Back in time at Warwick Castle

For the past two days we've been enjoying the special Easter weekend at Warwick Castle. There are dozens of historic recreators there recreating the War of the Roses. The Earl of Warwick was killed in a battle on Easter Day, so I guess that's why they do it Easter weekend.

It was like attending a medieval festival with all authentic docents who could tell you all about living at that time. Their round tents and cooking fires surrounded the castle. It was wonderful. I met a nice lady who was weaving. She told me she had tried spinning but hadn't had much luck with a drop spindle. She was using scottish blackface and wensleydale and I told her that blue-faced leister and corriedale are a lot easier to learn on. They were also doing kumihimo, but acknowledged that it was actually a Japanese thing, so they had a lucet as an authentic back-up (kumihimo is a LOT easier). I'm not really a weaver, so this may be more common than I think, but the heddle on her simple loom was interesting. It consisted of alternating slots and circles which, when threaded, would make the shed for the weft. I thought it was an elegant design. We saw a bird show called Winged Warriors where a handler flew eagles and buzzards around the crowd. And we also saw a great demonstration of long bow shooting.

There was a Siege in the afternoon. The Yorkists attacked the castle and the Lancastrians defended. The bowmen shot their arrows and then there was hand-to-hand combat. The Lancastrians won (unlike the historical battle) and several Yorkist dead were left on the field and stripped of their valuables. One soldier was even stripped of his pants! Ally and I hung around to see what he would do when he finally had to get up! He was surrounded by three camp followers. A passing priest, who was doing last rites over the dead soldiers, accused them of ravishing him. Finally he did get up and someone gave him his pants back so he and his lady friends could depart from the field.

One of my favorite places, and Jeff's, is the peacock garden. When we brought Jeff's Mother here -- before the children were born -- I remember sitting for a long time on the wooden benches soaking up the beautiful scenery. With her wheelchair, she wasn't able to see much of the castle interior but I know she enjoyed this garden. Jeff is always impressed with the landscape designed by the brilliant landscape architect Capability Brown. I enjoy watching the flock of lovely peacocks strutting around.

We also saw the wax figures meant to show a Victorian house party when Daisy, the Countess of Warwick ruled supreme and allegedly had an affair with Edward, the Prince of Wales. The wax figures were made by Mme. Tussauds (which currently owns and operates the castle) and were stunningly lifelike. The butler startled both Ally and me and we watched him for a long time to be sure he wasn't breathing.

We toured the Ghost Tower where they had a creepy reenactment of the murder of one of the Earls of Warwick by his manservant. Apparently, the Earl didn't adequately compensate the servant in his will and the servant found out about it. The Earl's ghost is supposed to haunt the tower. The chamber had lots of swirling mist and creepy guys jumping out at you unexpectedly. It was fun but no pictures allowed.

The oldest part of the castle is this mound which was originally built in the days of Ethelfreida and was fortified on orders of William the Conquerer.

Today, Monday, we're resting and don't plan to do much. Last night, Easter Sunday, we attended mass at Tolkien's church in Headington and then had a late dinner at The Trout, one of our favorite restaurants in Oxford. We really plan to take it easy on this trip and not just wear ourselves out running all over the place sight-seeing. Jeff really needs the rest and all of us are enjoying just Being in England.

This is a beautiful stained glass window in Warwick castle. I think it was in the Great Hall. It depicts the old law and the new law (at least that's what I think it is).

One problem we've been having is the exchange rate. Everything here costs twice what you would expect. Here in the Holiday Inn, you can order Ben & Jerry's ice cream for $10 a serving. Similarly, a Whopper at the nearby Burger King is $10. Any kind of a sit down meal is running at least $160 for our family of four. So, we're largely living on the surprisingly delicious and fresh sandwiches we can pick up at the local Shell station ... and, of course, cookies (biscuits) and cadbury chocolate. I'll write more later, I need to dive into my biscuit stash.

For more pictures, you can go to my Flickr account at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phiberphanatic

Oh! I almost forgot. We also saw a huge trebuchet demonstrated at Warwick. It was so big that it took four men walking in the round wheels (like gerbil wheels) to lift the weight and load the trebuchet. Then they flung a massive iron ball that had been loaded with gasoline and set on fire through the air. It was pretty impressive.