Goodrich Castle

But before I tell you about apples, let's take a quick look at this gem of a castle that we visited last weekend. See the big grey clouds in the sky? That's a sign for us that it's time to go exploring, because especially during the summer school holidays here, if you go anywhere when the sun is shining, you will be joined by throngs of people. I'm not sure what the population density of England is, but it has to be high.  We have learned to stay home in our own little yard when it's sunny holiday time and to go out and explore when it's cold and/or rainy and/or during school hours...

Anyway, this castle is on the English side of the border with Wales. A friend from church recommended we check it out because it was one of her childhood favorites. We were glad we did. We ended up visiting during a Medieval Festival there, so we got to see a jester and some presentations about food. There was also a knight contest but we didn't stay for that.

Part of the castle was destroyed by Parliamentarians during the English Civil War, and here is a pile of canonballs that were recovered from the bombardment.

This is the oldest part of the castle, the inner keep, which if I'm remembering correctly was first built in the 12th century. That's pretty old! If only people built stuff to last like this today...

The kids thought the jester was quite funny, especially when he played the recorder (or whatever the old-fashioned version of that is called) with his nose while juggling at the same time...

I also learned during the food presentation that the Queen owns all the swans in England. Seriously? How can that be a thing? There are moments I am proud to be descended from Revolutionaries...