Fun in the Midlands

Saturday was a full day at Warwick Castle. http://www.warwick-castle.com/

It was awesome! There was so much to see and do, and even then we didn’t actually do it all. We didn’t get to do the guided tour through the manor house, or go for a ride on a canal boat. We did:

-> See the portcullis lowered and then raised, while learning a bit about the history of the castle.

-> Join a guided tour of the grounds, where we learnt a little more about the history of the castle and the origins of the present buildings.

 

 -> Hand fed some ducks a croissant that I had brought with me for my lunch (tried to get one of the little ones to climb on my lap, but it didn’t work).

 -> See the trebuchet fire – twice. The second time it flung a fire ball!

 

-> Partake of the ‘Warwick Dungeon’ tour, where I was put in a cage in the torture chamber for talking too much (who, me?!), and Calum was sent to the headsman’s block. Poor Cameron got rather distressed when the group was ushered out of the torture chamber while I was still in the cage. He said in a very quivery voice when told to leave that “my mum has to come with me…”  There was no such emption when his father was led to the chopping block, and ‘lost an ear’.

-> Go on the ‘Merlin Tower’ experience. One of the towers at Warwick castle features as the tower the Great Dragon alights on in the TV show ‘Merlin’. As part of the tour, we were led in for an audience with said dragon by magic mirror. The dragon selected Cameron from the audience for part of the show, and told him that he was going to be the first Knight of the Round Table from Australia, and that his training was to start the next morning at 3am. Try being the one to explain to Cameron (Mr Littoral) that this was not really going to happen…  Danielle was the only one in the family that was not selected to do something in any of the shows we went to. Poor Dan…

-> Have a go at archery. Cameron didn’t listen very well to the instructions (… really?!...) and nearly put an arrow through the attendant’s hand. Danielle did OK, and I was told that I was a natural. It was fun, and something that I would like to investigate when we get home.

 

 

-> Watch a ‘Birds of Prey’ show. They brought out three different birds – a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl called Ernie, a Bald Eagle called Archie, and a Stellar’s Sea Eagle called Nikita. As well as being a knight, Cameron also wants to wear a big glove and a huge bird (of the feathered variety) on his arm. There were other birds in the ‘mews’ that we didn’t get to see fly: Albert the Crowned Eagle; Andy, a Martial Eagle (he’s still a baby and adjusting, hence the bars…); Stan, a White-Tailed Sea Eagle; Merlin, another Bald Eagle; and Frank the Egyptian Vulture.

Ernie

 

 

Archie

Nikita

Albert

Andy

Merlin

Frank

As I said, a great day!

Sunday we left Warwick for Conwy in the North of Wales. Not a straight trip there, though. The boys had to visit RAF Cosford Air Force Museum on the way. I wasn’t bothered, but Danielle did not want to join in, so she and I went off to view the ruins of a Roman city at Wroxeter, ½ hour away. Out of the whole city area, only a small percentage of it had been uncovered – the bath house and part of the “shopping centre”. It was pretty good, but nowhere near as splendorous as Bath. Although, being an outpost Roman city, and not excavated as thoroughly as the site in Bath, I can’t say I was disappointed. There is a Roman church under the site of a current barn, but the barn is heritage listed because it was the first building in the area to be built with a corrugated iron roof (in the early 1800’s) so it can’t be knocked down for the church to be excavated. The site is also home to a replica Roman building, which was built a few years ago by 20^th century tradesmen (not craftsmen), to Roman plans using the tools that would have been available in the early first century. Not bad, considering.

 

 

Picked the boys up at Cosford after a couple of hours, where Calum had handed over money for the opportunity to sit in the pilot’s seat of a Spitfire, complete with head set and bone dome, and have photos taken of the occasion. Guess who was happy? 

 

Headed off to Wales via many country roads and a ruined castle at Beeston, near Chester. You can tell why that site was picked – it certainly is defensible, and has a commanding view of the countryside.

 

Between Chester and Conwy the rain started pouring down, which did not look promising for our trip on the Snowdon railway tomorrow. Fortunately, it had started to ease as we made it to our hotel, and looks like tomorrow will be dry after all – if somewhat chilly and overcast.

Here endeth our time in The Midlands.