Castle — Blog — They Grow up so Quickly

This weekend had started the week before as we had been getting James excited about the thought of going to see knights at Helmsley Castle and we had been counting down the sleeps. What's more, we had decided to go camping for the weekend as well to make a mini break out of it. The Friday started well as I got off a little early from work and headed home to pick up some vital supplies. I visited a little farm shop come deli on my way home and picked up some sausages and burgers and then popped into Tesco for some oven cooked pizzas and dough balls. Yep you read that right, we can cook pizza and dough balls whilst camping!!! Good stuff.

After throwing the tent into the car we headed out. Disaster struck as James fell asleep as soon as he got into the car. No biggie we thought, however we were wrong, as time would tell. We dropped Jess off at mum and dads, and exchanged her for some pillows as we had forgotten ours, and headed to the camp site. We were staying at Brenk House Caravan Park just outside Coxwold. Unbeknownst to me when I booked it, we had stayed here a few years before when trying out what was our new tent at the time. Now, caravan park may be a grand title for the campsite, as it is a site with around ten pitches. The location is beautiful, surrounded by green fields and with Byland Abbey just in sight. Facilities are basic, however very clean and we never had to wait to use them. Because there were only five groups there, people tended to ask to use them which was nice.

We arrived about 7:30 and we decided to leave James sleeping. This turned out to be an error as he did not go to sleep until gone 11:00 that night and was up at 5:30 the next morning, cue tired grumpy little boy all day, but that was a problem for the next day. The tent was up and we were settled drinking tea by 8:00, including getting the little man up. A good result.

I had bought an inflatable sofa for our camping trip last year. Lyns mocked me mercilessly about this for several weeks before we went away. However, once she realised how comfortable it was the mocking ceased and we now fight over it. As you can see, she made herself very comfortable tea in hand!!

James still has not managed to find the knack of sitting in the sofa. He finds it even harder to get out!

After we had put the tent up and I had Lyns and James suitably comfortable, it was time to fire up the oven and cook our pizzas. Forty mins later we were filling ourselves with pizza and dough balls. By this point we realised that James was not tired anymore so we tried to put him to bed several times but, no, he had other ideas. We had him in bed by 11 and then Lyns and I flopped into bed to, exhausted.

"You should be asleep you little rascal!!!"

The next morning saw us up at 5:30 and probably the whole of the campsite as well as. James was in a mega grump. He was shouting and screaming and making demands at the top of his voice. Lyns and I could do nothing right. No one said anything, however, once we had had our breakfast, sausage butties, and we headed out to Helmsley Castle, you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from all the people remaining behind as they were going to get some peace and quite.

We headed to Helmsley Castle. Clash of Knights was on, promising archery and knights fighting. We had to buy a £1.35 ticket each for this, being English Heritage members, but I did not think this was too unreasonable. We arrived in Helmsley around 11:00 and got one of the last few parking spaces. Had we have arrived twenty minutes later there was not a parking space to be found in the whole town. James had fallen asleep en route so we sat in the car for half an hour or so to let him get a little sleep but more importantly, reduce our suffering later in the day.

Once we had roused James, we equipped our young knight with his sword and headed off to the castle. After collecting our programme as we went it, which also served as our ticket, we saw that the archery was on first. What I did not realise was that over the course of the day each knightly team would collect points and the winning team at the end of the day got the hand of the fair maiden... well no they did not, they got a bottle of mead to share, but the idea of fighting for the hand of a fair maiden somehow seems more fitting.

After we had seen the archery, there was a small gap before the next event. This was a children's session, where they got to learn to sword fight. James did not want to do this. I must say, the knight leading the session was amazing, so patient with the children and was a pleasure to watch the way he handled them all. It was not until later that I realised it was the same gent as I had seen at Richmond Castle earlier in the year and he was just as good there.

After that, we saw our first taste of knightly combat. There was a brief display where a knight was dressed in his amour, this was interesting but not really suitable for James as he did not understand, however, this did not last long. Into the arena stepped The Anvil. A giant among men, he towered over his opponent and with that battle commenced.

The clash of metal upon metal rang out as it would have done almost a hundreds of years ago

Now, they said that the result was not predetermined but this battle happened twice over the day and each time the Blue Knight, Lord Fancypants, won. I mean come on, the Anvil would have flattened him! It was a wonderful spectacle to see and they both went at it for all they were worth. You could see the effort going into it.

After this it was time for the main event before lunch. Team on team combat. there were four best of three bouts. Each team of six fought two of the other teams on a semi final / final basis. The idea was to knock the helm off the opposition knight with the clubs they carried. Initially it did not see that actioned packed, but as the day wore on, the passion got greater and the hits got bigger. The momentum these knights carried when on full charge was amazing. How they kept going all day was amazing, especially as some of them were in full mail and wearing full helms.

The gold team start strong flattening the opposition helm bearer

A touching moment when the two captains embraced before a bout. It turned out they were plotting how to make the best spectacle of the next round much to the cheers of all the people around the arena.

It would appear the helm bearers did not value their honour that much as they spent the whole bout running from any opposing knights. That being said, with The Anvil bearing down on me, I would be running to.

At the end of these bouts, the red team were holding the most points. More importantly for us, it was time to go and get an ice cream. Luckily for us, there is an amazing Ice-cream company based in Helmsley, namely Ryeburn of Helmsley. We took the short walk from the castle to their cafe and wow it was amazing. The choice of flavours was astounding. I went for white chocolate, raspberry and pistachio. Lyns went for cookies and cream and cinder toffee, two different ice creams, and James, as expected, went for chocolate. It was a lovely break and thoroughly enjoyed.

I think Lyns here is enjoying it a little too much

The far away look of a boy who's ice-cream has taken him to distant shores

The idea is to eat it, not wear it. The sign of a happy boy

After we had all demolished our ice creams it was back to the castle. We had to get back in time for the main event, the grand melee. This was similar to the earlier battle, however, all four teams started in the arena and each round a team went out until you were left with two who fought a best of three. Then back to the start and repeat again. How these guys kept going in the heat with all the amour on I will never know but they put on a fantastic show.

Our little knight getting excited (ish) about the main event

The Anvil leading the charge against the gold team

I pitied the gold team helm bearer as he was about to get flattened

The Anvil smashing through the red team ranks like a hot knife through butter

After the battles the red team were declared the winners on points and collected their bottle of mead. The green team however were the fans firm favourite and collected the fans prize, also in the form of a bottle of mead. A very enjoyable day, even if the little man spent a lot of it in a grump.

After the battle was over, we headed back to the camp site. Tonight was a typical 'camping dinner' of sausages and burgers. We fired up the BBQ and settled down to a very enjoyable evening relaxing in the sun. Even James went to bed at a reasonable time and slept through to 8:00 the next morning. He must have been tired.

All ready for bed after his wash from a saucepan, unusual but effective.

Next morning, we began the job of packing up. it is always horrible to be putting the tent away as it signals the end of a lovely time. A family had arrived the night before with two young daughters who had taken James under their wing and he had loved playing with them. The first thing he had said in the morning was 'can I play with the girls?'. It was lovely to watch them all playing, especially as they taught James some games like What's the Time Mr Wolf. He loved it.

Chilling out after all my running around

After the long job of packing the car, albeit not helped by the number of breaks we took to drink tea, we were ready to go. We were meeting nana and grandad for Sunday lunch but we had an hour or so to kill so we headed to the nearby Byland Abbey. Run by English Heritage but free to get in, James loved it. When I say loved it, to him it is a big play ground. He loves climbing up and jumping off the ruins or playing hide and seek. With the abbey more or less deserted, he had the run of the place.

One thing Lyns did do whilst we were there was to plant her rocks. If you follow this new trend it is about spreading some cheer. Effectively you place brightly coloured rocks in out of the way places then tag the location on Facebook with a clue to where they are. Then when people find them, they post a picture on the Facebook page and either keep it or re hide it and the cycle continues. Lyns uses the Facebook page York Rocks, so if you find one of her rocks, please post a picture with the tag #YorkRocks. Below are some clues for James' and Lyns' rocks.

After our brief visit to the abbey, it was time to head to Coxwold and The Fauconberg Arms for lunch. Now, we were due to meet mum and dad for lunch at 1:15 so we thought we would get there for 1:00 so we could beat them. We arrived at 1:03 feeling pretty smug that for once we would arrive before them, alas no, they were there waiting for us!

As it turned out we all ended up having the roast beef Sunday lunch, not to mention the starter and desert as well, and wow, it was amazing. Big portions, friendly staff. Nothing more could have been asked for. If you are ever that way, I would thoroughly recommend it.

Look how much dinner I have ... no problem

After dinner we had five very full people. That was the end of our mini break. Only thing left to do was to pick up Jess. We popped into mum and dads for a cup of tea and to let James have a play with some water bombs in the garden. Unfortunately Jess was on the receiving end of a few, not that she minded a little cold water with it being so hot.

If I sneak up on them, I can get them good.

Before we knew it, we were home, car unpacked and or mini break was over. Back to work for us both the following morning. Where does the time go to. Grumps aside, it was a lovely weekend with lots of fun had by all.

Today saw us off to Richmond Castle with Nana and Grandad, Lynsey was on nights, as they had some re-enactments on for Saint George's day. Before we left I had got up to go for a run and the morning was beautiful, the sun was shining and it looked as if the good weather of the past few days was set to continue. With this in mind, I donned shorts and T-shirt and put James in shorts too. On a whim, I picked up a jumper for the little man, what a lucky break that was. By the time we had got to Richmond, the wind was picking up and the temperature had dropped. I was in for a cold day! First things first though, after the long climb up to the castle from the river, where we had parked, it was off to The Kings Head for a coffee. There was no holding back James with his hot chocolate.

With Nana, Grandad and James satisfied, it was time to head off to the Castle. James lead the way, sword in hand, just to keep us all safe from any dragons that might cross our path, luckily none appeared but, I for one, am glad we had our bodyguard.

When we arrived, we were in time to see the first of the three displays for the day. This was the infantry tactics. James was a little apprehensive of all the people dressed in medieval outfits, I was not however, so I got stuck in, leaving James with Nana and Grandad.

A fearsome sight, luckily there was a thin rope barrier keeping us safe from them.

As the soldiers headed off to lunch after an exhausting morning of slashing the air, it was time for us to dig out the food.

After a brief lunch break, it was time for the telling of Saint George's story. The re-enactors involved were amazing. So enthusiastic and full of energy. The two of them held the crowd wonderfully, with no one wanting to take their eyes away. A wonderful telling of the story and very entertaining. Personally, my favourite part was the sword fight, no surprises there.

It was not long though before James built a little bit of courage up, after his earlier apprehension, and got into the swing of things. Sword in had he led the charge.

Before long, James was fighting all comers, be it tree or human. Now, at the start of the day, Nana had asked why I had not given him his wooden sword, when she saw the state of Grandad and I afterwards, I hoped she could see why. Last time James had his wooden sword, I kept hold of the wooden shield and it was the only thing that had stopped me having my head removed from my shoulders!

By this time, the wind had picked up and was starting to bite. James had tired and sat in the buggy to eat a gingerbread man, wrapped up in a blanket. It was the archery display, so off to the range we headed. Nana was feeling the cold a lot so she headed to the exhibition to warm up, shortly followed by Grandad and James. I braved out the display in my shorts and t-shirt, boy it was cold. Again, another informative display and the narrator got the increasingly chilling crowd hooked.

French Knights, my long bows will destroy them.

After the display I headed over to find the rest of the family and this is what I found ...

It was all too much for the little man and he had zonked out in the buggy once he had got into the warm.

A lovely day out, with lots of fun had by all.

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