As You Like It
On November 25th we went on another group outing. This time the tour was a mixed bag. We were to visit a medieval castle, an Indian temple, a shopping mall and then top it all off with an IMAX movie. There was something for everyone.
Almost a 100 people had signed up for this trip so we set out in two big buses hired for the day.
It was not a very pleasant morning; there were gales and showers at various places on the way. Our road towards Warwick Castle took us through Oxfordshire and we passed within miles of Oxford town. The English countryside was in full winter bloom (the trees were all golden, brown, orange and red…with just a hint of green). The ground on both sides sloped down to the motorway and the trees on the slopes were standing erect almost waiting for a command to move (of course it had to remind me of Fangorn’s forest and the marching forest of Macbeth). We went right through Stratford-upon-Avon, but got to see hardly anything of the place.
We reached Warwick Castle by 10:30 and were given two hours to tour the place. The castle belongs to the Earl of Warwick, who does not live there anymore. It is open to the public and for special events all through the year. We entered through the Gatehouse and Barbican which was the first defence of castle against invaders. The Barbican had a drawbridge stretched across a wide dry ditch which could be raised in times of attack. Any enemy who managed to cross the drawbridge would be faced with an iron portcullis which was controlled from a room in the Barbican. Beyond the portcullis was a narrow passage with another portcullis at the far end, and the enemy could deliberately be trapped between the portcullis if desired. The Gatehouse and Barbican had a couple of rooms for the guards to rest.
As we entered through the gatehouse, a big ugly contraption was under construction in the castle courtyard. They were building a skating rink for the winter special events due to start in a few days time. Well, that ugly white fiber, wood and plastic rink nearly took away the beauty of the ancient stone castle, but it was only temporary; so it was alright. On our left was the Death or Glory exhibit. This contains the armory of the Earls and if you are interested in weapons of war (mediaeval wars), protective gear then you will like this.
Next to this exhibit is Caesar’s Tower. The room below Caesar’s Tower was used as a dungeon and it is now open for public view. We descended into the dark dungeon and there were chains and fetters used to tie up the prisoners. There was also a solitary confinement cell below the floor of the dungeon. Try imagining prisoners in a single room underground with only a single shaft of light coming in through the solitary window…it still gives me the creeps.
The next exhibit was the ‘Kingmaker’. Apparently one of the Earls had played a very important part in the war (popularly known as the War of the Roses) for the monarchy; he was called the Kingmaker. This exhibit (which is located in the basement/cellar of the castle) shows how the household prepared for the final battle. The rooms have been arranged as they would have been during that period and there are life-size figures that are carrying out various tasks. There was a stable, with a huge horse, stable boys and hay; then there were the guards being fitted up for battle, next came the smithy where weapons were being made, there was a kitchen and a laundry room (the washerwoman had water flowing out through the clothes in her hand), there were guards drinking and talking about the battle and finally there was the Kingmaker himself with his guards around him proclaiming their allegiance to him. Everywhere there were voiceovers describing the atmosphere and the thoughts of the people in the exhibits. The life-size figurines have been made by the Tussauds group which explains their authentic expressions and the level of detail. The Kingmaker exhibit is magnificent and you will feel as if you are really in the midst of battle preparations and possibly are a part of it too.
Next we went into the private rooms. Here, as in the Kingmaker, there are waxworks of the people who lived there, antique furniture and a portrayal of life as an Earl and Countess at the Castle. Among the guests immortalized in wax are Winston Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, the then Prince of Wales and several others. The wax figurines, their clothes, their jewelry and their expressions are so exquisite you can almost relive those lavish times.
One of the important rooms was the Great Hall which is the largest room in the castle and used for entertaining large parties. Today it has an exhibition of some antique possessions of the Earldom and an exhibition of Shakespearean drama costumes by the Royal Shakespeare Company. (I particularly liked the Othello costume).
As we exited the state rooms bedazzled by the splendor of life at the castle, we came upon the Ghost Tower. It is said that the ghost of the Earl who completely rebuilt and fortified the castle still haunts it within this tower. There is not much to see; just a couple of old rooms and memorabilia that belonged to the supposed ghost in his lifetime including his bedroom with the old bed hangings.
The nest interesting area was ‘The Mound’, which is a small hill with watch towers set upon it (another of the castle’s defense systems). Apparently this gives quite a good view of the land outside the castle; but it was closed to visitors on that day owing to the preparation for special events that was taking place.
We walked past ‘The Mound’ and climbed up the Bear and Clarence Towers. These are stunted twin towers fortified to resist a siege. Their construction was abruptly stopped when the then Earl was killed. From Clarence Tower, we walked on along the high walkway that connects it to Guy’s Tower. Guy’s Tower is the tallest structure in the castle; it is a 12 sided tower with a narrow spiral staircase inside which is quite dark except for regular slits in the wall which serve as windows. There are almost 500 steps to reach the top. We climbed this narrow stairway, feeling, rather than seeing our way through and emerged out on top of the world. It was an exhilarating experience standing up there and looking down on everything else. (It is probably not taller than any 10 storey building), but the sheer experience of climbing a narrow, dark spiral staircase was enough to give us that feeling. My legs were wobbly and I had to take several deep breaths to steady myself. Also, there were slits in the floor of the tower; and through these slits you could see the castle ground below; very scary indeed. But the view was beautiful and we stood up there for a while before we decided to descend. This was through another spiral staircase, as dark and narrow as the first. One level below, the door built into the sides of the staircase was open and it revealed a hexagonal guard room with a beautiful ceiling and slits on all sides for cannons.
We continued our careful descent and without any mishap landed on terra firma. What a relief! It was time for our party to regroup and leave for our next destination so we went back to our bus.
We did not have time to visit the Peacock Garden; it seems the bushes are trimmed in the shape of peacocks and there are live peacocks too in the garden. Also near the entrance was the Victorian Rose Garden which might have been a beautiful sight.
To take a virtual tour of the castle visit this website http://www.warwick-castle.co.uk/warwick2004/tc_explore_castle.htm and learn more about the interesting places therein.
From the castle our next stop was the Balaji Temple near Birmingham. It is supposed to be the largest Indian temple in the UK. It was sadly disappointing however, because the temple complex was still under construction. The main temple itself was fully built and the idols had been consecrated, but it lacked the outer grandeur of the temples in India. After prayers, we had a nice South Indian lunch with lots of pickle and papad. It was like a godsend for those people who had come on short term visit and who were surviving on hotel food.
From the temple we drove through the busy streets of Birmingham to the Bull Ring Shopping Centre. Birmingham is an industrial town, and we could see plenty of factories, huge warehouses, and more activity than in Welwyn. It is also populated with a large number of Asians from our subcontinent. This was amply borne out by shops names, products on display, people on the streets, etc. In fact only 1 in about 10 shops had anything remotely British about it and those were to cater to the minority population of Birmingham. Halwai shops, Indian jewelry stores, salwar suits prominently displayed in clothing stores – it was like being at home. Three were also branches of prominent Indian Banks and we also saw a Gurudwara.
By the time we reached the shopping centre there was only about an hour for the movie and there was no parking lot for our buses nearby, so the driver headed off for the movie theatre which was not far away. People who wanted to shop were given the option of walking back to Bull Ring. Those who wished could return for the movie and others could carry on shopping and return in a couple of hours for the drive home.
It was quite cold outside and I was shivering so we gave up the idea of walking to the shopping centre and elected to stay inside the warm theatre. There were Christmas decorations inside, a museum and activity centre for kids and a toy store. We browsed for a while and then settled down to watch the movie.
IMAX was sheer delight. We watched an animated movie called ‘The Polar Express’ and the 3D effects were quite stunning. It was a kiddies’ movie with plenty of fast action and the ultimate happy ending. It was my first 3D movie (after the ubiquitous Chota Chetan which everyone in my generation seems to have watched as a kid) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Guess I was so tired on the long drive back that I slept through most of the traffic and later discovered that we might have been held up on the motorway in a traffic jam if our driver hadn’t changed the route.
It was a great outing, getting to know new people, seeing new places…it was organized very well and we pretty much kept to the schedule throughout the day. With a hundred people to manage, I think it was a great effort.
Almost a 100 people had signed up for this trip so we set out in two big buses hired for the day.
It was not a very pleasant morning; there were gales and showers at various places on the way. Our road towards Warwick Castle took us through Oxfordshire and we passed within miles of Oxford town. The English countryside was in full winter bloom (the trees were all golden, brown, orange and red…with just a hint of green). The ground on both sides sloped down to the motorway and the trees on the slopes were standing erect almost waiting for a command to move (of course it had to remind me of Fangorn’s forest and the marching forest of Macbeth). We went right through Stratford-upon-Avon, but got to see hardly anything of the place.
We reached Warwick Castle by 10:30 and were given two hours to tour the place. The castle belongs to the Earl of Warwick, who does not live there anymore. It is open to the public and for special events all through the year. We entered through the Gatehouse and Barbican which was the first defence of castle against invaders. The Barbican had a drawbridge stretched across a wide dry ditch which could be raised in times of attack. Any enemy who managed to cross the drawbridge would be faced with an iron portcullis which was controlled from a room in the Barbican. Beyond the portcullis was a narrow passage with another portcullis at the far end, and the enemy could deliberately be trapped between the portcullis if desired. The Gatehouse and Barbican had a couple of rooms for the guards to rest.
As we entered through the gatehouse, a big ugly contraption was under construction in the castle courtyard. They were building a skating rink for the winter special events due to start in a few days time. Well, that ugly white fiber, wood and plastic rink nearly took away the beauty of the ancient stone castle, but it was only temporary; so it was alright. On our left was the Death or Glory exhibit. This contains the armory of the Earls and if you are interested in weapons of war (mediaeval wars), protective gear then you will like this.
Next to this exhibit is Caesar’s Tower. The room below Caesar’s Tower was used as a dungeon and it is now open for public view. We descended into the dark dungeon and there were chains and fetters used to tie up the prisoners. There was also a solitary confinement cell below the floor of the dungeon. Try imagining prisoners in a single room underground with only a single shaft of light coming in through the solitary window…it still gives me the creeps.
The next exhibit was the ‘Kingmaker’. Apparently one of the Earls had played a very important part in the war (popularly known as the War of the Roses) for the monarchy; he was called the Kingmaker. This exhibit (which is located in the basement/cellar of the castle) shows how the household prepared for the final battle. The rooms have been arranged as they would have been during that period and there are life-size figures that are carrying out various tasks. There was a stable, with a huge horse, stable boys and hay; then there were the guards being fitted up for battle, next came the smithy where weapons were being made, there was a kitchen and a laundry room (the washerwoman had water flowing out through the clothes in her hand), there were guards drinking and talking about the battle and finally there was the Kingmaker himself with his guards around him proclaiming their allegiance to him. Everywhere there were voiceovers describing the atmosphere and the thoughts of the people in the exhibits. The life-size figurines have been made by the Tussauds group which explains their authentic expressions and the level of detail. The Kingmaker exhibit is magnificent and you will feel as if you are really in the midst of battle preparations and possibly are a part of it too.
Next we went into the private rooms. Here, as in the Kingmaker, there are waxworks of the people who lived there, antique furniture and a portrayal of life as an Earl and Countess at the Castle. Among the guests immortalized in wax are Winston Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough, the then Prince of Wales and several others. The wax figurines, their clothes, their jewelry and their expressions are so exquisite you can almost relive those lavish times.
One of the important rooms was the Great Hall which is the largest room in the castle and used for entertaining large parties. Today it has an exhibition of some antique possessions of the Earldom and an exhibition of Shakespearean drama costumes by the Royal Shakespeare Company. (I particularly liked the Othello costume).
As we exited the state rooms bedazzled by the splendor of life at the castle, we came upon the Ghost Tower. It is said that the ghost of the Earl who completely rebuilt and fortified the castle still haunts it within this tower. There is not much to see; just a couple of old rooms and memorabilia that belonged to the supposed ghost in his lifetime including his bedroom with the old bed hangings.
The nest interesting area was ‘The Mound’, which is a small hill with watch towers set upon it (another of the castle’s defense systems). Apparently this gives quite a good view of the land outside the castle; but it was closed to visitors on that day owing to the preparation for special events that was taking place.
We walked past ‘The Mound’ and climbed up the Bear and Clarence Towers. These are stunted twin towers fortified to resist a siege. Their construction was abruptly stopped when the then Earl was killed. From Clarence Tower, we walked on along the high walkway that connects it to Guy’s Tower. Guy’s Tower is the tallest structure in the castle; it is a 12 sided tower with a narrow spiral staircase inside which is quite dark except for regular slits in the wall which serve as windows. There are almost 500 steps to reach the top. We climbed this narrow stairway, feeling, rather than seeing our way through and emerged out on top of the world. It was an exhilarating experience standing up there and looking down on everything else. (It is probably not taller than any 10 storey building), but the sheer experience of climbing a narrow, dark spiral staircase was enough to give us that feeling. My legs were wobbly and I had to take several deep breaths to steady myself. Also, there were slits in the floor of the tower; and through these slits you could see the castle ground below; very scary indeed. But the view was beautiful and we stood up there for a while before we decided to descend. This was through another spiral staircase, as dark and narrow as the first. One level below, the door built into the sides of the staircase was open and it revealed a hexagonal guard room with a beautiful ceiling and slits on all sides for cannons.
We continued our careful descent and without any mishap landed on terra firma. What a relief! It was time for our party to regroup and leave for our next destination so we went back to our bus.
We did not have time to visit the Peacock Garden; it seems the bushes are trimmed in the shape of peacocks and there are live peacocks too in the garden. Also near the entrance was the Victorian Rose Garden which might have been a beautiful sight.
To take a virtual tour of the castle visit this website http://www.warwick-castle.co.uk/warwick2004/tc_explore_castle.htm and learn more about the interesting places therein.
From the castle our next stop was the Balaji Temple near Birmingham. It is supposed to be the largest Indian temple in the UK. It was sadly disappointing however, because the temple complex was still under construction. The main temple itself was fully built and the idols had been consecrated, but it lacked the outer grandeur of the temples in India. After prayers, we had a nice South Indian lunch with lots of pickle and papad. It was like a godsend for those people who had come on short term visit and who were surviving on hotel food.
From the temple we drove through the busy streets of Birmingham to the Bull Ring Shopping Centre. Birmingham is an industrial town, and we could see plenty of factories, huge warehouses, and more activity than in Welwyn. It is also populated with a large number of Asians from our subcontinent. This was amply borne out by shops names, products on display, people on the streets, etc. In fact only 1 in about 10 shops had anything remotely British about it and those were to cater to the minority population of Birmingham. Halwai shops, Indian jewelry stores, salwar suits prominently displayed in clothing stores – it was like being at home. Three were also branches of prominent Indian Banks and we also saw a Gurudwara.
By the time we reached the shopping centre there was only about an hour for the movie and there was no parking lot for our buses nearby, so the driver headed off for the movie theatre which was not far away. People who wanted to shop were given the option of walking back to Bull Ring. Those who wished could return for the movie and others could carry on shopping and return in a couple of hours for the drive home.
It was quite cold outside and I was shivering so we gave up the idea of walking to the shopping centre and elected to stay inside the warm theatre. There were Christmas decorations inside, a museum and activity centre for kids and a toy store. We browsed for a while and then settled down to watch the movie.
IMAX was sheer delight. We watched an animated movie called ‘The Polar Express’ and the 3D effects were quite stunning. It was a kiddies’ movie with plenty of fast action and the ultimate happy ending. It was my first 3D movie (after the ubiquitous Chota Chetan which everyone in my generation seems to have watched as a kid) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Guess I was so tired on the long drive back that I slept through most of the traffic and later discovered that we might have been held up on the motorway in a traffic jam if our driver hadn’t changed the route.
It was a great outing, getting to know new people, seeing new places…it was organized very well and we pretty much kept to the schedule throughout the day. With a hundred people to manage, I think it was a great effort.
