England 3: Corfe Castle

On our first Saturday, we had one of the best days of our vacation – at Corfe Castle, with Danni, Adam, Grace, and Olivia. The sun shone, the air was cool and clear, and the scenery was just beautiful. I'm pretty sure that it's been rainy every time I've been to Corfe in the past two decades, so it was wonderful to actually spend the day there, get out on the grounds, and climb the ruins. Corfe Castle was begun by William the Conqueror sometime after his arrival into England in 1066. For several hundred years, it was a mighty fortress and castle with its prominent setting high on the steep hill. Later, it became a fine residence, and in the 1630s it was purchased by the powerful Bankes family. Alas, in a story of death and betrayal coupled with great bravery on the part of the lady of the castle, it was destroyed barely a decade later in the English Civil War. The amazing ruin today has cast its shadow over the village below for nearly 350 years, with much of the tumbled stone from the ruin incorporated into the residences below. 

We started out day on the grounds just below the castle, enjoying the available activities and then eating a picnic lunch. 

What do you think? Does 14th century garb suit us?

 Beautiful countryside in a valley below.

And the view from another angle, looking back toward the town of Corfe Castle. 

We didn't know it ahead of time, but "Jigsaw the Jester" was doing fun shows at Corfe Castle each Saturday in August. The kids loved it! 

 

Clambering around the ruins. 

William didn't get to see much of the castle itself!

After the picnic, he conked out in the stroller for a nice nap. 

In the afternoon, there was a "learn to be a jester" session with juggling balls and batons, ribbons, and all sorts of other fun equipment. Jigsaw gave Josiah a few lessons on one-armed tricks!

Jesse shows off his impressive plate-spinning skills....

...but Olivia proves it's mere child's play! 

 Leaving the castle behind wasn't so hard with the promise of ice cream down in the village below.

And to top off our lovely day in Corfe Castle, we spied the steam train in the gaps between houses as we headed out. We snapped this picture out of the window as we drove past! 

We then headed back to Danni and Adam's for a reeeally delicious Indian take-away supper, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the night ended with a Casler-Grady production. Grace (5), Josiah (4), and Libby (3) put on a wonderful puppet show for us. The story line was dark and cautionary, involving a decidedly ungracious fairy (who wouldn't share her bath) and an ill-fated group of woodland animals (named Benny, Lenny, Jenny, and so on) who gave their lives one after another in pursuit of bath time justice. The puppeteers brilliantly lightened their potentially sombre tale with the addition of many comedic techniques that kept the audience in stitches. (We have it on video so at some point, with better bandwidth, I'll have to get it posted. It's a massive file...)