Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
They called it "Capture the Castle." Not a picnic. Not a concert. Capture.
On Saturday morning a 1,000-year-old Norman fortress in Devon was wrapped in a 150-metre rainbow banner while organisers talked about occupying the ramparts and sending a message that the building now belongs to their cause. Nobody has to guess at the intent. They wrote it on the programme.
Totnes Castle sits at the highest point of the hilltop town. Founded around 1087 to lock down a crossing of the River Dart, it is one of England's best-preserved motte-and-bailey strongholds, a Grade I listed site in the care of English Heritage. On 26 September, as part of a four-day Totnes Pride festival, some 400 people gathered in the grounds while around 30 flag-bearers unfurled the giant Pride flag across the ancient masonry. The spectacle was billed as the defining image of the weekend.
Pride group 'captures' 1,000-year-old Norman castle using massive rainbow flaghttps://t.co/3S8DPiUibv
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 28, 2026
Ceri Goddard of Totnes Pride told the BBC they wanted the festival to be "a bit different," and that covering "the iconic castle" would show that "queer people have always been here and we always will be." She said English Heritage had been "amazing, helping us plan," after a rehearsal to work through
