Hedingham Castle Jousting

Day 2 of our bank holiday weekend and we took the boys over to Hedingham Castle for a jousting display. The castle is one of the best kept Norman keeps and stands 110 feet high and was built c.1140 by Aubrey de Vere and is still owned by one of his descendants, Jason Lindsay and his wife Demetra.



 

Hedingham Castle in all its glory.

Upon arrival we had about 15 minutes until the first jousting display so we settled down with a picnic blanket for front row seats of the jousting arena. Can you think of a more stunning venue and in beautiful spring sunshine to have a picnic?

Tina and the boys chilling out in the sunshine for a picnic.

Waiting patiently for the horses and knights to enter the arena.

And then in comes the blue, red, yellow and black knights.

We were all cheering on the evil black and yellow knights.

This was a champion Welsh knight getting ready for battle.

The black knight and the blue Sir William tangle lances in one of the first bouts.



The black knight was eventually defeated by Sir William.

The boys absolutely loved seeing the horses and the jousting. Both of them really got into the spirit by cheering on their favourites.

The champion of the day - Sir William.

The red knight circling around for another dual.

After watching the first jousting display the boys were keen to explore the castle (by way of one of the sweet stalls). There are four floors to explore, including a magnificent banqueting hall spanned by a remarkable 28 foot arch, one of the largest Norman arches in England. A good view of this splendid room can be obtained from the Minstrels' Gallery, built within the thickness of the 12 foot walls.



Joshua and Brandon about to enter the castle doors.

Little B in the chapel.

A birds eye view out of one of the castle windows.

This is the stunning view down on the jousting arena from the top of the castle.

Brandon posing with a knights shield.

One of the displays or armour and weaponry.

The castle and the grounds really are beautiful.

Brandon and Joshua ready to do battle with their toy swords.

In addition to the jousting and sword fighting displays there was various other activities including maypoles, wind bands, and birds of prey to keep everyone entertained.

One of the falcons taking flight right in front of us.

There was 5 falcons, and eagle and an owl on display.

By mid afternoon we took a really nice stroll around some of the castle grounds to view the stunning setting and take a look at some of the ponds.

Me, Brandon and Tina. For this picture I used a 10 second delay time and legged it as fast as could around the pond to get in the shot. Impressive eh!

The main pond can overflow through this through this little channel which Brandon straddled. Notice the little wooden castle left in the picture.

Little B running across a bridge.

Tina and Brandon playing pooh sticks on the bridge.

Finally leave a comment on the blog if you can guess who these two great warriors of the 21st century are?