Birds and Bows
One of the UK sights we've wanted to see for some time is the rather famous Warwick Castle (which our house guests, the Cains, visited recently). On a beautiful June weekend we took the just-under-two-hours train ride and stayed in the beautiful Ardencote Hotel just outside the town of Warwick.
The castle is one of the best-preserved in the UK and they have done a great job of augmenting the experience with historical re-enactments and displays. One of the most interesting was a display of the use of trained predatory birds, such as hawks, eagles and others. The "show" included an American Bald Eagle, a Scandinavian Fish Eagle (even larger), a vulture and other birds. It was very impressive -- amazing what expert trainers can do. The birds were totally free during the show and, based on hand signals from the trainer, circled, swooped and otherwise wowed the crowd.
Other displays included demonstrations with the English longbow (that proved so devastating to the French at Poitiers and Agincourt) and a re-constructed medieval catapult.
The castle was
originally built by William the Conqueror, the Norman king who defeated England in 1066, though some claim the site was originally fortified as long ago as 914 A.D. King William made one of the members of his court the Earl of Warwick and Warwick Castle has been associated with that Earldom ever since. In later centuries, additions turned it into a combination of a great English country home and a Castle and in the late nineteenth century the castle was famous for the weekend country parties hosted by the Earl with guests including members of the royal family, as well as other prominent Britons, including the young Winston Churchill, then a promising junior member of parliament.
The Castle has recently been purchased by Madame Tussaud's -- the wax museum people -- and the things to see include the state and family rooms as they were in the 1890s -- with wax figures of people enjoying the weekend's activities. (For some reason, one of the rooms includes figures of the six wives of Henry VIII and Henry himself -- though these have no particular connection to the castle.)
The hotel we had booked over the internet proved to be extremely nice -- a country resort hotel that is obviously very popular. Some of our pictures will show you the beautiful hotel grounds as well as the castle; visit: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/1579943
The castle is one of the best-preserved in the UK and they have done a great job of augmenting the experience with historical re-enactments and displays. One of the most interesting was a display of the use of trained predatory birds, such as hawks, eagles and others. The "show" included an American Bald Eagle, a Scandinavian Fish Eagle (even larger), a vulture and other birds. It was very impressive -- amazing what expert trainers can do. The birds were totally free during the show and, based on hand signals from the trainer, circled, swooped and otherwise wowed the crowd.
Other displays included demonstrations with the English longbow (that proved so devastating to the French at Poitiers and Agincourt) and a re-constructed medieval catapult.
The castle was
originally built by William the Conqueror, the Norman king who defeated England in 1066, though some claim the site was originally fortified as long ago as 914 A.D. King William made one of the members of his court the Earl of Warwick and Warwick Castle has been associated with that Earldom ever since. In later centuries, additions turned it into a combination of a great English country home and a Castle and in the late nineteenth century the castle was famous for the weekend country parties hosted by the Earl with guests including members of the royal family, as well as other prominent Britons, including the young Winston Churchill, then a promising junior member of parliament.The Castle has recently been purchased by Madame Tussaud's -- the wax museum people -- and the things to see include the state and family rooms as they were in the 1890s -- with wax figures of people enjoying the weekend's activities. (For some reason, one of the rooms includes figures of the six wives of Henry VIII and Henry himself -- though these have no particular connection to the castle.)
The hotel we had booked over the internet proved to be extremely nice -- a country resort hotel that is obviously very popular. Some of our pictures will show you the beautiful hotel grounds as well as the castle; visit: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/1579943
posted by Chuck and Kathi Calvano @ 5:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home