MEET the former Warrington Wolves programme seller who owns a castle.

In December 2005, Chris and Kate Naylor were married at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, near Tarporley.

Six months on, they owned the place.

The elegant Victorian building built in the style of a medieval castle is a far cry from when Chris, who grew up in Lymm, peddled Warrington Wolves matchday programmes on the streets surrounding the old Wilderspool Stadium.

Still the property of the family that build the property until as recent as 1989, the Naylors are only the third owners of Peckforton Castle - which was used as the set of TV shows and movies including 1991’s Robin Hood, Doctor Who and Coronation Street.

Chris, who also bought Nunsmere Hall near Northwich two years ago, said: “My dad’s family business was designing hotels, bars and restaurants which I went into, but then I decided to do something a bit different.

“My wife and got married at Peckforton Castle and we bought it six months later in June 2006 - up until then I was just designing and refurbishing hotels all over the country.

“We knew it was for sale and it was something I’d been interested in, but it was really once we got married there that we looked at it in more detail.

“Sometimes it can come across as quite snotty to say that you own a castle or that you’re trying to show off, so it’s quite embarrassing in a way.

“For all intents and purposes its an exact replica of a medieval castle built by the Victorians, who knew how to build.”

The 39-year-old’s purchase of Peckforton Castle came after he called time on a rugby league playing career that saw him turn out in the second row for Salford, Oldham and St Helens - where he starred in an academy side also featuring Lee Briers.

Listing the likes of Des Drummond and Jonathan Davies as his early 90s Wire heroes, Chris is now a shirt sponsor for his boyhood club.

Former Lymm High School pupil Chris, whose dad still lives in Lymm, said: “I used to sell programmes in the Wilderspool days when I was 12 or 13 because you got into the game free if you did.

“My background was rugby union but I ended up going to play rugby league for Grappenhall Griffins when I was 14, then I got scouted by St Helens when I was 15 and joined their academy.

“But I was never going to go to the level that Briersy has gone so I always wanted to do something different.

“I went through two snapped cruciate ligaments and after the second one I gave up rugby to focus on my work.

“It’s great to now be involved in rugby league again because Warrington is a club that’s going places.”