Our Day Out

We had a lovely day out last Wednesday. We had been recruited to help our daughter and another teacher take their two classes of 8 to 9 year olds to Kenilworth Castle. The original keep was built in 1120 and various owners added bits over the next 500 years. It was fascinating to see the changing styles of architecture over the years and also to see which bits were decorative and which were for defence. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, had built a grand house on the site and also a fabulous Great Hall, in hopes of persuading Elizabeth I to marry him. It didn't work! After the Civil War, 1642 - 1651, Several of the walls of the castle were knocked down to prevent the castle ever being used for defence again. We learned lots of history, had lots of fun and managed to come home with the same number of children as we started out with. The coach was awful - a mobile torture unit. It was an old coach that had been refitted to hold 70 small bodies and I do not qualify as a small body...  There was not enough knee room either and suffice to say that none of the adults enjoyed the journey there and back. But my, were we tired that evening!

And then the next day I managed to do something to my back and have been hobbling around ever since. I'm glad I did my back in after the day out and not before because I would have missed a grand day out : )