Warwickshire 4 - a red sandstone castle and the Queens favourite

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What should I start this blog with? Perhaps the weather again which seems quite topical. They used to say that in Britain we can see four seasons in one day and this was certainly true before the days of global warming. At the moment we seem to be suffering either drought in Southern England or heavy rain. And of course overnight you guessed it – rain again drumming on Suzy’s roof. It still though has not dampened our enthusiasm for motorhoming. Note to ourselves when we arrive home to think about water butts for the garden. Our potatoes are planted and the broad beans growing well. Slugs have decimated the courgettes but we have peas, lettuce and runner beans in pots ready to go out. The carrots and beetroot due to the weather have been washouts so far. We will need the precious water to keep the plants watered in the summer. We have noticed how campsites have become much greener and environmentally friendly. Many have installed water harvesting facilities to flush the toilets. What a good idea. One that I would have loved to have tried at home or in the motorhome.

Anyone who reads our blogs will know already that we are castle/chateau/museum and garden freaks. At every opportunity we will be found climbing castle ramparts, visiting museums, going into art galleries and rustling round gardens. Cemeteries are not safe from us whether they be World War I sites or just ordinary municipal French or Italian ones. So it should come as no surprise that our last visit of the weekend was to the English Heritage site of Kenilworth castle. We entered free using our Cadw card which is the Welsh equivalent and affords us free entry to all English Heritage sites.

The great ruin sits heavily in its landscape, brooding and dark. It was constructed and improved by Robert Dudley for the great love of his life Queen Elizabeth I. Built to impress in 1575 it still impresses visitors despite its ruinous state. What most people do not realise is that there is a connection between Lord Leicester, Robert Dudley and the small market town of Denbigh in North Wales. He was awarded lands in Denbighshire and began the construction of an impressive new cathedral to rival and take over from the existing cathedral of St Asaph. His idea was to move the diocese from St Asaph to Denbigh but this did not happen and work on the cathedral stopped abruptly.

Although the castle was slighted during the English Civil War it still dominates the landscape as it is built not in the grey limestone of Warwick but in the deep rich red local sandstone. Warmer than the grey we were getting used to. It was surrounded originally by a kilometre long great mere which must have been impressive. Sadly it was drained and all that is left is a meadow. The castle gateway was built to function as comfy home and is filled now with Tudor furniture. The upper level of the building contains an exhibition following the life of the Dudley family and their connection with royalty.

Outside there is a reconstructed Tudor garden. In its early days it did look rather empty as it was fairly new but in a few years when it reaches maturity I am sure it will delight.

Later in the afternoon the rain set in again and the dark clouds gathered. The castle certainly looked brooding. We sheltered in the barn which had been converted to a tea room. The intricate roof structure was interesting and it was possible to see where the timbers had come from an earlier building. Peg holes evident of earlier use. The tea was rather too strong for our liking. I chose a tea bag in a mug rather than a teapot. The spoon almost stood in it.

Parking was relatively easy although in the height of the season it could be packed. We found spaces in the bus park and paid our £1.50 which was refunded upon entry to the castle. An interesting ruin and rather strangely beautiful. The shame of returning to the van meant that we would be going home and going back to work. A lovely weekend but I can see how easy it is to want it to go on and on. .

Still no word from Lowdhams or Swift about the locker. Perhaps we expect too much. We also read on the Swift Motorhome Forum that other people were complaining about the cooker door opening when travelling so it seems a known fault. We wait with interest to see if Swift will fix it. Next job cleaning the van out, unloading items, washing clothes and starting the countdown to the European trip. We enjoyed the Warwick site so we have decided to stay overnight on the racecourse which should avoid having to travel through Birmingham in rush hour on our way to the tunnel. We should be able to set off later rather than get up early in the morning. We have stick our vignettes in the window- one for Switzerland, one for Austria and one for Slovenia. Over the weekend we plan to fill the wardrobes with clothes, take out our shake down list and check everything we have in the van. Only two more working days and we will be away.

We had planned to use a geotagging device to track our route but the one we received was discontinued and we did not find it worked so back to the company it went. We are still waiting for the refund - another disagreement on the way I think. We plan to spend 33 days away, we have only booked one campsite so far in Belgium for the first night and the rest we will make up on the way. Our route should take us to Rothenburg a town I have always wanted to visit and then on through Germany to Lake Garda. We plan to stay for a week in Peschiera del Garda using the local trains to visit further afield. From here we hope to travel across Italy to near Trieste and then into Croatia. We hope to stay around Rovinj and Pula all interesting Venetian style towns. On the way back who knows. Perhaps Luzern in Switzerland and finally Mulhouse and the cite du automobil. All I know we have the currency euros, swiss francs and kunas, we have the maps and guide books. The countdown begins................

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Photos

Warwick Racecourse
Suzy peering round the corner

Comments

[Home and Away]

Love your itinerary for the continent...
Rothenburg is one of our favorite towns. Our most favorite, however, is Sirmione...on the peninsula that juts up from the southern shore of Lake Garda near Peschiera del Garda. Hope the weather improves!

[JenGog]

Sirmione
Glenn has been before and agrees that it is a lovely place. He also like Malcesine further north. We hope to use the train from Peschiera del Garda to get out to Verona and to wherever else the train runs to. Italy is lovely any time.