Brian Bell

The castle was built out of quarried stone taken from the hill and that area was also a great place to play in as we grew up. I presume it is the same today, unless they have built houses along the back of the koppie. The entrance to the castle was up a ramp and a small balcony leading to the front door. Just inside the door there is a stairway to the second floor on your left and straight ahead you walked into the kitchen. The height of the passage way is quite low, so I presume the builder was a short person. Up stairs led to the bedrooms and a balcony, looking down into the lower hall or dining room. There were old flags on the walls and a suit of armour.

We were never allowed to go up to the top turret look out, as I think the stairs were not in good shape.

When the castle was owned by Mr and Mrs Leader, I used to help him in the garage. Like my dad's garage there was always a lot of things being stored for repair at some stage. On one occasion Mr Leader had been to an auction and bought a big box of fire...

I lived at 130 Highland Road, right across from the Castle from 1942 until about 1965 when I left to travel the world. The Castle to me was a great playground as I grew up.  We spent a lot of time searching for the secret passage way into the Castle (every castle has a secret entrance) but after all the years of searching, we never found it. Below the Castle on the side of the hill facing Kensington there was an open air covered balcony.  We checked every stone and bush around it, hoping to be the first to find the secret tunnel but in the end gave up. I still think there is one but  the original builder has taken the secret to his grave.

Below are some photos of the Castle over the years from my personal collection. I'm not sure of the date of the first photo but it shows the big trees that used to be just inside the front wall. The second is taken from the same position in November 2013, when we were back visiting family. It shows how the lovely bougainvillea has now taken over.  The big doors to the left of the main gate were for the coach, horse drawn I presume.

Just inside...