It may be grey today but the weekend was glorious sunshine and our friends from Dorset were visiting so we all tumbled off, second year in a row, to Bodiam Castle for the jousting weekend. Huzzah! It was brilliant last year and this year was just as much fun – even better in fact due to the readjustment of the layout and landing prime spot by the arena. My blatant lie that Mike the Knight might be there perked up my two year old and the jousting was brilliant – it started with some cheeky banter from a handsome young fellow who could pull off the blue tabard with aplomb. They got some kids involved to pull the sword from the stone and beat the crap out of the black knight with some hefty rubber weaponry. One boy had clearly been practising at home on his little brother as he delivered some ‘well placed’ blows that I don’t think the black knight was expecting…
Then the knights on their trusty steeds entered and split into two camps. Yes – the goodies and the baddies. We halloed our boos and huzzahs and were given a display of knightly challenges, culminating in the downfall of the baddies (of course) and the goodies being heralded most worthy and handsome of all (although personally I thought the yellow knight in the baddies was the most ruggedly handsome and therefore the most worthy of his manknighthood)
There were other displays of archery and falconry and loads of hands-on activities for the kids to do. Mine particularly loved the crossbows (firing suckery things not actual bolts) and the FREE inking and printing of all things mediaeval. Other options were leather beating, dressing up and cannon firing. All set to the beautiful backdrop of the stunning Bodiam Castle.
It may be a hike to get there for some of you, but I warrant there is a similar event near you and it’s a great day out for families. My tips (learned through my own mistakes) is to bring a rug to sit on and swords/shields/dress-up if your kids have them. All the other kids there did and mine were NOT happy I left theirs at home and wouldn’t buy them any more. Into the stocks for me…..
What a fab day out, especially for families, and little boys! :o).
I haven’t been to Bodiam for years, but absolutely loved going as a kid. Looking forward to when my two are old enough to go along… for their benefit, obviously, not mine… :-)
It is a ‘proper’ castle. Such a great place to visit and they do great Hallowe’en/Easter/Christmas type hunts – perfect for the littlies!
My boys would just LOVE that!
Sounds brilliant! I love Bodiam Castle, it looks just like a proper castle. Although my memory is rather tainted by my last visit, when I attended a wedding in a marquee in the grounds. It rained and rained and we spent the evening paddling in the mud! Good tip to take your own swords etc. along, mine are a bit little to notice yet but something I shall remember for future castle visits!