A Prisoner in PomfretWild West Yorkshire nature diary, Wednesday 5th May 1999
The castle's two bread ovens are the size of small igloos and were, literally, designed to feed an army when necessary. Some of the stone blocks in the oven walls have been baked red by the heat.
Our guide, Michael, mentions that the Norman lord, de Lacy, who is likely the man who had this built was also responsible for Kirkstall Abbey. I feel as if we have had a trip into the medieval mind, while striving for heaven de Lacy made sure he had an efficient version of hell at his diposal, down there deep below his keep.
Richard Bell, 
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DEMOLISHED WITH THE FULL APPROVAL of the town's-people, the ruins of Pontefract Castle still bear the scars of the Civil War Siege. There are cannon ball and musket ball holes in the massive walls that overlook the town.
It is also possible to find some of the signature marks that medieval masons carved on the stone blocks. These masons marks include arrowheads and a chequerboard.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker climbs up the branches of a Sycamore. Later it pecks about on bare ground at the foot of a weeping ash.
The yellow daisy-like flowers of Oxford Ragwort add splashes of colour to the craggy ruins, growing from crevices between the blocks.
We get a chance to experience the inner life of a 12th century castle when we follow a narrow staircase up into the motte then steeply down to it's centre. We cross a 'bottomless' pit via a well-worn plank to a single stone cell where the prisoners were shut away in complete darkness. Another 5 cells have been sealed long ago.