After yesterday's trek I was seriously concerned that I wouldn't be able to walk today. Luckily, when I woke up I was feeling really good. All the same, I decided it would be smart to have an easy day today before attempting another trek tomorrow.
Warwick Castle was on my "to see" list and seemed like the best option. Since I didn't have the energy to write yesterday's blog last night, I did that first before heading to catch the 10:15am train to Banbury. From there I changed to the 10:43am train to Warwick.
The castle is 15min walk from the station. The part of town I walked through had a lot of tudor buildings.
The main entrance way to the castle appears to have been excavated into the rock in places.
The castle is more or less intact, thanks to a number of restorations over the years.
Soon after arriving I realised that this would be different to the other castles I have visited. It definitely had a "castle theme park" feel without being too tacky. It certainly didn't distract me from the history and interest of the place.
From the top of the walls I got a great view of the surrounding countryside.
On the grounds outside the castle there is a peacock garden with a number of fine specimens making their presence known.
Inside the castle there were a number of themed displays as well as restored state rooms. The Taussad Group bought the castle in 1978 and you can see their influence in the figures used to bring some of the rooms to life.
The library contained a massive library of what appeared to be genuine books. Quite a collection.
A number of the ceilings were exceptionally ornate.
In the afternoon there was a "birds of prey" demonstration. Various types and sizes of birds swooped over the heads of the crowd. I tried to capture some shots, but it was incredibly tricky.
This one was a baby condor.
The final demonstration for the day was the "firing" of an actual trebuchet. This one fired a projectile nearly 300m.
On the way out I visited the mill pond and this ruined bridge.
I walked back to the station to catch the 4:42pm train to Leamington Spa. The plan was to change there for the Oxford train. While waiting on the platform I was getting a little anxious that my ticket might no longer be valid. It was an off peak ticket and it was getting late. In Adelaide you can't use off peak tickets past a certain time in the afternoon but I haven't been able to find out if the same applies here. I decided to check. Unfortunately, by the time I was able to check with the ticket office, the 5:00pm train had left. I had to catch the 5:38pm train instead but at least I put my mind at ease.
Today was a very relaxed kind of day. Especially after yesterday where I felt under a degree of pressure to get to each destination by a certain time.