Tim slept well and feels a bit better, but is not fully fit yet. After a breakfast in the sun, he’s urging the family to speed up, pack and leave as he bought tickets to Alnwick Castle, and he wants to be there sharp at opening time. The man is unstoppable. But also clouds pack in the sky and rain falls on our car just when we leave the campsite.
We’re at the entrance at 9:45, and a que is forming behind us. At 10, we’re the first to enter the castle and we go straight to the inner courtyard to reserve our broomstick flying training at 10:30. This castle was the filming location for some of the exterior shots in the second and third Harry Potter movies, most famously the broomstick flying lessons, hence the reenactment here.
The castle has been home to the Duke of Northumberland’s family, the Percys, for over 700 years. The current duke and his family live in the castle, but occupy only a part of it. After Windsor Castle, it is the second largest inhabited castle in England.
We walk around the castle walls and climb some towers. There are exhibitions of the castles history, such as the fights against France.
Then it’s time for our broomstick flying training. Two enthusiastic professors teach us how to handle the broomstick, to make pace and to stop. It’s a lot of fun, we’re fast learners and we all pass the training with an A+
There’s a lot to do in the castle, we also dress up as princess and knight, play games and go on a scary dragon tour.
It was a lot of fun. We buy some lunch at the supermarket and drive to the next stop, Northumberlandia a huge land art sculpture in the form of a woman. It’s best viewed from the sky so we take off and view it from above.
Nearby is Seaton Delaval Hall, a grand estate designed by John Vanbrugh who also designed Howard castle and Blenheim palace. He died 300 years ago which is celebrated with a small exhibition, besides being an architect he also was a playwriter. It’s a National Trust place, so the Summer of Play is in full swing with all kinds of games and children’s activities.
Tim visits the house first, the main hall is just a skeleton as it was severely damaged by a fire in the 19th century. Via the cellar you can enter one of the wings which served as the house. Here the rooms are decorated in a playful manor eluding to the theater stage.
Beside the large landscape garden there are smaller formal flower gardens next to the house.
When you go through them you get to a wooded play area where Olga and the kids are. We get an icecream from the pop-up van and Olga visits the hall.
She misses the decorated rooms so she gives them another go with the kids while Tim sits in the shade under a tree. Since we’re back in England the weather has significantly improved.
Back in the car park we try to find a camping for the night but the internet is very slow. So we start to drive southwards until we get to the point that decissions about our directions for the coming days have to be made. We pull to the side of the road and start searching. The problem is that most campsites in the UK are just a grass field with a portable toilet. That’s not what we want, so we search and search and decide to go further south skipping some things and head to the Yorkshire moors.
