers of visitors since records began, and a further six reported their highest numbers in more than a decade. Yarmouth Castle on the Isle of Wight reported a 28% increase, while Clifford’s Tower in York, the last remaining part of York Castle, was up 31%.

Pup takes 100-mile round trip to Manchester Airport

Codebreakers decipher letters by Mary, Queen of Scots

Three amateur codebreakers have deciphered a trove of long-lost letters by Mary, Queen of Scots. The trio – a German pianist, an Israeli computer scientist and a Japanese physicist – are members of the Decrypt Project, which deciphers historical codes. They worked on 57 coded letters, held in France’s National Library, wrongly categorised as Italian texts. As they cracked the cipher, they were amazed to realise that they were written by Mary from 1578 to 1584, while she was held in prison; they discuss her hopes and fears.

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