Warwick Castle

(7th day)

When KS was busy making the itinerary plan to England, he asked me if I have any special request about the trip. After thinking for some time, I told him I want to visit a real castle, and it got to be the best of the best to be visited in the whole England. Ha, I think I must have given him a very difficult task here.

The day before departure, he told me he has picked the right castle based on my requirement, for me. That's enough for me. I didn't probe much about the castle though, I just knew it is called Warwick Castle at that time. With lots of anticipation, finally the day had came. This was going to be my day !

I woke up early on that day, but was worried to see the downpour. I prayed so hard that it won't continue like this the whole day! Anyway, we departed to the castle with a happy heart. Luckily, the rain stopped just when we were about to reach Warwick Castle, slightly after 10 am. It's kind of difficult to describe how grateful I felt at that time.

By the time we reached Warwick Castle's parking lot, it's almost full. We parked our car at the last available slot and walked for 7-8 min to this entrance. This was the 1st time I felt we were so late behind (I almost jumped to the conclusion that England people is not some early birds). So, I guess there got to be something about this place.

The admission charge of Warwick Castle is more expensive than the other castles. Later we knew it's because all in all there is a lot to see and to do that we could easily spent the whole day over there. In modern times the Castle has come to be somewhat of a medieval amusement park for the whole family

Another £50 notes varnished into the thin air...

It's fun to see some 'ancient people' who dressed in medieval costumes walking around the castle, like they are the tenants there. This lady is called Maggie, I think she must be one of the servants in the big house. Oh yes, she speaks very loud, real loud (scared me when she suddenly spoke, thought who was shouting at me?).

Just when we entered the castle area, we saw the minstrels sing to visitors at Warwick Castle. Instantly, our mood was boosted high.

This is the first view that visitors get of the East Front of the castle, which is the main entrance. The pathway leads round to the castle Gatehouse.

Warwick Castle is located in the town of Warwick within Warwickshire county. It is known as one of the finest mediaeval castle and the most beautiful castle in England, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United Kingdom.

The tower at the center is called "Guy's Tower". Guy's Tower was built by the Beauchamp family in the 14th century. It stands 128 feet and is twelve-sided and has five levels. The first four levels are made up of a central vaulted sitting room and two small side rooms. The top level is a guardroom. The windows of the upper level were enlarged so they could take small hand-held cannon.

Founded by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick, Warwick Castle was used in the 15th century to imprison the English king, Edward IV, and was used as a fortification until the early 17th century, when Sir Fulke Greville converted it to a country house. It was owned by the Greville family, who became earls of Warwick in 1759, until 1978.

Now a hugely popular medieval attraction, the current visitors are probably less interested in the fact that it was built by William the Conqueror than that the fact that it was a location in the "Harry Potter" movies.

Today, Warwick Castle has been compared with Windsor Castle in terms of scale, cost and status. Cool !

The boys have no idea what this is used for in the ancient time. No way I'm going to put my head in there.

Archery Demonstration is common in the summer months. The demonstration is shown on the East Front yard between 10-11.30 am, 12-1.30 am, 2.30-4 pm and 5-6 pm. Quite frequent.

This Warwick Bowman is not just handsome, but cynical yet humorous when he failed to display deadly accuracy on the target. I have calculated for him, out of 20 shots, he hit the center of the target for 13 times. Does he qualify to go to the Olympic Games?

The Gatehouse into Warwick Castle


Warwick Castle had been rebuilt and updated a number of times since it was founded in 1068. Today it combines castle ruins, largely of the 14th century with one of the finest great houses in England. Two small projecting towers, which date to the late 15th century are said to have built as artillery platforms.





The porticulus gates as backdrops. Barbarous looking, the gates are made up of pointed metal bars mounted above each end of the gate house. These could be swiftly dropped to impale or imprison unwary intruders.




In summer time, there are quite a lot of entertainments scheduled by the castle. For instance, Pledge your Allegiance; Jousting; Flight of the Eagles; Warwick Warriors; Parade to the Trebuchet; The Trebuchet.

By the time we reached the courtyard, this show "Pledge Your Allegiance" had been started. The show was about meeting the knights who will later duel in a jousting tournament and decide who you would cheer for. It was more like watching a comedy show, really entertaining even for the adult audiences.

Mr. Smith's live show.

In 1978, Warwick Castle was sold to Tussauds Group, a large visitor attraction operator. Tussauds performed extensive restorations to the castle and grounds in addition to opening its gates to the public.

In 2001, Warwick Castle was named one of Britain's "Top 10 historic houses and monuments" by the British Tourist Authority. The list included Tower of London, Stonehenge and Edinburgh Castle. Warwick Castle was recognised as Britain's best castle by the Good Britain Guide 2003.


In May 2007, Tussauds was purchased by Merlin Entertainments who continue to operate the castle on a lease, having sold the freehold to Nick Leslau's Prestubury Group on 17-July 2007.

The residential buildings line the eastern side of the castle, facing the River Avon. These buildings include the Great Hall, the State Rooms, Chapel, Library and Bedrooms. Many of the rooms in the castle are maintained in their original condition, and are opened to the public.

On the first floor of the main apartment block of Warwick Castle is a series of 12 apartment rooms, furnished as they would have been in Victorian times, around 1890.

During the 1890's, the Earl and Countess of Warwick held many house parties at the Castle. Among the principal guests on the occasion portrayed here was H.R.H The Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VII. The exhibits in these rooms depict the castle during a Royal Weekend Party, when royalty were entertained here.

Most of the rooms in the castle also include life-size wax figures, in period costume, depicting real personalities of the period. Those wax figures have brought the life to the rooms, which is an added bonus to simply viewing ornate furniture.

Madame Tussaud's wax figures are very lifelike. It's very exciting to the photography lovers, like me. Well, not that we can get to see that glamorous setting easily, right. Everything is darn so beautiful and I just couldn't help to press the shuttle here and there.

One good thing about this castle is : photography is allowed. Yippe !

Theophilus Gregory, followed his father into the family profession and became a butler at Warwick Castle. Theophilus’ mother was a coffee house keeper and his wife was also in the refreshment trade as she became an inn keeper.

The interior staterooms are a bit dark. I didn't like to use the camera flashes either for I don't want to distort the real ambience in the rooms. Without using tripod, it's very challenging to get some good and clear pictures out of the available dim lighting environment inside there. I'm glad that I managed to get some good pictures anyway.

When the boys first saw this maid's wax figure, they were scared. It's simply too real.

The first main room is the Library, a masculine room in which the gentleman could be alone to chat and drink while the ladies of the house were maybe taking tea and chatting in the Drawing Room. However, in this tableau, Daisy, the Countess, has decided to break the rules and join the gentlemen! She stands near to the fireplace in her morning riding gear, including a top hat and black dress. Edward, Prince of Wales, is reclining on the settee smoking one of his famous cigars and enjoying a glass of drink. Standing in the window, the figure of Winston Churchill. The idea is that Daisy is there to finalise arrangements for the evening's events. The Library is furnished with much of the original furniture and decorated as it was at this point in time.

This is the Music room. The guests are enjoying a little musical soirée and are listening to Clara Butt, a famous singer of the day, entertaining them with a few of her songs. She is accompanied by a gentleman playing on the grand piano. The ladies on the comfortable Victorian red settee are the Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Randolph Churchill (Winston Churchill's mother), with a Gentleman, George Cornwallis-West, stood behind, have been enjoying a cup or two of tea. The room is hung with rich red wall paper and hung round with portraits of Family members.



The Soparno, Clara Butt. She was a famous singer of the time.

Next to the Music Room is the Smoking Room. Again the domain of the gentlemen, a place for them to maybe play at cards and enjoy a smoke out of the ladies' presence. The tableau in this room depicts a game of cards between Charles Spenser Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough owner of Blenheim Palace and the Duke of York, George, later to be King George V. The Duke of York is sat on a Victorian 'club fender' in front of a roaring fire, about to light up a cigarette. They play at cards upon a fold-over green baize lined card table- no doubt for a small wager!

The Duke of Marlborough, Charles Spencer Churchill. He is Winston Churchill's cousin.

This lion's head is so real that it can't be a fake one.

A different type of atmosphere greets us in the Ladies' Boudoir, very much a ladies' room with light pained French panelling to the walls and delicate gilt framed French furniture. The boudoir of the Countess of Warwick is an elegant room, where a butler is serving tea to the Countess, Daisy (on the right) and her sister, Victoria (on the left). Both had romantic liasons with some of the most illustrious English gentlemen of the day.

Countess of Warwick, Frances, nicknamed Daisy. She married the future Earl of Warwick at the age of 20. Daisy was a famous socialite and was the inspiration for the popular music hall song Daisy, Daisy”. She was a descendent of two of Charles II’s illegitimate children, through her mother’s side. As a philanthropist she started a needlework school at Easton and Studley Agricultural College for Women.

Daisy's sister, Victoria.

Daisy, Countess of Warwick was famous for her beauty and her parties. In her own bedroom, where her maid is helping her to dress for the evening in a gorgeous, white satin evening gown.

Daisy's bedroom decorated for the late 1890s shows a much more light and delicate air than the heavier Victorian period of darker colours and dark wood panelling. This bed, I love it. If the bed is king size, I would love it even more.

It was very important to Daisy that her guests were comfortable in their surroundings, hence this bedroom, known as Carnation Bedroom, has been turned into a masculine room for the weekend. In here, Lord Robert was finishing his dressing.

Anne, the Dowager Countess, is the widowed wife of the 4th Earl of Warwick. She is a friend of Queen Victoria and in her younger days entertain both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert here at the castle. She is also Daisy's mother-in-law. Daisy likes her mother-in-law very much that she retians this room just for the visit of the Dowager's visit and no one else can stay in here.

Lily, the maid is looking to see what is happening outside. She began life at the castle as a scullery maid at the age of 12 after being recommended by an aunt who was already in employment at the castle.

Ladies and gentlemen seldom store their clothes in thier bedroom. Instead they are kept in the wardrobes in their dressing rooms or on landings such as this one.

It's quite normal for the husbands and wives of the aristocracy to have separate rooms. This is in sharp contrast to the lower classes who often have only one room for the entiry family.

The Earl of Warwick in 1893, is in his Dressing Room and is waiting for his bath to be drawn by his man servant. This bath being run from a bath kettle into the slipper bath set ready for the Earl.

Francis Greville, Earl of Warwick. He is Daisy's husband. The Earl has been married to Daisy for 17 years and is very tolerant to her lifestyle. He was a politician and an MP before he succeeded his father, became Earl and entered the House of Lords, as was his father George, grandfather and great-grandfather.

From the window, one can overlook the River Avon that run along the east side of the castle.

A beautiful stain glass outside the Great Hall.

An ariel view of the Great Hall, taken from a balcony which runs between the appartment rooms on the first floor. The floor of the Great Hall is of red and white Italian marble.

Yes, finally we get to see the armour.

Daisy always ensures that her important guests have the best rooms. The Prince of Wales has been a regular visitor to the castle for over then years and now has his own room.

In the Kenilworth Bedroom, so named because some of the wood panelling on the walls came from Kenilworth castle, is the Prince of Wales. This was his favourite bedroom on his many visits to Warwick castle and he is seen here standing in front of the fire place with a fat cigar in his hand. He is being poured a pre-dinner drink by the valet. He is attended by Lord Curzon, who was in 1898 made Viceroy of India by Queen Victoria, they discuss poignant matters of the day prior to the evening's grand dinner.

Edward, Prince of Wales. He is the eldest son of Queen Victoria and hence, hier to the throne. He has enjoyed a long "friendship" with Daisy and loves visiting the castle for good foods, excellent wine and the company of his friends.

From there, we proceeded through a long corridor to the other sides of the rooms.

There are many photo frames hanging on the wall at the corridor leading towards the other halls.

She is such a beautiful girl.

The Chinese style rooms were extremely fashionable with the Aristocracy. A room that contained as little as one two Chinese objects would be refered to as the "Chinese Room". This was due to the Victorians love of all thing oriental.

In this scene from the Royal Weekend Party, Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough (and friend of the Countess of Warwick), get dressed for dinner in the Chinese Bedroom. With its far-eastern furnishings and ornaments, this room really captures the atmosphere of the Orient.

The Duchess of Marlborough, an American heiress whom it is said was locked in her room for four days before she finally agreed to marry the Duke.

Maud, the nurse, has very good diction which is important to be a child's nurse. She has 1 day off a month and is also allowed time to attend church. She was holding the Marquis of Blandford, the first son of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough.

A cornor in the Chinese Room.

From the Chinese Room, we walked to the next building, where the State Dining Room and the Great Hall are located.

The windows in the castle are relatively small if compared to the huge size of the building. This is how the outside world looks like from inside the castle.

A model of the Warwick Castle.

This is the castle's Chapel, built around 1600. Warwick Castle played an important role in the English Civil War, which had religious origins.

At the very heart of the Castle lies the stunning 14th Century Great Hall. This place was used for generations by the Earls of Warwick to receive guests. The Great Hall was first built in the 14th century, and was rebuilt, to its present form, in 1871.

The Great Hall is the largest room in the castle and throughout history has been its heart. This room contains around one thousand pieces of arms and armor. Swords, shields, helmets, crossbows, pistols and magnificent armour line the walls.

A range of armour on display in the Great Hall.

A 16th century horse armour. Among these were his sword, shield, helmet, breast-plate, walking-staff and tilting-pole, each of enormous size. The sword weighed nearly 200 pounds, and the armor 400 pounds! I may die suffocated if this horse armour falls on me.



Me and the hero.

I've changed my mind, he is not my hero.

Naturally, the kids will look for the things that they can play on. Those swords are the only thing they can touch. And the swords are very heavy, even I find it hard to lift it. By the way, the little girl who is sensitive to my camera is so pretty.

Believe me, if the kids can move this super heavy shield from its holder, they will.

I've forgot who he was, maybe a guard?

My son and his beautiful nanny. How I don't wish for.

The State Dining Room. The room was originally commissioned in 1763, by Francis Greville. Many distinguished guests, including Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II (during 1996) have been entertained there. However, lesser mortals can still sample the lavish surroundings as the Castle's owners offer the room for hire by private parties of up to 32 people in modern days.



The State Dining Room is perfect for more intimate dining, maybe to celebrate that special birthday or anniversary, or to entertain your most valued clients or staff.

The gilded ceiling was created by Robert Moore in a Jacobean Style. An 18th century fine cut-glass chandelier hangs from the magnificent ceiling.

What a wonderful experinece to surround oneself with beautiful works of art and treasures from around the world and sit back, relax and enjoy the unique historic atmosphere.

This is the Red Drawing Room, named for its red-lacquered walls, red curtains and upholstery. It was used as a private family room.

This is the Cedar Drawing Room, a very formal room with elaborate paneling and a plasterwork. Most of the State Rooms have panelled walls, elaborately decorated plaster ceilings, and contain many unique antiques and paintings.

Next door, the Green Drawing Room is comparatively feminine, its walls being light green with gold. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II wax figure is standing in the Green Drawing Room to greet us.

The visitors can paid someone to take their photo with the Queen. We didn't, but if someone paid me, I would love to do that for them too.

Those wax figures are King Henry VIII's wives. They were placed so near to the visitors that we can look at them real close, real detail. I admired them for quite some time for they are truly beautiful, especially their costume.

I don't know this is wife # what, but she looks sad.

This wife is the prettiest one. But she too, looks very sad.

This too, looks sad to me.

This is King Henry VIII, the husbands of 6 wives. He had come to the throne in 1509, was a man who left his stamp on history. His six marriages in search of a male heir led to two daughters (Mary and Elizabeth) and a son Edward (who died young).

Of the Six the pneumonic goes - divorced (2), beheaded (2), died (1), widowed (1). He divorced the two European wives, Anne of Cleeves and Catherine of Aragon. The English ladies were more easily dispensable.

Henry's need for a divorce led to a row with the pope who refused to grant Henry one. Henry countered by dissolving the Roman Catholic Church in Britain, and setting up the Church of England. A Church of England with Henry at the head could then allow Henry to divorce his wife.


Coincidentally, we happened to watch a very interesting movie on the next day, "The Boleyn Girls", in the flight return to HK. The movie is featuring the affair of King Henry VIII and his 2nd wife, Anne Boleyn and her sister, Mary Boleyn (King Henry's mistress). It was indeed a very good movie, I have such a strong feelings about it, especially coupling with the fresh experiences that I'd had with the Mediaeval Castle.

The last in this suite of rooms is the Blue Boudoir, which is dominated by a portrait of Henry VIII and his six wives.

Another beautiful stain glass.

After the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror established a motte-and-bailey castle at Warwick in 1068 to maintain control of the Midlands as he advanced northwards. A motte-and-bailey castle consists of a mound, on which usually stands a keep or tower; and a bailey, which is an enclosed courtyard.

Since its construction in the 11th century, the castle has undergone structural changes with additions of towers and redesigned residential buildings. Originally a wooden motte-and-bailey, it was rebuilt as a stone shell keep in the 12th century.

Repairs were necessary at various times due to slighting in battle and general decay. When Fulke Greville gained ownership in 1604, the castle was in ruins. He spent £20,000 (about £3,000,000 or $6,000,000 in 2007) on restoration work. In the 17th century the grounds were turned into a garden.

Warwick Castle is the subject of many ghost stories. Fulke Greville is said to haunt the Watergate Tower, despite being murdered in Holborn. The Watergate Tower is also known as the Ghost Tower and for most of the year it is home to the attraction "Warwick Ghosts Alive".

"Ghosts Alive" is a short live action show that tells the story of Fulke Greville's murder. The show uses live actors, sound, lighting and visual effects. An episode of the television programme Most Haunted was filmed in the castle in 2006. The programme investigated the dungeon in Caesar's Tower, the Ghost Tower which Fulke Greville is rumoured to haunt, the undercroft which is rumoured to be haunted by the ghost of a little girl, and the Kenilworth bedroom where Countess of Warwick, Daisy supposedly held seances.


We wanted to watch the "Ghost Alive" show. However, we had to give it up since young children are not allowed. Anyway, I think if a ghost ever had inhabited this place he would have long left since the time the first tourists arrived. Isn't it?

By then, the time was around 1 pm. We crossed over this wooden bridge to the River Island to watch another show "Warwick Warriors", which is scheduled on 1.30 pm.

River Avon that runs along the Warwick Caslte.

A view of Warwick Castle, from the bridge.

Since the show hasn't started yet, we went to take a look of the trebuchet, the largest catapult in the world. It is operated daily at 5 pm, as the last show in Warwick Castle.

In June 2005, Warwick Castle became home to one of the world's largest working siege engines. The trebuchet is 18 metres (59 ft) tall, made from over 300 pieces of oak and weighs 22 metric tons.

The machine, which was made in Wiltshire, takes eight men half an hour to load and release. It is designed to be capable of hurling projectiles distances of up to 300 metres (980 ft) and as high as 25 metres (82 ft) and can throw up to 150 kilograms (330 lb) of ammunition at a time.

On 21 August 2006, the trebuchet claimed the record as the most powerful catapult in the world when it sent a projectile weighing 13 kilograms (29 lb) a distance of 249 metres (820 ft) at a speed of 260 km/hr (160 mph), beating the previous record of 228 metres (750 ft) held by the Dutch.

By the time the show almost started, visitors flocked to the River Island's battle field to watch the show. Luckily we came here a bit earlier to get a good place for the boys.

This girl walked around the field to warn those who had crossed the fence.

At 1.30 pm sharp, the knights came out. I bet on the blue knight, I think he would win out.

After a brief introduction by the King and some silly actions by the jockers, the show started.

The fight between the warriors is very funny and entertaining, not as serious as the picture shown. They actually aimed for the private part of their counterparts.

Yes, my blue warrior had won. I'm so proud of him.

After the show, I moved forward to take some pictures of my hero. I particularly like his hair style. Wish I can have my hair done like his. Emm...wonder what my hair stylist would say if I show him this picture when I go to visit him later?

The King. When he saw me pointing my relatively high-end camera at him, he made a gesture to want me to give him a second. Then, he cleared his throat and purposely made a King's pose for me, like this. Oh, I was so flaterred ! Not that I can meet a King very often in my daily life. Furthermore, he is so responsive to me compared to the other camera man. We both thumbed up to each other after I took some quick shots for him.

The view of the castle at river bank. Visitors can walk to the water mill that is located at the other end of the castle. We didn't go there cause we got to meet the deed of the boys this time.

The boys asked us to sign them in to the 'learn-to-become-a-knight' class or the 'learn-to-become-a-bowman' class. Sigh, the class is not worth the money though.

However, we didn't want to disappoint them like we did the day before. After some negotiations with the boys, we agreed to buy them toys instead, provided the toys could be kept in the luggage and we could carry them back to home.

After some careful choosing, we had succeeded in persuading them to take this sword-and-shield toy set. Actually, there was a simple grey color plastic sword, that cost £3.99, but we rather bought this more sophisticated set that cost £4.99 for them. Feel that it's more beautiful (got the red gem wo) and worth the money.

The boys were so happy that they discarded the packing immediately like a barbarian, and started to fight mimicking the warriors that they had just seen. We stood aside and watched them played in great satisfation. Truly, they happy, we happy !

Since then, they were so obsessed with their new toys. Everywhere they go, they just wanted to experiment the new way of playing with their sword and shield.

After finished this important purchase for the boys, we started to feel hungry. So, we walked back to the river side to find foods. While waiting for our foods, they played sword in every different ways, included chopping off the leaves.




The trees there are awesome, some of the branches grow towards the ground instead of towards the sky.

That day's lunch was fish & chips again, but lucky to get some fresh sandwiches here too. Anyway, the most lucky thing was we've got an open-air seat near the Riverside Pavillion.

While eating, our eyes moved around the river bank that we didn't have time to take a better look just now.

After lunch, we went to visit the bird stars that take part in the "Birds of Prey Display", before their show time begun.

We then walked leisurely along the river bank. The boys asked me to take photos with their new toys. I obliged very willingly, before the toys are broken. Isn't this pose so cool?

William likes this picture very much cause his sword is shining, reflecting the sun light. So, I must preserve it well.

We then walked back to the courtyard, saw the crowds that have already clogged my view finder at every cornor.

Some were picnicing, some took a nap on the beautiful grass over there. Nobody cares anyway.

The Gate Tower

The longest queue was form outside the Ramparts Walk. One got to climb up the long, steep stairs to go through the various towers, namely Caesar's, Guy's, Clarence and Bear.

The walk will start from here. In view of the size of this narrow entrance, one with common sense should know it's not good for those who have a fear of heights, nor the people with physical limitation like this, as below picture shown.

Most of the women (7 out of 10) we saw in the middle part and northern part of England are obesed. The rest are overweighted if not obesed. I don't know why, perhaps life is too relax or stressful for them? or eat too much fish-and-chips? They had reminded me of the future-human race we've seen in an animated movie, "Wall-E".

While waiting in the line, the children, boys or girls like to challenge one another with their weapons. In fact, for the rest of the day, the boys either challenged or being challenged endlessly. As long as the parents saw no danger in them, we just left them alone.

One of the challengers, at first they played happily...

but a few minutes later, the battle had turned out to be a disaster to his daddy. This is because the boy had become so fussy about the plastic sword (the one that cost £3.99) he had had. He cried and complained so loud about his sword, and kept demanding his dad to buy the similar silver swords that Vincent and William held in hand. The poor man looked at us in great embarrasment. Although Vincent agreed to offer his sword for the little boy to play with, that didn't stop his cries. So, we got to ask the boys to leave him alone. Luckily, it's our turn to go in the Ramparts not long later.

Not to mention a really tall wall walk, but to get to the top of the Guy's tower with the flag, we just have to walk up a narrow spiral steep staricase. However the views from the ramparts are well worth the effort. This affords views over a large area of Warwickshire, as well as the Castle itself.

The picture shows the view looking inwards across the castle courtyard from the top of Guy's Tower. In the background is the Warwickshire countryside.

There are 2 drawbridges served as the connection between Guy's Tower-Gatehouse-Caeser's Tower. This is one of the drawbridges.

Caesar's Tower was built between 1330 and 1360. Caesar's and Guy's Towers are both machicolated, means the openings at the top of a tower through which objects can be dropped on attackers.

View of Warwick Castle from the highest point on the towers.


Just when we reached the top of Guy's Tower, the indicator of the camera blinked suggesting me to change the battery pack. Fine, I took out the used battery and replaced with the back-up. Never to my imagination the indicator still blinking, suggesting the battery level of the back-up was too low to keep the camera functioning. I exclaimed in great frustration : NO, NOT NOW !

This is truly one of the hell night mare for a photographer. I became a bit violence to the man who told me that I didn't need to recharge the battery on the night before, since he said we only took minimum photos on that daytime. I was really regret that I've listened to him without thinking. I should have just checked the battery level by myself, just like I did for the previous night. It's useless even though I wanted to beat this man to become pie. Life has to go on (for the sake I want to go back HK safe and sound).


From Ceasar's Tower, we then descended to the dungeon (grim basement), also called the Undercroft. The dungeons are a trippy adventure into the dark ages with a collection of life-size wax figures showing many medieval craftsmen at work, including the blacksmith, armourer, and the wheelwright. The dungeon is the place where Richard Neville and his supporters preparing the King for battle. Richard Neville was the most powerful man in England during the reign of Henry VI.


At around 4 pm, we came out from the dark dungeon. Feeling exhausted, but still wanted to watch the 5 pm show, "The Trebuchet". So, we walked around the castle and found a relaxing place in the Peacock Garden, to wait for the time to come. Sitting on a wooden bench, we rested our legs, and listened to the peacocks shouted "hell hell hell hell help..." for no reason. After 15 min, we realized the boys have disappeared from our eyes sight for long enough. Wonder where the hell they have gone, we finally found them near the fountain's pool. Sure, they were just about to dipped their legs down to the water if we haven't stopped them in time.


In order to avoid further embarrasment, we left the Peacock Garden and walked near to the Riverside Pavalion where the show would take place later. This time, we sat on the soggy glass on a hilly slope. This is the best place to watch the show, and of course to keep an eyes on the boys too.

At 5 pm sharp, the show started. However, the show proceeded very slow with prolong narration about the history of the trebuchet. Also, the preparation works to get the 150 kg stone ball launched seem so tedious. After 20 min, William was getting very impatient. He was so look forward to seeing the ball flying projectory high in the sky. After many reassurance from me that the ball would be launched soon, finally the time came. The spectators cheered hilariously. Within a few seconds, the ball had landed a few hundred feet away from the machine. That's all for the show.

KS had choosen the prefect castle for me. Warwick Castle was everything I had imagined a castle to be. I felt like a time traveler there. Feeling contented, I couldn't agree more that this is indeed the Greatest Mediaeval Experience in Britian. For that, I forgive him.

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