Mountftitchet Castle

With the success of yesterdays morning out and afternoon in the cottage, we did the same again today, the last day of our holiday.

First thing we went to Mountfitchet Castle. I told Theo that was where we were going so he was looking forward to being a King. Unfortunately it's a Norman sesttlement from 1066 so the term 'castle' actually refers to a stone tower built onto a central hut. Not a castle as Theo understood it. So much so that on the way home he was asking when were going to see that castle so he could be a king.

At the entrance to the grounds you can buy a bag of food and they encourage you to feed the animals in the grounds (goats, sheep, fallow deer and various fowl). Don't. Not if you have young children with you. Don't even take out a bag that looks like it may contain food, because you'll get mobbed by the birds, which can be very scary when some of them (geese mainly) are almost as big as you (if you're a 2 yr old child of course).

I made the mistake of taking out the bag of food fairly soon after we'd arrived. As soon as I got the bag of food out we were mobbed by birds which panicked Theo and that set the tone for the rest of the visit. Every time any birds came anywhere near us Theo panicked and insisted on being picked up because the birds were going to eat him. He didn't want to go into any of the huts because they were too dark and the life size models that were in them we're too scary. He enjoyed it when I posed in the stocks for a photo though .

In the same grounds there is a Toy Museum which we went to see next. Again Theo was unwilling to visit most of it, especially as lots of the exhibits moved and made noise but when he found the lego table he was more than happy to sit and play. Which was just as well because my handcream leaked in my handbag and I had to empty the contents and clean it all up, including my camera which was, fortunately, undamaged.

Well that's it from School Cottage. We have to be out my 10 in the morning so we'll be spending tonight packing up and tomorrow driving.