This week we were off on a mission that I completely do not condone but I figured when life gives you lemons...
The adventure was that Kyran - for those of you who do not know, he is into Airsoft. It is a sport like paintball but with small plastic pellets and more realistic looking guns.
Without giving my opinion on the subject the short story is that he decided that 2 guns were not enough and that he needs three... don't get me started... so the third gun that that he 'needed' was up in Leicester.
The map below shows the trip that we made from home to Leicester to get the damn gun (the red path) and then we went home via Warwickshire where there is a castle called Warwick Castle (orange path) then home (Blue path).
Well lets just dive into it if I haven't lost your interest by now. All in all it was a good day.
Kyran and I enjoyed the drive together - I talked his ears off and later the ears of my parents overseas that called me.
It was nice to see the British countryside starting to get greener after the hot summer and dry weather conditions that we have been having. Luckily we have had one or two days of rain recently so the grass is starting to spruce up and look less like straw.
The trip:
We tried to head out early so that we could pick up the gun and then get on with our adventures, but once we were on the road Kyran realised that he forgot his wallet so we had to turn around and go back, but ended up taking a sub-optimal route to get home so despite only being 5 minutes out from home, it took 20 minutes to get back! That's the British road system for you...
Then we missed our exit by the skin of a chicken's tooth, so it was shaping up to be "one of those days". Combine that with there was something off with my bladder and I needed to pee at every stop the whole way up.
The car check engine light came on so we decided to pull over and see if it was something obvious that we could fix. We came to the conclusion that the Oil was low so we should probably fix that and see what happens. £18 of oil into the motor later and we were on our way again - Until the next service station when my bladder posted it's ransom demands yet again!
So we made it to the meeting point an hour late, Kyran went into a house to do the deal and I half hoped it was a police sting and the gun thing would go the way of money that it cost to buy them - away!
Don't get me wrong I have a lot of problems with guns. But the biggest one is walking around with something that looks like a real gun which is going to get you shot on the spot.
If you have traveled to any major tourist destinations i.e. Madrid, Paris, London you will have noticed that the police don't walk around with a pen and paper. They have big-ass automatic weapons to shoot first and ask questions later.
So my question is, is this game worth your life!?
Ok I will get off my soap box...
With the deal done and the non-lethal weapon in our possession it was finally time to start the actual adventure that we wanted to check out so that you guys can see another great part of England.
The plan was to go see Warwick Castle. Kyran had been asking to go to Warwick castle a lot as we both drive past signs for it quite frequently for work and, well, you start to wonder what is this castle all about?
So we bought our tickets online and Kyran added on something that was called the "Dungeon tour". To me the 'Dungeon tour" sounded like it might be a bit of a sensation for the youth, like a Horror house of sorts... It was, but it wasn't... We will get in to that shortly.
But first let me take a Selfie!
As we arrived to the castle it was quickly apparent that we had not budgeted enough time to see everything. We arrived about 1:30pm and the park closed at 5pm so we had 4 hours to see everything.
The parking for the castle was 20 minute walk away from the castle itself (they did have disabled parking right up close) so us able-bodied people had a 20 minute walk past the Knights Village which was a really cool area of bungalows and tents in the medieval style that you can stay the night in. The thought had passed our mind to see if they had one free and stay the night but alas we had other things to do the next day and no spare undies either.
The first thing that we came upon once we entered the castle grounds was a maze that was set up for the children. The maze was 'branded' as a "Horrible Histories" adventure! As you enter the maze there is a 'Passport' that the kids have to run around and punch the stamps of the different time periods that the Horrible Histories Rat had messed up.
Well you know me... I had to have a passport too and I had to get in line and battle all the children to get all the stamps on my passport.
I even had to corner a kid and make him tell me where he found the last stamp that I was missing.
Here are some Photos from within the maze that was riddled with FUN FACTS!
In the end I got them all! I hope you are all as happy as I was... Now I guess I can throw it in the bin. All in all it was a good little activity for the children though.
With my passport full of stamps it was time to go and see the actual castle that we came to see.
As the path winds around there was a grassy area were kids were learning to sword fight (medieval style)(See photo below). I think this is where Kyran's inner-child came out because he made me sit on the grass and watch the kids learn. I told him to get a stick and go join in but I think the kids would have kicked his butt!
Lets actually get into this Castle!
As we finally entered the castle gates we realised that it was just in time for the 'War of the Roses' dramatisation.
Here is a little copy and paste from Wikipedia:
The Wars of the Roses were a series of English civil wars for control of the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster, associated with a red rose, and the House of York, whose symbol was a white rose. Eventually, the wars eliminated the male lines of both families. The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, but there was related fighting before and after this period between the parties. The power struggle ignited around social and financial troubles following the Hundred Years' War, unfolding the structural problems of feudalism, combined with the mental infirmity and weak rule of king Henry VI which revived interest in Richard of York's claim to the throne.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses)
We ran to see the show but when we got there is was packed full so I tried to get some photos to at least show you what is was like. This is the length that I go to to get photos for this blog! Standing on bins!
So as you can see it seems to be a bit of horse riding and men fighting and dying over women. It must be good because as I mentioned it was packed so we couldn't see much. We didn't really have the time to sit down and watch anyway as we still hadn't entered the Castle and it was coming on to 3pm already.
So we headed back towards the castle area, and as we did we passed this giant trebuchet which is fired twice a day.
This example of a trebuchet is a "counterweight" trebuchet, with treadmills designed to slowly lift the massive counterweight which is usually a big bucket full of stones or sand or lead. The longer side of the arm has a sling (a rope with a big pouch/pocket at the end to hold a large rock or other projectiles..) which when the siege weapon is fired, flings up into the air and releases the rock - sailing through the air to hit enemy fortifications.
The trebuchet at Warwick Castle is supposedly the world's largest functioning trebuchet, with a 22 tonne counterweight it can fire a 36kg projectile about 300m. Pretty exciting!
As we had arrived late we missed the first firing, and didn't have time to wait around and see the afternoon firing otherwise were were never going to get inside this castle.
The next obstacle between us and the castle was and archery range that Kyran insisted on firing a few arrows on. So after firing a few arrows and actually surprisingly hitting the bulls eye a few times it was finally time to go and see the castle.
The Castle!
Finally we got to go inside the castle even if it was just for 20 minutes before we had to rush off to the Dungeon tour. Here are some quick photos that we took before we had to run off as the tour was booked for 3:30 pm. We did get back to the castle afterwards but let's try to keep this blog in the proper chronological order.There are a few wax-people throughout the castle posed as if they were living in and interacting within the castle. They were dressed and posed in such a way that I thought was fantastic. There were even some servant/hand maids doing their chores (you will see them later).
The other thing that really caught my eye before we had to run off to the dungion was this chandelier.
In all the great castles and manor houses that I have visited up until now I have never noticed a ceramic chandelier, let alone with such fantastic detail and colour. Amazing!
Ok Dungeon time!
The Dungeon Tour
So we had to line up 15 minutes before our time slot but really we were only waiting 5 minutes before we were pushed along to the beginning of the tour.
Before you start your tour you are met with a creepy court jester that plays a bit of a scary role by suggesting your demise and making sudden loud noises to spook you. I guess here is where I should reiterate that this whole thing had a haunted house vibe to it.
I don't like scary things and I was wondering what Kyran was thinking when he got us the tickets to go and do the tour. But in the end I found it ok as it was educational and gives a little insight into the Medieval times when the Black Plague was sweeping across Europe and when people were tried and tortured for Witchcraft.
I mean the whole thing was probably very spot on. I imagine that medieval times were a scary time to be alive, a live, non-stop haunted house for them!
There were no photos allowed throughout the tour but I will tell you how it went.
The First Room
The first room was a chapel with a monk looking guy praying and giving you warnings.Then you walk past a room that is piled high with bodies (victims of the plague)
The Second Room
The second room was a body on a table and a lady who says she is the cook is stepping in for the doctor... as the doctor is the dead guy on the table! So the next best person to do the job is the cook as she is used to pulling things apart (blood and guts). So she talks about some of the cures that were tried for the plague and the theories on how it was spread.The Third Room
Then you go to another room that has a judge in it, and they try one of the ladies in the audience for witchery, of which she is found guilty. Then they get one of the kids as well just to lighten the mood and try him for peeing in the street.The Fourth Room
The fourth room was a public execution and when they go to chop the head off the guest, the seat drops under you.We then go into a mirror maze, which some cheeky kids defeated very quickly and lead all the dumb adults out of it.
The Final Room
The fifth and final room is the story of a woman who was tried for witchery and fled into a castle turret and when they broke down the doors there was only a black dog that escaped.This was the more superstitious room - they insinuate the room is haunted and the doors rattle and the lights strobe then something strange moves under your bum on the seat! On top of that between the light strobing there is a raggedy old witch lady and then the lights come on and she is gone.
As you exit the Dungeon experience there is a black dog figure and then you are out into the sunlight.
As I mentioned I think that it was OK as it was educational and sometimes it is good to understand just how scary history was.
The Goal
After we exited the dungeon there was an actual dungeon to the right (it was the Gaol) so we went down there and even this was a big eye opener. You go down some narrow stone stairs and as you went down you could feel the temperature dropping and the moisture level rising. It was cold and damp. There was this sign on the wall
Above- This is the 'Pit' that the sign below refers to.
Why are people like this? The Medieval time were definitely evil times!!
Well lets move on now to some more cheery stuff.
We had seen what there was to be seen everywhere else, leaving us about 1 hour until the castle closing time so we rushed back to the castle to finish seeing the interior and its displays. Here are some of the photos that we took.
Below: A view from the top of one of the castle walls down onto the river Avon
Well that is all folks. Here is a photo that aptly describes how every blogging adventure finishes!
***Tired but happy***
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“There once was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages.”
― Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language
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