Our eighth day had the busiest agenda. We were to head to Warwick to visit Warwick Castle; try to catch up with a pen pal at the station there; and return to Stratford for “Romeo and Juliet” as performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
One nice aspect about the B&B was that there was a “garden” (what we would normally call a park — a green area with little or no landscaping) across the way. It provided a nice short cut and a welcome quiet space.
After a not particularly good breakfast we headed to the train station and made the short journey to Warwick Castle. I had been a bit concerned about having another castle on the agenda (we had already seen the Tower of London) but I was very pleasantly surprised. The grounds were beautiful, there were gardens, the halls were well-maintained, and the throngs of young school visitors were kept engaged and enthralled by the skilled staff.
We spent more time on the outside grounds than inside. We also had tickets to the dungeon. I was hoping for more of a historical overview, not a “haunted house,” and was dismayed to find the latter is what’s pitched. But it was great. Instead of a whole host of acting students jumping out at you, there were just four characters, each with a lengthy role requiring quick thinking depending on audience responses. In particular, I noted the work of the young woman playing the cook, who was quite insane and discussed how the doctor had succumbed to the bubonic plague. I thought she was great, and was a bit embarrassed when another tourist ahead of us turned to her companion and said, “I cain’t unnerstan a word she’s sayin! Kin you?” — right in front of her during the performance (!). But the actress just kept going.
Mark was pressed into a trebuchet loading commitment even before we began the dungeon tour. Essentially, teams of able-bodied runners imitate hamsters in wheels to coil and uncoil the trebuchet ropes. Most of the eager volunteers are too young or too irresponsible, so the trebuchet master has scouts roaming the grounds with release forms, looking for proper candidates.
The Victorian Rose Garden
Views from inside the walls
Down by the mill
More views near the mill
A giant crossbow
Main hall from trebuchet island / Trebuchet
Trebuchet master arming trebuchet / Trebuchet crew #2
It’s quite a bit of work.
(Mark is on the far side)
After a successful launch (and an attempt to recruit crew #2 for a later performance) we headed into the interior for a bit.
Castle interiors
It’s quite a beautiful interior, well-kept and comfortable, with many portraits and other artwork. I’d like to visit again sometime. But we had to be on our way.
The view to the valley and garden
We had a friend to meet. Chris from Nuneaton, whose acquaintance I had made at the BeatGear Cavern, had suggested the Warwick visit to us, and I wanted to thank him. We had a train to catch and Chris didn’t have much time, either, but it was very nice of him to take time out of his day to drive to the station just to say hello. A pleasure meeting you, Chris!
Correspondents meet
And back to Stratford for “Romeo and Juliet.” We didn’t want to eat until after the play, but most places close early, so we settled on reservations at “The Dirty Duck,” also known as “The Black Swan.”
The play itself was well worth the trip. There were some modern elements introduced that accented certain aspects of the characters, but for the most part it was a traditional presentation with excellent performances — and music, which I hadn’t thought of playing as a big role in Shakespeare, but it did on this night. I won’t think of “Romeo and Juliet” the same way again. It’s there through August, if you can catch it.
“The Dirty Duck” wasn’t very crowded after all. No actor sightings, but that wasn’t important. We had a light supper and headed back to the B&B.