I promised Jess another day out, but it seemed Joel couldn't manage Monday or Tuesday, Jess couldn't do Wednesday and I couldn't do Thursday or Friday. However Joel rang me this morning to say that Jess had asked him to ask me to take them out today. I had several jobs I needed to do (including some tidying I am busily not doing while I write this), but zoomed through most of them so that I was ready with a picnic packed and dinner in the slow cooker not long after 11 o'clock.
Picking up Joel on the way, we drove to Tattershall Castle and ate our picnic almost at once. Both children had spent an energetic morning riding their horses since they had eaten breakfast and they were HUNGRY!!!
Here they are coming back over the bridge having taken the picnic things back to the car.
They opted for the audio tour but both really hated the accent of the speaker and gave up not long after this.
We went slowly up the tower visiting each floor. They had a series of art installations each commenting on different aspects of the castle - some more successful than others. I found the level of the audio in basement and the audience chamber so painfully intrusive that any merit these installations had was completely lost to me. The delicate golden cobwebs of the great chamber were rather beautiful, but the visual commentary on the rescuing of the castle in 1913/14 in the bed chamber left me wondering "But is it art?"
while the combination of packing cases with fairy tale elements (here we see Rapunzel's hair . . . and Jessica's) was just confusing.
On the roof we discovered that Joel is scared of heights which Jess and I find pretty incomprehensible. Fortunately Joel isn't seriously phobic and was fine looking out, just not down.
From here Jess and I could appreciate my favourite of the installations which was called 'Restored Carpet' and was a mediaevalish design shaved into the ghrass of the Inner Ward. My camera simply isn't good enough to capture the detail so you'll just have to take my word for it.
On the way down we noticed this grafitti and realise that Joel's dad was there way back in 1840! We knew he was old, but . . .
Outside we walked round the outside of the castle and looked at the final installation which included camera obscuras in the remains of the stables. I thought about posting these next two pictures upside down to give an impression, but decided against it.
For the first time in years that I can remember the moat was relatively full of water so I took a picture to prove it
While I was taking this the children had rushed back to the outer moat which was merely boggy - and both thought it was amusing to run down the sides and jump the narrow wet bit at the bottom, although Jess is looking as if such naughty occupations had never crossed her mind.
We then had tea and cakes in the church - that is I had tea and cake and they just had cake - for which we paid the magnificent sum of £3 for all three of us. The coffee cake was so good that I bought a whole one to bring home despite having made scones this morning for father's guest tomorrow.
On the way home we called in briefly at Hubbards Hills where they had a quick paddle, we all played Pooh sticks and Joel went 'mountaineering' - so much for his fear of heights!
When I got home I learned that Nottinghamshire police had phoned wanting a statement about the accident we witnessed last week. The motorcyclist unexpectedly died on Saturday so it has all suddenly become more serious and urgent. I don't want to have to tell the children as it has clearly already made a bigger impression on them than I would wish - and they have already lost a friend/playmate/honorary cousin this year as well as the fact that not so long ago Joel's uncle was seriously injured in a motorbike accident and Jessica's aunt was killed in a car crash.
