Off to see Nottingham Castle

View of Nottingham from the castle

On Saturday, 11/9/2010, a group of 10 of us went to see the Nottingham Castle and then journeyed onto the Sherwood Forest. Because both sites were so spectacular (as was lunch) this is going to be the first of 3 blogs to describe our day. First, about the castle...

The castle is in the city of Nottingham (the "h" is silent, so you pronounce it Notting'am), which is where it gets its name. In order to get to the castle, the 10 of us piled into 2 taxis and hopped on the 30-minute train ride to Nottingham. While we were waiting for the cabs, Jack decided to take a walk on the grass in the Pegasus Circle at the manor. I love the picture I took of him on the lawn - see if you can figure out why I think this is so cute :)

Jack on the grass :)

We had to wait a few minutes for the train, so Isaac and I entertained Abby, Jack, and the others by taking a few pictures. It started out to be a pretty blustery, rainy and cold day.

Abby striking a pose at the train station 

The guy standing behind Abby was really nice - If you look hard enough, you can see that his shoes and his jumper (aka sweater) match. He told me he did not plan to coordinate his clothing, but then he went on to tell me he has a hat in the same print at home, so I am not sure I believe him :)

Nancy and Abby on the train

Having fun on the train with Isaac and Jack

One of the things I really like in England is the train system. The public transportation system here is quite good and it is usually pretty easy to figure out. The other nice thing is that you don't have to worry about driving on the opposite side of the road and you don't have the opportunity to get trapped in a complicated system of round abouts!

Here are some fascinating facts about Nottingham. The city was founded 1400 years ago by the Saxons who originally called it Snottingham. In the Middle Ages, the city became a large producer of lace and hosiery. However, as time passed, machines began to replace people in the production of lace and hosiery. In 1811, there was a riot of craftsmen who were upset because jobs were being lost to machines. In 1813 the protesters were arrested and sent to York for trial - the ringleaders were hung and the others were sent to prison in Australia. Today, Nottingham is one of the more populated cities in the UK. Its estimated population is around 285,000. This is comparable to the size of Peoria or Evansville. However, it seems as though the actual geographic area is much smaller than either Peoria or Evansville. It is a popular place to shop, so it was pretty crowded on Saturday.

Once we made it to Nottingham, we walked to the castle. Getting to the castle required a walk up the middle of the city.

Our group walking to the castle

We called this trip the Nancy and Amy tour, since Nancy and I planned our trip together. The only thing we were missing was an umbrella or a sign so that our group could find us at any given time...we'll have to arrange that for next time :)

The castle stands high in the city on Castle Rock. The castle, like all castles, has an interesting history. The original castle was built in 1067 by William the Conqueror. The castle was made out of wood. During the reign of Henry II, the castle was rebuilt with stone. For a long time, this was a very important castle as it was strategically located and it had great hunting grounds. Rumor has it that when Richard the Lionheart was away during the 3rd crusade, the castle fell into disrepair and the sheriff of Nottingham moved into the castle. In the Robin Hood stories, Nottingham castle is where the sheriff and Robin Hood had their last battle. Several battles and wars took place near the castle after this and in 1649, following the English Civil War, the castle was demolished to prevent anyone from taking it over. In 1674 the Duke of Cavendish took over the space and had a "Ducal Mansion" built on the site of the castle. The only original part of the 13th century castle that still exists today is the gatehouse which is also the main entrance to the castle.

The Gatehouse at the Castle

Isaac and Abby in the Gatehouse going into the castle

The ducal mansion remains and is now a museum. The exhibits in the museum were pretty amazing, but we could not take pictures of them. There were some cut outs that we enjoyed, though...

The Gang playing in the Castle - look closely and see if you can find us all!

There was a gentleman dressed up as a merry man who was pretty entertaining.

Nancy and I having a merry time with the merry man - I really liked his sword!

Isaac and Abby sharing in the merry - ment 

The merry man explaining to Isaac how the sword worked - it wasn't sharp, but it was jagged and heavy!

The garden areas were also pretty spectacular.

Robin Hood Topiary

Garden area with mansion in the background

Another one of the gardens

The views from the behind the mansion were pretty cool - you can see a lot of the city of Nottingham from there. Here is one of the views we saw...

View of Nottingham

If you look hard enough, in the middle of this picture just under the clouds is a large, sprawling white building. This building is Queens Medical Centre, which is where the nursing students and I will be going to visit a few days at the end of October and beginning of November.

A really small door!

 One thing that I find fascinating about these old buildings is their architecture. Doorways can be small and are often arched. The detail in the stonework is also amazing. What I have trouble grasping is how people so many years ago without modern day technology built these massive structures that still stand today.

A really cool railing in the back of the mansion

Looking down to the street - it's a long way down!

The other cool thing that was happening this day at the castle was the backpack tours. The backpack tours were designed for kids to help them explore the castle. The tour started with picking up a back pack. In the backpack, we had several Robin Hood hats, Maid Marian headbands, finger puppets, and an activity book. Isaac, John, and Abby donned their Robin Hood headgear, which made the visit much more merry and fun :)

We would periodically check back with the merry man just to see what he was up to...

Abby and the merry man

We just loved his bow and arrows - and I would venture to say he loved us as well - at least he ended up being in many of our pictures :) Here are a few more pictures of what we saw...it is impossible to capture all this in pictures, but I did my best.

A vegetable garden

The path up to the mansion and museums

Looking back down on the path

Isaac peering down at us on the path

Abby and Isaac scaring the scary dude

What goes up must come down!

We had a good time in the museum. One of the museum displays was called the thread museum. Abby and I had fun trying on some old threads....

Abby playing dress up

Me playing dress up with Abby - it was definitely a bonding experience for both of us!

The boys bonded during our journey as well...

Isaac, I think Jack has your ear!

As we left the castle, we actually saw Friar Tuck :)

Abby, Friar Tuck and Isaac

We had a great time at the castle and will always remember the beautiful setting

as well as the time we spent with our friends...

Carla and Isaac sharing a pint...of hot chocolate of course!

Will the real Robin Hood please stand up???

After making it through the castle, we started to make our way to lunch. Here are some shots of the castle from the walk down the hill...

Castle Wall

I think we all welcomed the opportunity for our inner child to emerge. The castle was a phenomenal experience, made even better because of the 9 people who accompanied me. Again, I can't help but think how blessed I am to be in this place, with these people, having fun and learning all together, all the time.