UK Roadtrip - Kenilworth

13th October

The last full day of our Holiday, the last day of Mum's course.

Nanny and I slept in this morning after we waved mum off to drive to work.  We were up and about not much later though, getting ready for the day.  Our lovely land lady had offered to drop nan and us off somewhere this morning, so at about 10 am we set off, ending up in Kenilworth.

Though we had already wandered the little town, nan and I wandered the town centre and shops again before walking down to the Castle.

Kenilworth Castle was built over several centuries. Founded in the 1120s around a powerful Norman great tower, the castle was significantly enlarged by King John at the beginning of the 13th century. Huge water defences were created by damming the local streams, and the resulting fortifications proved able to withstand assaults by land and water in 1266. John of Gaunt spent lavishly in the late 14th century, turning the medieval castle into a palace fortress designed in the latest perpendicular style. The Earl of Leicester then expanded the castle once again, constructing new Tudor buildings and exploiting the medieval heritage of Kenilworth to produce a fashionable Renaissance palace.

Kenilworth was partly destroyed by Parliamentary forces in 1649 to prevent it being used as a military stronghold. Ruined, only two of its buildings remain habitable today. The castle became a tourist destination from the 18th century onwards, becoming famous in the Victorian period following the publishing of Sir Walter Scott's novel Kenilworth in 1826. English Heritage has managed the castle since 1984.

We wandered the Castle grounds and the park surrounding before heading off to find somewhere to have Cream Tea.

Nanny had been requesting to have Cream Tea the entire time we have been away, so I decided to indulge her. We went to a little tea shop called Time for Tea and had a toasted sandwich, scone with jam and cream and a lot of tea.

After that we wandered back to the centre of town, through Old Kenilworth and Abbey Park.

When we arrived back in the town centre, we bummed some Wi-Fi off the Holiday Inn and sat in Starbucks waiting for mum to come collect us and take us home.

Once mum arrived, we squeezed in a quick trip to Poundland and Sainsbury's before heading home to tackle the big job of packing.  Which, it all fits in our cases, the question will be how over weight we are!?