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| Leeds Castle |
 With a daughter studying The Tudors and a bank holiday to kill, Leeds Castle seemed an excellent choice for a day out. On arrival, our walk to the castle took us through the duckery where the kids were overjoyed to see a pea hen in full featherdom plus a family of black swans including cygnets. Once we had torn ourselves away from that we turned to the castle. Leeds Castle, set on two islands on the River Len in the viallge of Leeds in Kent, has been home to royalty, lords and ladies for over 1000 years.It has been home to six mediaeval queens: Eleanor of Castile; Margaret of France; Isabella of France, Joan of Navarre; Anne of Bohemia and Catherine de Valois. Your walking tour of the castle (audio guides are available) first takes you through the castle decorated as it might have been in Tudor times, complete with rat trap! Something to look out for are the beautiful Ebony floors - they made me very jealous. You then move onto the more modern rooms which were home to Lady Baillie, a famous anglo-American hostess of the early twentieth century. Whilst very different, these rooms are sumptuous and beautiful, with lots of intricate decorative touches and flourishes. In fact for me they really made the day and tranpsorted me to an era of society and glamour I had previously only read about. But there's much more than the castle here, especially for familes. We spent a great half hour watching birsd (inlucing a Peregrine Falcon) at a falconry display, wandered around the maze, walked around Lady Baillie's aviary, and the kids enjoyed a play in the new playground which has fortunately been split into an under and over 5's area. Lunch was at a restaurant in a converted tithe barn and whilst most tourirst attractions' eating options usually leave much to be desired the food was very good and five of us ate out for under £40. A bit of a wait though, so do leave it to well before you hit the starving mark! At first glance the entrance fee seems step (£14 for an adult, £8.50 for children) but then we realised that allows a whole year's entrance which turns it into fantastic value. But, let's here it from the kids: Yesterday we went to Leeds castle and the first thing we saw was lots of ducks including black swans. There were birds from all over the world including peacocks. We then got to the castle where we saw how the Kings and Queens lived. Then we had lunch was nice - fish, chips and peas and my mum had lamb. We then did the maze which was really difficlut and in the middle was a grotto. It looked really cool! After that we went to the castle play area which has everything you can imagine - jousting, tunnels, ropes, slides - you name it. We then saw the bird display and stroked a baby owl. We saw the fastest animal in the world - a peregrin falcon. Then we saw some more birds and my favourite was the cockatoo because he was showing off, I really enjoyed my day at Leeds Castle and I give it 9/10. Felix Hockey, 11.  |
| Posted: 10/05/2007 20:37:14 Last Updated: 10/05/2007 21:06:22 |
Chick Lit > Chick Lit Kids :: Leeds Castle