DAY 347 Friday 22nd August 2008

Ashland, Oregon (Miles to Date: 37336)


The rest our trip across country is a real rush as we want to get to Ashland in Oregon where are to finish our great adventure.

From Kansas we head up through Colorado, stopping just west of Denver. We then trek across Colorado into Utah – initially our plan was to stop in Salt Lake City. For one reason or another all roads for us seem to lead to Salt Lake, but we make good time in getting there and visit our favourite outdoor store, REI and grab some dinner. The decision is then to stay or head on and gain some more distance. We decide to make a run for it and head across the salt flats towards Wendover which is on the border between Utah and Nevada. The town actually straddles the border; the east side (in Utah) is relatively sedate but the part of the town in Nevada is a whole different kettle of fish, it is full of casinos. We had had some trouble in getting a room – in fact we had just about the last room in town. What we didn’t know was that it was the Bonneville Flats race week. People come from all over the country to race their cars and motorcycles across the salt flats. There are many categories of cars and bikes, ranging from standard production vehicles to custom classic cars. We had already some of these amazing vehicles parked at our hotel in Denver and now that we are actually in Wendover there is a stunning array of vehicles on display. Unfortunately we are in a hurry so we cannot get across to the races.

From Wendover we fly across to Winnemucca in Nevada and then head north into Oregon. We leave the main routes to travel on slower road through the Cascade Mountains passing through the towns of Lakeview and Klammath Falls en route. At Howard Prairie Lake we stop to retrieve our motor home which has been parked there for approaching 3 months. Amazingly we get it started up with few problems and travel through the mountains for the last few miles to Ashland.

Ashland is our final stop on our grand tour. We had visited Ashland previously on our way through Oregon and fell in love with the town. It is situated virtually on the border with California and is in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains. The thing that drew us to Ashland was the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and we had a wonderful experience when we came to see “Midsummer Nights Dream”. We simply wanted more. So this is where we are going to plonk ourselves for the foreseeable future. This journey has been a wonderful experience for all of us, we have seen and learnt so much and met so many fantastic people on the way. Hopefully Jack and Emily will retain the memory of some of this trip for the rest of their lives as it has been a once in a lifetime experience. The travelling has been tiring and in many ways we are looking to establish ourselves at least for a while and get some stability back into our lives. On the other hand we are so sad to be ending our fabulous journey. Hopefully this is just an extended stop on our journey and that there is more exploring ahead for the Hobbs family.

DAY 344 Monday 18th August 2008

Wichita, Kansas (Miles to Date: 35570)

We spend the night at St Robert, Missouri before heading down the small town of Mansfield, Missouri. This was another opportunity to continue on our quest to visit all the places that Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie fame lived in throughout her life. In 1894, the hard-pressed Laura, her husband Almanzo and their young daughter Rose moved to Mansfield, using their savings to make a partial down payment on a piece of undeveloped property just outside of town. They named the place Rocky Ridge Farm. What began as about 40 acres (0.2 km2) of thickly-wooded stone-covered hillside with a windowless log cabin, over the next twenty years evolved into a 200-acre, relatively prosperous poultry, dairy, and fruit farm. The ramshackle log cabin was eventually replaced with an impressive and unique ten-room farmhouse and outbuildings.

Today the farm is a National Historic Site. We start off in the museum which is full of artefacts from Laura and Rose’s lives. There is so much to see including letters and diary excerpts that we just don’t have the time to do it justice. From the museum it is just a short walk to the farm house. It is a very modest building and is very much as it was the day Laura passed away in 1957, a few days after her 90^th birthday. The first room you enter is the bijoux kitchen; the most noticeable feature of which is the very low counter tops on base unit cupboards. These were custom made, as was the case in those time, and Laura being very petite had them made to suit her size. We pass through the parlour and into the bedroom in which both Laura and Almanzo passed away. The final room is lounge, which is the largest and most comfortable room in the house.

After the tour of this farm house we take a short drive across the farm to a stone built house. This was a gift from Rose to her parents and they did live in this house for several years, but they missed their old farm house and moved back there for the remainder of their lives. We were allowed to go into this more modern home, which was rather lovely with some great details. It is hard to fathom the motives behind Laura and Almanzo moving back to their old house.

It is now time to continue on our way. We have not finished with Laura Ingalls just yet. A hundred or so miles further west is the Kansas town of Independence. Here is the location of the original house on the prairie. The simple cabin has long since disappeared and it took many years of painstaking research to find its location. There is now a replica of the “Little House on the Prairie” based on the descriptions in Laura Ingalls Wilders’ books. It does not take too long to explore the single room structure, but our sense of achievement in having visited all the main sites that Laura had herself been to during her life far exceeded our excitement of visiting this place alone. To celebrate we bustled our way into downtown Independence, which is more than a one horse town …. more like three horses and found ourselves a wonderful road side store selling shaved ice. Having satisfied our exuberance with shaved ice we head off to our stop over in Wichita, Kansas.

DAY 343 Sunday 17th August 2008

St. Louis, MO (Miles to Date: 35120)

We fly back into Newark Liberty International airport and after picking up our car (we needed to have a jump start again) we travelled to Ardsley to spend a few days with our friends the Lances. When we had visited in July a number of our friends were away on holiday so this gave us the chance to meet up with those we missed. We had a great time and it was a wonderful preparation for our trip back to Oregon. We had taken a relatively leisurely 10 day trip when coming to New York from Seattle taking a route across the northern States. The return journey was going to be a bit more of a slog covering 2800 miles in about 6 days, this time cutting across the centre of the country. So far we had done 49 States, the only State we had missed was Missouri so this was a chance to get our 50th and last.

After stopping over in Breezewood, Pennsylvania and St Robert, Missouri we arrived in the City of St Louis. We are so excited to have completed our collection of States. St Louis’ location is at confluence of two great rivers, the Missouri and Mississippi and because of this it became the centre of the exploration of the Western areas of the United States; hence it’s nickname the “Gateway City”. Its importance as hub of exploration the City grew at a rapid pace, in fact at the country entered the 20th Century St Louis was the 4th largest city in the Union. The settlement of St Louis, not surprisingly, was established by the French and did not come under the control of the United States until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

With our time limited we head for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, a national park located on the downtown riverfront where the city was first founded in 1764. It commemorates the westward growth of the United States. Located below the vast Gateway Arch (we’ll talk about this a bit later on) is the Museum of Westward Expansion, which contains an extensive collection of artefacts. It tells the story of the thousands of people who lived in and settled the American West during the nineteenth century. We chose to start our visit to the Museum which allows us to meet up again with our friends, and explorers, Lewis and Clark. St Louis is where they started their great adventure to uncover the new lands acquired by the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. Our journey across the country had crossed their paths on more than one occasion. The Museum documents their exploits and those of the people who followed them and the Native American people who lived in those lands. To help us on our journey through the Museum there are interpreters who aid the bringing to life of the exhibits. After the Museum we go to one of the two theatres showing two very different movies. The first is an excellent depiction of the story of Lewis and Clark’s expeditionary journey and second tells the amazing story on the building of the Gateway Arch. Just watching the construction workers in the movie was enough to give you vertigo. After the movie it was our chance to experience the real thing, to go the top of the Arch. We had seen pictures of the Arch, but you cannot get a sense of the spectacle without a visit. It is truly impressive, and we agreed the most spectacular tower or building we had seen in all of our travels. To reach the top you have to take an amazing ride on an elevator-come-cable car that takes you up and around the curvature of the Arch to the very top. You climb into cosy capsules built for four; they are truly tiny so this is not for people with severe claustrophobia (Karen is a sufferer but managed to fight her fears). The journey is a few minutes long and takes you to the very apex of the Arch, it is somewhat disconcerting to know that all that is between you and the ground 350 feet below is a bit of steel. The Arch at the top is only a few feet wide. There are observation windows where you can look out across the Mississippi and towards the downtown area. The Gateway Arch is the centrepiece of the Park and is easily is the most recognisable structure in the city. It was designed by noted architect Eero Saarinen and completed on October 28, 1965. At 630 feet (192 m), it is the tallest man-made monument in the country. After a few minutes gazing out of the observation windows we climb back into the cable car and head back down to terra firma. We spent several very entertaining hours at the National Monument before setting off to our next stop over.

DAY 337 Monday 11st August 2008

London (Miles to Date: 34270)

From Norwich our journey continues to Halstead, a small market town in North Essex, close to the town of Colchester. This is the last place that we lived before coming to the United States. We visit our old house, which is currently rented out, and our neighbour Marjorie who is now in her 80s but is unfortunately suffering from failing eye sight but her mind is still very sharp. It is a little strange to be back in town but it is great to see everyone again. We stay with our friends Gael and Ian Harvey and their children Helen and Heather. We have been so lucky, everyone we have stayed with have been the perfect hosts, and the Harvey’s are no different. They had even organised to throw a party whilst we were there. The party had a tropical island theme and Ian just loves throwing a party and it is probably fair to say he throws his whole weight behind them. When we arrived and Mark opened refrigerator to put in the beer we had bought to chill he was most surprised to see a piglet starring back at him. It wasn’t really starring as it was most definitely not of this mortal coil and had certainly ceased to be. Not wanting to break into spontaneous Monty Python but the scene was somewhat “Pythonesque”. To complete the imagery Ian had bought about ½ ton of sand to recreate a beach and a blue plastic backdrop sheet to represent the sea. We were lucky to have a break in the weather, the rain stayed away and it was quite pleasantly warm. All the guests threw themselves fully into spirit of the party wearing leis and Hawaiian shirts. Of course we drank too much, and in the morning a number of us were a little worst for wear.


From Halstead we travel east to Leighton Buzzard to stay with Mark’s parents for a few days before they head off on holiday. Before they left we went out to a local Thai restaurant for a most wonderful meal. Laura loves her food and loves oriental food so she was really in her element in the restaurant. Jack has started to be more adventurous with the more exotic foods and tried everything that was put in front of him and really loved it. It was really nice to spend sometime together as a family before we headed off in our different directions.


When Karen takes Laura back to Eastbourne, Mark decided to take Jack and Emily down into London. Like many place we have visited on this trip the children have visited before, but because they were so young it is difficult for them to remember anything about it. The aim was to pack as much site seeing in as possible. Unfortunately the weather was not very good once again. We took a train into London from Mark’s parent’s house and the caught the Underground to the Tower of London. When he was young Mark lived in this area just a block or two away from the Tower itself, he often used to play there and had some school friends whose fathers were Beefeaters and lived inside the Tower in the residential quarters. Jack and Emily were very impressed with the Tower and its next door neighbour the wonderfully ornate Tower Bridge. Dodging the showers we walked around the Tower along the embankment of the Thames to catch a tour boat down to the Houses of Parliament. Despite the rain we decided to sit on the open top of the boat – and not surprisingly we had plenty of room as most other people chose the cramped, covered interior. The journey west down the Thames takes us past several modern and ancient landmarks, under bridges and through time. The commentary along the way helps to put in place each landmark and its place in history – and although this is a short mile or two journey there is plenty to see on the way. We depart the boat by the Houses of Parliament in the shadow of Big Ben. Mark remembers in his youth this used to tower into the sky, nowadays it seems so much smaller. Guess this is a function of growing taller and travelling far and wide.

We decide to carry on walking and start travelling up Whitehall, which takes us past many Government buildings and Downing Street where the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer live. At the top of Whitehall is Trafalgar Square with its famous lions guarding the lofty column on which stands the statue of Britain’s most famous naval commander Admiral Lord Nelson. Also at the top of Whitehall is the barracks of the Life Guards, the senior regiment in the British Army and who along with the Blues and Royals Regiment makes up the illustrious Household Cavalry. Outside of the gateway to the barracks are two guard houses complete with two members of the Household Cavalry in full uniform and mounted. There is a long line of people waiting to have their photograph taken so we join to wait our turn along with all the other tourists. Jack thinks it is above him to pose for such a photograph but Emily has not such qualms and stands there patiently. At Trafalgar Square we turn down the road known as the Mall, passing underneath the imposing Admiralty Arch. This road leads passed all the Royal Palaces and at its far end is the statue of Queen Victoria and behind that Buckingham Palace. At this point we had been walking around for quite some time so were in need of finding a restroom. To one side of the Mall is St James Park, once the hunting grounds of the Royals but now demoted to common parkland and hopefully a place to find a toilet block. St James Park is busy on this Saturday despite the inclement weather, throngs of tourists huddle around the numerous cafes in the park in search of warmth and hot drinks. Through out our travels in recent months we had come across many expected things and none more so than finding a white pelican sitting on a park bench in St James Park. We have seen many pelicans in the wild but this was an out of context experience so we at first thought that this bird was fake, but no, it was a genuine live and kicking pelican. Warily Jack approached the pelican, after all they are very large birds, but it obviously was used to hum an company and managed to get right up next to it and even touch it. Totally amazing – but possibly not politically correct! Anyway we fired off a couple of photographs and moved on.

When we reach Buckingham Palace there is a lot of activity going on outside. When Mark and Karen last visited London a little over a year before it had been one of the Queen’s birthdays (she has an official birthday and real one) and the streets had been packed around the Palace. We were on a bit of a tight schedule that day so did bother hanging around to see the Royal party leave to go up to the parade grounds to be the guests of honour at the Trooping of the Colour. Apart from such occasions the area outside Buckingham Palace (except for the traffic around the Queen Victoria Memorial) is a place of relative calm. Today was different there were big crowds and a lot of police presence. We didn’t have too long to find out why because after a few minutes the gates of the Palace opened up and a band struck up inside. Two columns of guards’ band appeared and marched out into the streets and down the roads surrounding the Palace. We never did find out what the occasion was! After all this excitement was over we decided to set off home as we were cold, wet and tired from walking.

From Mark’s parents house we head down to Reading to meet up with our friends Paul and Jo Mackenzie and their not so new little daughter Rebecca. Mark used to work with Paul many moons ago. Paul and Jo had also invited some other friends Graeme and Sarah who we had not seen for ages. It was lovely to get together and because we hadn’t met for such a long time there was so much to catch up on. After a lovely afternoon just chatting we had to leave for High
Wycombe where we were staying with our friends the Elliots.

There is only a day before we travel back to the United States. It has been lovely to stay with the Elliots, they are lovely people and very welcoming. We have been able to relax before the next phase of our travelling. One nice thing we did was to visit Marlow and meet up with some friends who were the cohorts of Jack – Julia and Jane were mothers in the same ante-natal group as Karen. Their children are all grown up and it was nice to meet up again after many years. A wonderful end to our 6 week trip back to the UK!

DAY 326 Thursday 31st JULY 2008

Norfolk (Miles to Date: 34060)

On Saturday during our stay in York we visit one of the newer attractions called DIG, a sister attraction to the Jorvik Viking Centre. The whole purpose of the DIG is to experience the science of archaeology, through a tour guided by an archaeologist. It is a quiet day and our family are the only people on this tour. The first stage of the tour is a briefing on archaeology, the tools used in digs and the history of digs that have been conducted around York. Next we move into the three areas where we can excavate with our newly acquired skills to look for artefacts. These areas cover three important periods in York’s history the Roman, Vikings and Medieval and Victorian periods. We dig site in turn and apply our knowledge to identify each.

As we are finishing our DIG tour we receive a call from our friends Lorraine and Kevin who we are meeting up with and spending the next day or so with. After sitting and having our pack-up sandwiches at the York Minster we go for a walk around the town. With different agendas, Laura, Karen and Lorraine go for a mooch around the shops whilst the boys plus Emily go to take a ride on the York Eye, a 175 foot Ferris wheel which has been turning on its axis since 2006 at its location by National Train Museum. We have to go through the train museum which is a wonderful place to visit but unfortunately today we only have the opportunity to glance at a few of the magnificent engines and carriages on display. One favourite of Mark’s is the Mallard, this train was in service during the 1930s and was capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph – which is very impressive. The bright blue colour scheme of the Mallard which now lives in the Railway Museum makes it stand out like a beacon amongst the primarily black paintwork of the other locomotives. There is also a Japanese bullet train on display and we could not resist the temptation of looking inside for a few minutes. The passenger accommodation on these trains is more like being in an aircraft rather than a train. We quickly move outside to the York Eye and the queues are non-existent so we more or less can jump into our capsule at will. The weather today is quite warm but inside the capsule it is baking hot. The wheel rises into the air very slowly and we are teased by the increasingly splendid views that are unveiled before our eyes. The Eye provides amazing views across the City of York and the surrounding countryside. The ride is actually good value as we circle four times, but the sauna like conditions make us all feel a bit uncomfortable.

After our ride around the Eye the divided parties meet up to return back to the Youth Hostel. In the evening we return back to the City and the grounds of York Minster where there is an outdoor production of Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well”. It is a simple production and the audience is pretty small. We pull up a spare park bench and drink our beer – all very civilised. The play is very enjoyable. Jack and Emily sit right at the front on the grass so they are almost in the play and at the very end they do get to participate – to Mark and Karen’s delight they loved it.

Our last morning in York is very relaxed. We say goodbye to Kevin and Lorraine and head back into the City for a last farewell before starting our journey southwards. We still have one attraction left on our City pass – a boat tour down the River Ouze which cuts its way through York. It is a fine morning once again so it is a very relaxing to be tootling up and down a river on a quiet Sunday morning. The only interruption is the voice of our tour guide blaring over the Tannoy system, but the information parted is interesting so we forgave them.

Sadly we leave York on to our next stopover is Waltham, near to Grimsby where we will be staying with our friends the Moores. En route we stop at Leconfield, a small village which was once the home of an Air Force Base. Karen’s father was stationed here when he died in an accident and is now buried in the grave yard at the Church of Saint Catherine. It is quite a few years since we last visited as a family and as always it is an emotional experience – especially for Karen. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation we leave to continue our journey to Waltham.

After spending 2 nights in Waltham we head continue our journey south this time to the historic city of Norwich. This ancient cathedral city has reputedly 52 churches and 365 pubs within the city walls (which are only visible as ruins in a few places). We lived here for a couple years and this is where Emily was born. The plan is to stay here for a few days with our friends the Hogaths in the village of Hainford just a few miles north of the City. This is a great chance to catch up with old friends and visit some of the places we love and that Jack and Emily cannot remember as they were very young when we lived there. We spend some time wondering around Norwich itself and visiting the Cathedral, which is a magical place. We also go out to the coast to visit some of our favourite seaside places – including Sheringham and Cromer.

DAY 320 Friday 25th JULY 2008

York, Yorkshire (Miles to Date: 33820)

Having collected Laura from Eastbourne on the South Coast we travel North again up to the ancient city of York up in the North East of England. This walled city is has a long and colourful history, and there is plenty here to keep us occupied for quite a number of days. We have bought a City Pass that gets us into many of the City attractions. Once we have registered at the Youth Hostel where we are staying we take a walk into the City and find ourselves by the stunning York Minster. York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is the second largest of its kind in Northern Europe (largest is the Cologne Cathedral). It is the seat of the Archbishop of York. The building work started in 1220 and was completed in the 1470s. The inside of the Minster is as stunning the outside, and the stain glass windows are a sight to behold especially the famous Rose Window which sits in the South transept commemorating the union of the houses of York and Lancaster around 1500 and the five sisters of the North transept. When we arrive the Minster is being prepared for an evening service so we quickly tour the galleries and choir stalls before taking the self guided tour of the central tower. Climbing the 275 steps to the top of the central tower is an exhilarating experience and on the way we pass the Minster's medieval pinnacles and gargoyles and see over its rooftops. At the top there are the most amazing view of the city's ancient streets. This is the highest point in the city and you can see far over the surrounding countryside, from the White Horse at Kilburn to the Yorkshire Wolds.

For our second day we head back into town. After walking around a bit we head down the Jorvik Viking Centre. Jorvik is the name the Vikings gave to York, who ruled the city and its environs some 1000 years ago. The centre is built actually below a shopping mall and is built around ruins of a Viking village that was uncovered during an excavation prior to building the shops. Mark and Karen had visited the Jorvik Viking Centre many moons ago but it has been significantly refurbished since then. The tour starts in a little theatre set up as a time machine that flies you back in time 1000 years. When reaching our time period destination we leave our time machine and climb into our personal carriages which carry amongst the reconstructed Viking village. We are taken through the various houses and are treated to sights and smells of Viking life – including the outhouse… phew!! At the end of the ride we climb out of carriage and enter the museum area where there are displays of the artefacts found at the dig site and some Centre staff who run demonstrations of some of the craft skills of the Vikings. This is one of the best places to visit in York.

From the Jorvik it is only a short walk to the Castle Hill area. Dominating this area is a keep known as Clifford’s Tower which is high-up on a hill overlooking the river and town below. As one of the most important cities in England, and an important base for holding and administering the north, York was the site for two of the castles William the Conqueror built in the years immediately following his conquest. The principal castle was begun in 1068, and was constructed of wood. This were destroyed during a local rebellion the following year, but was rebuilt by the Normans. In 1190 the wooden keep was again burned down, during a siege by citizens of the Jewish community which had taken refuge there. This was one instance of a continent-wide persecution stimulated in part by the emotionally-charged and propagandised environment of the Crusades. In the latter half of the thirteenth century, the keep was rebuilt in stone and later became known as Clifford's Tower after Roger de Clifford, who was hanged there in 1322. We climbed the stairs up to the battlements which gives fine views back across the city towards the Minster.

Across the street from Clifford’s Tower is the Castle Museum. We stop briefly to have an ice cream – for the first time on our trip back to the UK we are actually warm!! Anyway we are pestered by some Canadian geese. We get concerned when we see an opaque line hanging from the beak of one of the geese, and think it might be fishing line. Emily runs into the museum to get them to call the local RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Whilst away we actually determine what we thought was a nylon strand was actually saliva – the goose was probably drooling over our ice creams. Anyway Emily was embarrassed over our mistake and took a little coaxing to get her back into the museum.

York Castle Museum is one of Britain's leading museums of everyday life. It shows how people used to live by displaying thousands of household objects and by recreating rooms, shops, streets - and even prison cells. It is best known for its recreated Victorian street, Kirkgate, which combines real shop fittings and stock with modern sound and light effects, to evoke an atmosphere of Victorian Britain. The museum has also recreated some room settings including a Victorian parlour, an 1850s Moorland cottage, Jacobean and Georgian dining rooms, a 1940s kitchen and a 1950s front room. There are also displays of household goods, like washing machines, wringers and stoves from generations ago, which sent Karen and Mark back down memory lane. Jack and Emily were left wondering what was going on! The Sixties gallery is a new exhibit The Sixties, which opened in Spring 2008, explores the music, fashion and everyday life of this exciting decade. The museum's had originally been used as a prison buildings, and this time in it history has been recreated so we can see what conditions were like back in the 18th century The prison’s most famous former prisoner - highwayman Dick Turpin, who was hanged in 1739 for horse stealing.

To finish the day we head for a less cultural experience the York Dungeon. This is not really a dungeon, but is a tourist attraction that looks to scare the pants off you. The tour is a 90 minute passage through the less pleasant sagas (the historical accuracy is questionable) in York’s past. Jack and Emily went in with trepidation and were on tenterhooks for the first 15 or 20 minutes – it was quite scary. The Great Plague show is set in 1551 with a recreation of medieval York streets and culminates with a performance from an actor playing a plague doctor. There is also a recreation of a York pub the Golden Fleece Inn where visitors are told ghost stories. Other shows include the Judgement of Sinners where visitors are accused of various crimes and the Torture Chamber where visitors are shown demonstrations of torture devices. During the tour actors playing plague doctors, innkeepers, viking cohorts of Eric Bloodaxe, judges, torturers and Dick Turpin's executioner tell visitors gruesome stories. We had low expectations of the York Dungeon, and whilst it was a surreal experience we enjoyed it greatly.

DAY 318 Sunday 20th JULY 2008

Eastbourne, East Sussex (Miles to Date: 33600)

Warwick Castle sits on a cliff overlooking a bend in the River Avon. Warwick Castle, and like Kenilworth Castle, was built by William the Conqueror in 1068. It 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.

From 1088, the castle traditionally belonged to the Earl of Warwick, and it served as a symbol of his power. The castle was taken in 1153 by Henry of Anjou, later Henry II, when the Countess of Warwick was tricked into handing over the castle. It was again briefly lost in 1264, following a surprise attack during the Second Barons' War. It has been used to hold prisoners, including some from the Battle of Poitiers in the 14th century. Under the ownership of Richard Neville – also known as "Warwick the Kingmaker" – Warwick Castle was used in the 15th century to imprison the English king, Edward IV. Warwick Castle has been compared with Windsor Castle in terms of scale, cost, and status.

Visiting the castle at a weekend in July is somewhat fraught as there are crowds of tourists from all over the world. On the plus side there are a whole host of different activities scheduled for the day. Before we set about exploring the castle itself there is a demonstration set in the grounds for a giant Trebuchet. This is a medieval siege weapon that was used to fire various projectile at or into the castles or fortifications that were under siege. The projectiles themselves varied from rocks and Greek fire to decaying corpses of people of animals (intended to spread fear and disease – yuk!) The Warwick Trebuchet is the largest in the world at 18m (60 feet high) and weighs 220 tonnes, and fires the projectiles 25m (80 feet) into the air and out to 300m (1000 feet). A huge beast! The Trebuchet is based on a counter-balance weight, which has to be primed, which basically means using a large man-powered wheel to winch in the weight. It takes a few minutes to do the priming and in the mean time we are entertained by a commentator who tells us about the history of trebuchet as a weapon in the middle ages to and what was going on with the preparations. Finally all was set and we waited with baited breadth – and then we had the obligatory count – then the release. The counter weight releases against the tension of the winch and the trebuchets arm springs forward, almost in slow motion and the projectile is released from the bucket and flies out 1000 feet before thudding into the ground. Very impressive and all conceived and built (this particular trebuchet is only few years old) over 700 years ago.

With the excitement of the trebuchet behind us we climb the hill up to the castle. Unlike the ruins of Kenilworth Castle this castle has been well preserved, primarily due to the fact that this was used as residence for many years. As well as preserving the exterior elements of the castle the interiors are wonderful and full of artefacts across the centuries. We pass through the Great Hall which is the largest room in the castle. Here there are countless pikes, sword, daggers and other medieval weapons creatively displayed as sinister wall designs. Jack and Emily are particularly taken by the knight in armour mounted on an equally armoured horse that stands in the middle of the Great Hall. One of the more interesting exhibits is a statue of the face of the Oliver Cromwell, the leaders of the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. The statue was cast from the death mask, which was commonly done in those days, of Cromwell so it a true impression of the man's visage.

The journey continues through the castle to Chapel and then into the State Rooms. These rooms have been restored and their stories are further embellished by tableaux of wax mannequins (Warwick Castle is owned by Madam Tussauds’) showing the nobility and famous politicians (such as Winston Churchill) who have graced Warwick with their presence throughout the years. As with all Madam Tussaud's wax impressions the detail is amazing, making the figures almost come alive. The decorations of the rooms are stunning, many of them are the originals items of these State rooms.

Always a great favourite of the children is the dungeon, and we were not disappointed. The steps down are step and uneven and this entrance is not for those with claustrophobia but at the bottom awaits instruments of torture and holes 6 ft deep and a 3 ft wide where prisoners were incarcerated for months if not years (shiver!). Not wanting to get trapped down here we quickly retreat to the surface and into the The Kingmaker attraction which recreates the mid fifteenth century world of

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, Kingmaker. This covers the period of the Wars of the Roses, which were a prolonged struggle, starting in the early 1450s and ending at the battle of Bosworth in 1485, for supremacy between the Houses of York and Lancaster. During this time, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick from 1449 - 1471 became known as 'The Kingmaker'. Neville's family connections made him a Yorkist. The exhibits use a combination of actors and animated wax figures to show the common people in preparation for the battles and the family links between the Houses of York and Lancaster. Some of the scenes are dimly illuminated so it could be a bit frightening for young children

We felt relieved to get back outside at the end of the Kingmaker exhibit and we were just in time to catch a demonstration of the medieval fighting arts in the main courtyard. Jack just loves this sort of thing ever since he read the Lord of the Rings and was fascinated by the weapons and their effectiveness and killing power – it is a boy thing! As the show drew to a close we made a dash to the stairs that lead to the battlements. Here a trail leads you along curtain walls of the castle from where the archers and crossbow men would defend their Lord and Country. The children just love to pretend being soldiers defending the castles, looking out through the narrow slit windows and imagining the enemy approached far below. The curtain walls lead to the two main 14^th Century towers of the castle, the12 sided Guy’s Tower standing at 128ft tall and the clover shaped Caesar’s Tower at 144 feet. Both require climbing uneven spiral stone staircases, both Karen and Mark are out of breath by the time they get to the top but the views across the medieval town of Warwick and the surrounding countryside are spectacular in the extreme. Luckily the journey down is less tiring but still made difficult by the tricky staircases.

To finish our day before heading south we sit down on the lawn by river to watch a good old Medieval jousting tournament. As is always the case there are two sides, one made up of the good knights who are chivalrous and proud (a.k.a boring) and the bad knights who cheat and fight dirty (a.k.a. good fun). The routine is very much like watching a wrestling match with “Carry On” humour thrown in for good measure. It is good wholesome family viewing. Perhaps there is a case for an X rated version for the hardcore jousters out there. Anyways ,after charging up and down, being knocked off their horses and beating each other with swords and maces the outcome is ……. surprise, surprise a draw! Never mind they all lived to fight another day.

Our day in Warwick is done and we head South towards Eastbourne on the South Coast to pick Laura up from college. We plan to stay overnight in Eastbourne but drive to pickup Laura from Brighton, it also our chance to attend her year end college celebration when they give out certificates to all the students for their achievements throughout the year. Being a College for children with special educational needs this is an important opportunity to recognise what they have been working on throughout the year. Laura gets several certificates and like the rest of the students she is so proud of herself, and we are proud of her! The finale of the celebration is a concert given by a number of the students – which turns out to be a real hoot, we have not laughed so much for a long time. One of our favourite acts is a group of young people who perform “Final Countdown”. They mumble their way through the lyrics but soon as they get to the chorus and the words “Final Countdown” they bounce excitedly around the stage and the words ring out as clear as a bell. It is hilarious.

Whilst staying in Eastbourne we take a short drive along the coast to the seaside town of Brighton. This lively University town is the San Francisco of Britain, not because it has a red bridge but is a major centre for the gay community. It is also where Laura goes to college. We have come here to meet Karen’s cousins Simon and Lynne Truelove and their son Callum. As we are by the sea we decided to join in with another great British tradition and have fish and chip suppers along the seafront. There are, as you might expect ,a large number of “chippies” to chose from but we chose that other great British institution- Harry Ramsdens. The food was great, the beer wonderful and it set our constitutions to survival mode which made it possible for us to brave a visit to the beach.