England 2006
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The Balettie Bunch invade England!
More pictures can be found here in our England 2006 photo gallery.
UK 2006 - Day 5(b): Storming the
CastlePart 8 of the England 2006 trip
report:
With the morning's tour of
Stratford-upon-Avon and lunch behind us, we head
up to Warwick Castle for the afternoon's events.
Warwick Castle traces its history, like the
Tower of London, back to William the Conqueror,
who built the original earthen mound and
fortress in 1068. That mound is still present as
the rear wall of Warwick Castle (more pictures
to come). Warwick Castle is claimed to be
England's "best preserved midieval castle", and
it shows!
After we park, we make our way
up to the castle... Kathy and Andrew pose for a
nice picture. Melanie is a goofball.
Kathy and I were here
five years ago, so this is another "for the
children (tm)" event. Our first view of Warwick
Castle is impressive, with its towers and
ramparts silhouetted against the brilliant blue
sky:
The castle is surrounded
by the typical "moat" ditch, but according to
written historical records, this was not a
pretty water-filled moat... instead, it was used
as the trash dump, with waste products ranging
from food, used water, human waste, and dead
animals were tossed into this gap... it served a
useful purpose during times when the castle was
under siege, as the attackers could not get a
good foothold in the festering slime at the
bottom of the pit.
Once inside, the lighting
was much better, and I got some really nice
shots of the castle walls and towers:
This was exactly what
you'd expect a "castle" to look like in every
respect... oh, and remember the "back wall built
by William the Conqueror" I mentioned earlier?
Here ya go:
One thing I *did* like
was how they treated mis-behaving teenagers... I
gotta get me one of these!
We sat in the shade and
watched a *fantastic* live bird show... they had
owls, vultures, and several kinds of eagles... I
got a couple of nice shots here, too:
Next up was the new
attraction, "Warwick Ghosts Alive!!!" This was a
"haunted house" show that actually "brought to
life" a real event that happened in the "Ghost
Tower" -- Sir Fulke Greville’s murder and the
subsequent "hauntings" that have been recorded
over the years. It wasn't here last time, so
this was new to Kathy and me this
time!
This was *REALLY* funny,
as Mel wanted to do this and Kathy was
nervous... they both made a point of almost
hiding behind Andrew and I as we got close to
the entrance, but as it came time to usher us
into the tour, I deftly got those two to the
front of the line, so they were convenient
targets for the entire time!!! They screamed at
every "boo" the "ghosts" threw at us... good
times!!!
The
"Ghost Tower" itself really was pretty
creepy looking:
My children, though, are
not creepy looking:
Now it's time to storm
the castle walls and ramparts, as we ascend the
400-some-odd stairs to the upper tower and
rampart walls to get the most magnificent views
of the castle and the surrounding countryside.
These pictures really do not do the views
justice:
Here's a shot of the four
of us at the top of the tallest tower with
Warwick Cathedral in the distance:
From the highest point to
the lowest point... we hit the DUNGEON!!!!
Prisoners were
hung from this metal body harness... ew.
But worse... others were
stuffed through this tiny hole (now covered by a
grating) into a pit below and left to die! Wow.
Hardcore.
(okay... next up will be the trebuchet show!!!)
This way for more adventures!!!!!
-or-
... back to the Adventures in England page!
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