Today we came to Lulworth Castle. An amazing 17th Century Castle in the heart of the Dorset countryside. It was originally built as a Hunting Lodge by Thomas Howard 3rd Lord Bindon to entertain Royal hunting parties, but soon became a country house in the middle of 12,ooo acres of beautiful parkland. It was largely rennovated in the 1920s following a devastating fire and is now open to the public. Two floors of the interior are open to look round (at breakneck speed by the four children who couldn't possibly stop long enough for you to speed read the information boards). You can also walk up around 8 flights of stairs to look at the incredible view from the top of one of the towers which we also did at breakneck speed!
Coming here has become a yearly day out which we all spend the rest of the year looking forward to as we have been the last four years. Our main reason for the excitement is to see the Jousting Knights who live here over the summer. The Knights are really from 'Horses Impossible' (don't tell the children) who were stunt riders in the films 'Robin Hood' ( Russell Crowe's version, 'The Clash of the Titans', 'First Knight' and 'Sherlock Holmes' to name a few.
The Knights put on two shows everyday in the summer so of course we had to stay to watch both of them! We were not disappointed, they were as exciting and breathtaking as ever. This year there was also a falconry display with a Barn Owl, a Harris Hawk and a Falcon. Oliver was captivated by the feathered birds and they were beautiful to watch.
Sir Richard (in green) of Wessex. We cheered for him. Bethany did a lot of cheering, and I mean a lot!
Sir Hector (in black and yellow) from France. His other job is Horse master.
Sir Odius (in black and red). Bad, cheating Knight who we 'boo'd' a lot.
Sir Percival of Wales. Did some amazing stunts such as hanging off a galloping horse upside down, swinging around on the horse and riding two horses at once (the mind should boggle. The eyes did too).
The back of the castle in all its glory. We decided against this as our new back garden as we soon realised the children would not be able to hear me call them for dinner if they were playing in the garden. The Hammond's missing their dinner is not something worth even contemplating!
Only picture I managed to take of Oliver. He was moving as fast as the horses.
To top off the day, having told the children I would not pay out £1 each for a peacock feather, we found two of our own! It only took a bit of hanging over into the goat field to get them. No goats were harmed in the process and I left with four very happy children!