Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Ironbridge Gorge

More driving and a bit of sightseeing.

This time, it was Warwick Castle. Started in the 1068, it was still in use as a residence until the middle 1900s. It's supposed to be one of the best examples of an English castle in existence. But, the owners, being strapped for money and no way to maintain it, sold the castle toTussauds,of wax museum fame. It's now a big entertainment conglomerate. Basically, they disneyfied the castle – putting in all kinds of kids attractions, shops and shows. It's also expensive. I parked, bought a general ticket, a guide book, and ate lunch – 48 pounds – about $67.

But, it's still a castle:



It started as a motte-and-bailey. Thats a wooden fort on a hill surrounded by a wooden palisade. The hill is still there and provides a good view of the castle courtyard:



While the outside looks like a mideval castle, the inside is all Victorian from the late 1800s. There was a big fire which essentially gutted the inside in 1870, so the interior was rebuilt in the current styles.

But, before that, it had an illustrious history. It was home to Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, one of the most influential characters during the Wars of the Roses. He basically decided who would be king for 20 years or so.  King Henry IV was kept prisoner here for a while.

As I said, there are lots of “shows” for kids, but I came across one cool one. A fellow was showing eagles. They were flying around while he talked about them. At one point, they had the largest one – with a 9 foot wingspan – flying back and forth over the crowd, I was right in its path. It would fly 3 or 4 feet over my head. I really needed the camera I had in Africa for this, but I used what I had:



Then it was on to my next overnight place. Ironbridge Gorge. In 1775 they started building the first iron bridge in the world over the Severn River, That basically got the industrial revolution going here in England.




That's pretty much what's here. The town built up around it with several manufacturing sites for iron and tiles.






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