I planned a surprise trip to Warwick for our anniversary (England, not Rhode Island). We took the train through the luscious greens of the countryside leading from the bustle and sprawl of London to a calm contained town.
People on the street not only made eye contact but they said hello. After we made our way to the Agincourt Lodge, we wandered into town and had dinner at Merchants. I had the Herb Pancake and she had the Ribeye, both were excellent. The next morning we each had our favourite bits of the Full English cooked perfectly and then we were off to Warwick Castle.
We walked by way of St Nicolas Park (hey! get out of the Avon). The oldest part of the castle was built in 1068 and various addition continued through the 1600s when it was converted into a country house. In the 1970s Madame Tussauds acquired it and turned it into a tourist attraction, which explains the occasional random wax figures.
But there are also flesh and blood actors playing out Warwick inhabitants. The biggest head turner was the staged rat throwing contest in the courtyard and we got to see Ursa, the Warwick Castle Trebuchet launch a 200 pound stone into a field.
We stopped at the Thomas Oken Tea Rooms just past the castle gate into town. The Oken house is another Warwick gem, and is over 500 years old. I had a roasted veg pasty with a yummy Purity ale and she had a cream tea which had the mother of all scones. It was lovely. We tried to visit St Marys (built in 1400s over foundations from 1100s) but Blakes Jerusalem was blaring out of it and a Morris Minor convertible decorated in paper ribbon was parked out front with a Daimler Conquest in a matching paint scheme parked a little ways behind it. So we went into the cemetery instead. Then, we wandered / shopped around a bit here and picked up some tea at The Golden Tea Monkey. We had an afternoon nap (maybe that was just me) and went to The Saxon Mill. I had grilled swordfish and she had chicken with lemon garlic and thyme. Another fantastic meal.
The next morning we window shopped with a peacock from the castle and visited Lord Leycester Hospital. The hospital was built against the west city gate which has a chapel above it dating from 1100s.
The hospital was built in the 1300s and spent its first 200 years housing Warwick’s Guilds. In the 1500s it became a retirement home for soldiers and has been ever since.
It has amazing gardens. We stopped at The Roebuck, which claims to be ye oldest pub in town (1470), for a light lunch of onion rings, cabbage and peas, and leek and potato soup, all delish. We walked through Priory Park to catch the train. The park are the grounds of a priory built in the 1100s which was dissolved by Henry VIII and destroyed in the 1500s.
The best part of the weekend was spending all that uninterrupted time together, something a PhD seldom allows. And although we did loads, it felt in someways that time stood still.
Photo Credit (last B/W photo):
