Day 2 - The afternoon.

Kenilworth Castle is one of the great historical sites of the United Kingdom. It was built in 1120, almost 400 years before Columbus discovered America! The castle has played host to King Edward I, King Henry V, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. In 1963 the castle was given to Sir Robert Dudley by Queen Elizabeth I to show him her great admiration. He completed a beautiful garden on the side of the castle for her royal visit in 1575. This garden is being re-created today and will be complete this May. The castle was reduced to ruins in 1650 during the civil war.

Below is a model of the castle in its prime! It was partly surrounded by a great lake, which served as protection against invaders. There is now only a small stream that runs through the castle grounds surrounded by English countryside.

Here you can see part of the old castle wall, and in the distance, the Gatehouse, which was the only part of the castle that survived the destruction. It was initially the main entrance to the castle.

The castle was built with sandstone, which over the years has been worn away by the weather.

Daniel inside one of the few remaining stairwells.

The Gatehouse. Reconstructed into a residential building after 1650. It has recently been opened to the public. Would you like to see inside?

This was one of the bedrooms. The wall panels, floor, ceiling and furniture was all made in solid wood.....beautifully carved. The four poster bed was only about 5ft 6inches long. Adults were a lot shorter in those days!









Recognise this fireplace? See the picture below, its still there!

Many of the features in the Gatehouse were taken from the ruins of the castle, ie, the wood panelling, the fireplace mantels, etc.

The Gatehouse's garden was in formal Elizabethan style.

Also within the castle walls, and newly restored, are the livery stables. These days, a great place for an English Cream Tea!

Day 2 - Saturday 21st March

Eve discovered some frogsporn in the stream at the bottom of Nana and Papa's garden and so we decided to collect some and see if we could get some tadpoles before the vacation is over!

We collected some garden water with algae and other edible pond life in it for the future tadpoles.

Eve went fishing!

FROGSPORN!

WATCH FOR THE TADPOLE UPDATE!

Day1 - the afternoon.

After the Hatton Locks, we went to the Hatton Craft Fair and Farm.

It had a guinea pig village which was very cool. We could handle them.

Eve had a difficult time choosing which one to hold!

Some 'down time'!

The falconry exhibition was fascinating, although at times a little too close for comfort!

Day 1! Friday 20th March

After a long but good journey, and having stayed awake for 30 hours, we had a good night's sleep and were ready for some fun!

Our first stop was Hatton Locks. Years ago, before many of the roads were built in England, businesses transported their goods around the country using the canal system.....a man-made, narrow waterway system. 'Narrow Boats' were used to carry the goods. They were as described, very long and narrow, so they could easily pass each other.

Whilst constructing these waterways, 'locks' were introduced to get around the problem of hills. The 'lock' had a water gate at each end. The boat would enter the lock through one gate and the gate was closed behind them. Then the other gate was released a small amount and the 'lock' containing the boat would either rise or lower to the next level. Once at the correct level, that gate would fully open and the boat would sail on.

Hatton Locks was completed in 1799 and is the largest chain of locks in the United Kingdom, with a total of 21 locks. On a good day, it takes 2.5 hours to climb or descend all of the locks!