Lise (E.) Hull (1954-)

Lise Hull told SATA: "While serving as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy in the mid-1980s, I was stationed in Pembrokeshire, Wales, at NAVFAC Brawdy, which was attached to the Royal Air Force base there. During the ensuing two-and-a-half years, I explored as much of Britain as I could squeeze into my off-time and became so enamored with Wales that I still consider it to be my spiritual homeland. I have a particular soft spot for Pembrokeshire, which I visit as often as possible. My favorite place is St. David's Cathedral, where I always find inspiration, peace, beauty—and a sense of constancy.

"Over the past eighteen years, I have repeatedly traveled to Great Britain to refresh my spirit and reconnect with the land and its people, and to explore as many castles, ancient monuments, heritage sites, cafés, and pubs as possible. After my retirement from the Navy in 1993, I married my American husband, Marvin, in Haverfordwest, Wales, and we lived for a short time in Camrose (which has its own motte castle and medieval church). Upon returning to the States in 1994, I founded Castles Unlimited, a research and travel-based business dedicated to the study and promotion of British castles. My goal has been to keep in touch with Britain, publicize the wonders of Wales, and educate people about real castles, not those shams we have in the United States! Among other activities, I have consulted on film and television projects on castles both in the States and abroad, and have spoken to school classes and service organizations. I also teach an online course, 'Exploring Medieval Castles,' for www.coursebridge.com, to share my enthusiasm for medieval castles.

"I began freelance writing while living in California and then in Oregon, where I reside when I cannot be in the United Kingdom. For the past eight years, I have written the 'Wales, Off the Beaten Track' column for Ninnau, the North American Welsh newspaper, and the 'Castles Lore' column for Renaissance magazine, to keep alive my connection with Wales and visit Britain's heritage sites. I recently wrote columns on Scottish clan castles and on Welsh heritage for Celtic Heritage, published in Nova Scotia, Canada, and on archaeology, ghostly heritage, and earth mysteries for Mysteries magazine, here in the States. I am also a regular contributor to Everton's Family History magazine, for whom I have written several articles on tracing one's Welsh heritage, amongst others.

"In 1999, I returned to Wales to pursue a master's degree program at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, and to have the chance to live in Great Britain once again. My dissertation focused on the impact of the military on the historic landscape of Castlemartin Peninsula, in Pembrokeshire. In the not too distant future, I hope to return to Great Britain, to do more research, to explore more castles, and to live there permanently.

"In the meantime, besides my writing, I enjoy as many Scottish Games and Highland Gatherings as I can possibly reach during each year. Having discovered them while I was stationed in Stockton, California, in the late 1980s, I am always thrilled to hear the pipes, watch the dancing, gawk at the heavy athletics, and admire the pride on the faces of men, women, and children wearing their clan tartans. I also frequent the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, not to play golf (although the Dunes is touted as an authentic, Scottish-style course), but to soak in the gorse-laden atmosphere of what truly resembles Scotland and coastal Britain (the pub is a fine attraction as well!). I have begun to learn more about my own Scottish heritage, my ancestral ties to Clan Lamont, Scotland's dramatic history, and its fascinating castles. Having only explored the Scottish borders to as far north as Edinburgh, I hope to have the chance to spend some extended time journeying all around the countryside, taking in the landscape, the castles, the culture, the cuisine, and the feeling that makes Scotland unique. I might even take up the bagpipes!"