#CountryKids at Warwick Castle

As part of our single parent break we had a day at Warwick castle with three other families. We were lucky to get special £5 a head tickets to make it an affordable trip. First photo opportunity was the stocks:

It is an amazing sight with its medieval walls:

We decided to brave the rampart walk with its 530 steps. A bit of exercise and fresh air:

Worth it for the views:

The children even sometimes paused long enough to appreciate the River Avon (you can just see the trebuchet over his head):

There were also gaps only the children could squeeze through:

Back down in the castle buildings we visited the Kingmaker exhibition which has plenty of waxworks demonstrating the Earl and his people preparing for the Battle of Barnet in 1471. Typically my son found the Earl's garderobe one of the best bits:

Back outside the walls we found the ballista:

At lunch time there was supposed to be a falconry show but Bruce the eagle went on strike so it was cancelled:

Instead we went in to the Great Hall for the special kids history tour. They stuck to facts that kids would find interesting such as ammonites in the tiles, the story of Guy of Warwick and the history of armour and weapons. Just a shame some kids decided to keep doing their own history talks over the poor guide.. The opening of the secret passage to the privy stairs was one of the highlights:

My son had fun posing with this waxwork of Oliver Cromwell rather than choosing Henry VIII or Richard III:

In the rest of this part of the castle there were more waxworks depicting a Royal Weekend party from 1890 when the Earl and Countess of Warwick had the Prince of Wales to stay. They were very realistic and we all found it fascinating:

My daughter did not approve of the fashion for low cut evening dresses:

All in all a great family day out and we hope to go back when there are events on in the summer such as Horrible Histories or jousting.