Downstairs the students were milling around waiting for us to arrive, on Tom’s directions we all made our way into the grand hall and sat down on the seats provided. Standing in front of us Tom introduced Douglas, the castle manager. Douglas looked distinctly clonish, in his sixties he had close cropped white hair, a long pointed goatee and twinkling blue eyes. He was wearing faded blue jeans, a white T-shirt, a black leather waistcoat and black Doc Martins.

Over the next half an hour he informed us of the history of the castle and estate from its construction, through its heydays and slow decline to dereliction until the University purchased it five years ago at a knock down price. Of course although it was cheap to buy it had cost several million pounds to renovate and restore it to its former glory. The castle came with several thousand acres of forest and mixed woodland along with the lake that we had seen on our approach. The whole estate was protected by a brick wall eight feet high with only one entrance and that was the giant gates we had entered through. When questioned about the purpose of the wall, Douglas quite candidly admitted that it served to prevent intruders and unwanted prying eyes from gaining access to the estate and the castle. The University had purchased the estate for the sole purpose of providing a hedonistic retreat for the students and staff to combat the stress they encountered on a daily basis, where the only rules were:

a.       University property was to be respected and protected at all times. Any damage caused would entitle the University to seek financial compensation or payment in kind from the offender at the University’s discretion.

b.      Intentional physical injury of any kind is expressly forbidden, any incidences which occur will be fully investigated and any person found guilty of this offence will be dismissed immediately.

c.       This is a clothing optional establishment, nakedness is permitted throughout the castle and estate at all times, except at meal times for hygiene reasons.

d.      All guests agree not to divulge any information to the public unless expressly permitted by the University.

After these rules had been disclosed and explained you could have heard a pin drop, I don’t think anybody knew what to say or how to react. Now I understood why the