Rowing on the River Nidd

Knaresborough Castle was once upon a time perfectly situated on the clifftops overlooking the River Nidd.  The view from the castle ruins where Medieval Day was held is so beautiful and takes your breath away no matter how many times you've seen it.

The only time the kids and I had walked down by the river was in the cold of November shortly after we arrived last year.  A summer's day with rowing and ice cream, and the perfection of that view made us want to walk down the steps and enter into the scene.

I'm so glad KJ took the lead and said we should definitely do this.

The view from the River offered a different and impressive perspective.  We tried to ignore the fact that there were big dark clouds approaching our direction.

I guess we trusted Ella not to jump out, but we made sure this little guy was ready for anything.

I wouldn't mind having a house on the river like this.  What do you think?

It wasn't long before rain started softly falling.  We hung out underneath a smaller stone bridge for a little bit, but when the thunder started we figured we'd better row back to the landing.  We had a short trek back to the car and made it just before the bottom fell out.  Thunderstorms are really rare here, and it rained the hardest we'd ever seen since moving.  The car ride back home was loud with the sound of fast-falling rain, and to top off our lovely day I slipped and fell in the doorway of Capstick Cottage running in, landing on the pinky finger of my left hand.  I twisted it pretty good because it took a good week or so to stop hurting.  I think it mended alright in the end, though.  Adventures usually have a price.

Medieval Day

I guess I fell off the wagon a little bit on the Write 31 Days project over the weekend.  In my defense it was a busy one!  But I'm hopping back on with some pictures from August and an afternoon spent at Medieval Day in Knaresborough.

Knaresborough is really close to us, and most of the time when we go it's to take or pick up someone from the train station. I think we got a flyer through our front door about this event and thought the kids would enjoy it.

There was a combat area set up in front of the castle ruins and sword-fighting, archery, and crafts set up elsewhere inside the castle gate.  When we arrived James joined in with Benji in some lessons in combat.  The man leading it was fantastic.

We exchanged a few pounds for some medieval coins that gave us a tour of the castle.  The castle is only open in the summer, so this was our first time to go inside.  We started with the dungeon where we were told to look out for engravings in the wall, scratched by bored prison guards hundreds of years ago.

Thankfully we had a modern-day torch to help in our search because the dungeon was a dark place.

Next we went up the tower steps to the remains of the king's hall.  We learned that this was one of King John's favorite castles.  He loved hunting in the Forest of Knaresborough.

Look how worn (and how narrow!) the steps are.

James attempted to climb up the remains of the fireplace.

In the court of King James...

The castle has a hidden underground tunnel that lets out below and outside of the castle walls.  We were excited to have the opportunity to walk through it as well.

The scariest part was not the dark and damp but the rare protected spiders and their huge white egg sacs filled with spider babies attached to the ceiling.  Shudder.

I was glad to make it out into the light again.  James and Benji completed some knight training, and Ella made a medieval button.

We made it out in time for the next combat performance.  The ladies in waiting gave their tokens to their favored knights, and the crowd was told who to cheer and boo for.

The little boys loved it.  Events like this are a lot of fun, and it was free to come and watch, so even better!