14. Leeds Castle

Where: Maidstone, England
When: October 2, 2011
With: Dave

It is official: Dave and I were finally able to cross something off the list from my book! We picked the closest thing we could do in a day trip, Leeds Castle.

So these first pictures may seem completely irrelevant, but they have a point. Dave has a habit of paying for things in cash, getting the change, coming home and dumping it all over the counter. Now this was fine when in US currency there were only 4 types of coins. But in the UK, they have no less than 8 types of coins.

By the time I got here, Dave had amassed £40 worth of change (not including £1 and £2 pound coins). I had NO idea when we would ever use this much change, so I came up with a brilliant scheme to use it to pay for our train tickets to Leeds Castle. Here is the change, sorted out (as I do) to the exact amount of our train tickets. 

Unbeknownst to us however, the ticket machines at London train stations will MAX OUT on the amount of change that can be inserted! So after putting only £5 of change in, the machine closed up the slot for coins and said "bills only". My perfect plan, ruined!! And now we had to carry £32 in coins around all day. Oops. And by we, I mean Dave...sorry!!

Anyway, that was the first glitch of the morning. The second glitch was that after we purchased our tickets and searched frantically for the 10:06 train to Bearsted (the closest stop to get to the castle), we didn't see our train on the board at Charing Cross station. After asking a ticket agent what track number, she said "the track at the Victoria station". SO a word of warning when trying to determine your train on the local websites - it doesn't do a GREAT job of telling you what station to leave from. 

After a hurried tube ride to Victoria Station, we were on our train to Bearsted. When you get to the station, there is a shuttle that picks you up to take you to the castle. Luckily, we happened to get off the train right before a family of about 20 adults and children and were able to get a seat on the shuttle. While we had to spend the 8 minute shuttle ride with many screaming young children, we were happy to not be one of the 8 people who didn't fit on-board and had to wait at the station for an extra hour for another shuttle to come back.

We finally made it! Apparently, Leeds Castle has found itself a nice little niche by turning itself into a full park.  The tickets into the grounds are actually good for a year (so book your trip to visit me before October 1, 2012 and visit Leeds Castle for free!), so families and locals can make it a regular weekend trip.

When you enter the grounds, there are winding pathways that lead to the castle. There were tons of lakes and small streams running through with ducks and swans and geese all over.

After walking for about 20 minutes, you get to a clearing for your first glimpse of the castle. Some history on the castle: the original parts of it were built in the early 1100's, and over the years, additions were made to get it where it is today. It was home to 6 queens, including Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine. It was also where Queen Elizabeth I was kept prisoner before her coronation by her sister Mary.

Entering the castle gates

 The view from the bridge leading into the castle grounds

 The front of Leeds Castle

Entering the tour around the back entrance of the castle...

 ...through the still functioning wine cellar!

What old castle is complete without its own suit of armor?

This is what they think a bedroom would have looked like back in the day for a queen

Center courtyard in the middle of the castle

Henry the VIII hanging over his fireplace

Happy man at the top of a 16th century remodeled staircase.

So the thing that is interesting about Leeds Castle is that it continued to be kept as a private residence until pretty recently (someone was living on the grounds up until 2001). So unlike most castles that become historic sites and retain the whole dark and medieval atmosphere, Leeds was transformed over the years to look pretty modern. Most recently, it was redone in the 1930s by the last owner, Lady Baillie. These next few pictures are her personal bedroom, bathroom, and some of clothes that belonged to the family.

The old red marble lion guarding the staircase. Doesn't every house have one of these?

Here some other rooms in the castle:

Backgammon, anyone...

This was the end of our interior tour. It was really cool to see the inside, but I think we both were expecting it to be more...medieval. Regardless, we're glad we saw it. Photo documenting our accomplishment.

After the castle, we were off to explore the rest of the grounds.

The other side of the castle

For lunch, we went to the Fairfax Hall Restaurant, a 17th century place with views of the castle and moat - really good food, especially compared to what you normally get at a tourist attraction.

Afterward, we experienced one of the quirkier things that Leeds Castle has to offer - the world's largest collection of dog collars??

Some of these look incredibly painful. I found it somewhat ironic that the scariest ones in there were the ones from Germany. Some of the collars were something like 800 years old.

After that once in a lifetime experience, we went back out to see the rest of the grounds and gardens.

Additionally (and randomly), Leeds Castle has an aviary. There was a parrot in there that was chatting up a storm, and every time you laughed at what he said, he would laugh mockingly back at you - pretty ridiculous and hysterical.

Black Swan, on its eggs I think? He was almost as scary as the movie. 

Me as a swan, haha, where is my middle!?

There is also a maze on the grounds. This one was actually really different from the one at Hampton Court as it has no dead ends. You just keep going in circles if you don't go the right way. The ultimate goal was to get to the middle of the maze, which had a large raised stone structure. This stone structure was filled with tourists of several nationalities, looking down at the maze, and in many different languages yelling directions to family members lost below. We were fortunate enough to tag along with a Spanish family whose patriarch was shouting from the top "a la derecha! A la derecha!! No! DE-RE-CHA!"

I should also note that before entering the maze, we had stopped for "Kentish ice cream". I don't know what makes Kentish ice cream different from any other type, but it was really good. I had honey flavored, and definitely wandered the maze a lot longer than I should have because I was more engrossed with my ice cream cone than actually finding my way through.

Nonetheless, we made it and couldn't be happier. See?

And now for our next quirky Leeds Castle experience. After climbing to the top of the stone structure in the middle of the maze, you exited down a flight of stairs into the "grotto". We are still trying to figure out what this was supposed to be and why it was here, and any suggestions are welcome.

We felt like we were on a ride in Disney World. There were sounds effects of wind howling and water dripping. And of course, a large face carved into the rocks. No explanation. I have no idea what to say.

After emerging from the grotto (still really confused), we took a slow stroll back to the entrance along the lake and gardens.

Finally, we came back around to the first view of the castle, and did as the locals did by laying out on the lawn for a little while.

Finally, we wandered back through the trails in time for a quick snack and the shuttle back to London. Overall, it was a gorgeous day with lots of activities (strange and quirky), the castle was interesting, and we would definitely go back.