A Knights Tale

As usual England does not disappoint with yet another wet and gloomy bank holiday weekend. Today was probably the best of the 3 day weekend and so we decided to go to Headingham Castle for the day. As you can see from the pictures below, the Castle is absolutely stunning and yes you get a good leg workout climbing all the steps to the top.

Medieval pole dancing in the castle courtyard. Joshua loved watching but did not want to participate.

Spot the row of longbow archers just above the line of bushes.

One of the first things we did when we got to the castle was to have a go at the long bow ourselves. Surprisingly that had a junior size bow and Joshua was allowed to have a go. After 3 attempts he managed to hit the target. 

My little Robin Hood getting his long bow tuition.

As with all these family days out there is a common theme of traps to entice children and at the same time strip cash from your wallet. As we crossed the bridge to head into the castle you have to pass by an inflatable pirate ship slide. So within seconds I lose the two boys along with a few of my hard earnt pounds.

You can just about see Brandon climbing up the left hand side.

And here is Brandon bouncing his way down the slide.

Inside the castle is just as stunning as the outside and there are plenty of exhibits, historical artifacts and information to keep you entertained.

Josh and Brandon exploring the corridors of the castle. Which way next?

After all that climbing and exploring me and Brandon were a little tired. So we took a power nap on a medieval bed. Sore backs here we come.

The view from the top of the castle looking out onto the courtyard.

Inside the castle there was various medieval pieces of armour which you could try on. The boys thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in the armoury.

Guess who this little warrior is?

And here is another scary dude?

The chain mesh that the knights wore was surprisingly very heavy. But once I had demonstrated to the boys how it works and what it was used for, they were both keen to try it on. 

First Daddy's turn but Brandon was keen to take it off and have a go.

I think Brandon could hardly stand under the weight of the chains. So I had to hold the top in order to take some of the load off.

Joshua managed just fine and looks mean and ready for battle.

After trying on the real armoury it was time to don some costumes and some wooden weaponry for a bit of Knight role playing. 

Meet St.Joshua ready to slay a dragon.

Instead of a dragon he meet a fiery little monster Brandon to do battle with.

Brandon lunges in to defend his part of the castle.

And the winner of the battle is?

Joshua on the steep castle steps make the descent back to the bottom.

They also had various birds of prey on display including some owls, an American bald eagle and a vulture. The owl was a bit naughty during the display and flew off and hid in the trees. 



Joshua was quite funny trying to talk to the owl by making a "twit twoooo" sound.

Towards the end of another enjoyable day out we watched the gladiators donning their armour ready for the final battle in the courtyard.



Joshua loved watching the battles and did not want to leave. However the weather had started to turn worse and Brandon does not like getting cold and wet. So we watched the final battles and then hit the road home.



Two of the Knight's doing battle.