I wanted to blog about swans again cos I went visiting them during the weekend. It’s really cool how they’re so tame and don’t run off when you walk up to them.

But I suppose people must be sick of reading about birds, so I’ll do the swan post another time.

Lulworth Castle today.

 

 

Situated in Dorset, the castle was built in 1610 as a hunting lodge, which is probably why it’s so small, as castles go.

It was ravaged by fire in 1929, losing a roof entirely, then eventually partially restored so that the roof is back and it looks pretty good from the outside. But most of the upper floors inside are gone and the walls still look a bit dodgy.

 

 

We were charged a fee of £5 (S$10) each to enter and immediately felt cheated as we saw empty, crumbly room after empty, crumbly room.

There’s a neverending spiral staircase that takes you all the way up to the roof where you can admire the scenery. But it started drizzling half a minute after we reached the top so we had to leave almost immediately.

Which was just as well. The scenery wasn’t breathtaking or anything. It was just okay. You can see the Lulworth Chapel next door.

 

 

 

It wasn’t till we went down to the basement that things got interesting. Ancient artifacts have been preserved and labelled, so that sort of made our £5 worth it. I really enjoy looking at stuff from the past.

Here is the King’s bed, offered to visiting kings when the castle was still a residence. (It’s now just a tourist attraction, of course.)

 

 

Bathroom things:

 

 

Me standing in front of a cauldron-looking thing and barrels:

 

 

Just some old things, next. Can you spot the mug with the Chinese word? Wonder where that came from!

 

 

There’s a room where the 1929 fire is commemorated. Inside are newspaper clippings, actual video footage and bits and pieces of walls and furniture salvaged from the ruins. There are even firefighter hats visitors can try on.

I don’t know why, though. Not a very a relevant activity for a visit to a historic castle, is it?

 

 

Old-fashioned washing machine, lol. You have to poke your clothes around with a stick:

 

 

 

A more advanced but still old-fashioned one:

 

 

 

This is an early washing machine. The clothes are put in the wooden tub which is turned using the handle. Wooden slats inside the tub help to tumble the clothes. James King invented the revolving drum in 1851.

 

Clothes dryer:

 

 

The mangle was used for drying clothes. It worked by squeezing the water out of the laundry as it passed through the rollers powered by the handle at the side. The mangle becomes obsolete with the invention of electric washing machines. They are still used to press linen in some homes.

 

The kitchen:

 

 

There’s also an activity room where kids can play with toys and engage in simple fun like giant jigsaw puzzles. Some old toys from the past are also displayed.

 

 

We saw this structure that looks like giant Jenga. No descriptions found around it, so I’m not sure if it’s actually an archaic toy or really just giant Jenga.

 

 

There was enough to look at in the castle but not so much you’ll go crazy. You can probably finish exploring the castle in an hour or less.

We visited the chapel next door. The castle and chapel are leased out to the public for weddings and events. So, apparently, it’s quite popular for couples to get married in the chapel then have photos and a banquet at the castle. Sounds nice!

The chapel:

 

 

 

 

Near Lulworth Castle is the quite famous Lulworth Cove, which is one of England’s own seven “natural wonders”.

My photos don’t do it justice but it’s really quite beautiful and awe-inspiring to look at it from a hilltop.

The cove is the small pool of water on the left side of the picture:

 

 

Other views from the hilltop:

 

 

 

 

We took a walk to the cove and it was quite fun hanging out there. The cove bed is made of little pebbles, which was fun to walk on cos it goes “crunch crunch crunch”.

 

 

Sorry, I didn’t take any photos at the cove except the above because my camera ran out of juice and I don’t really like taking photos with my iPhone. (It’s very annoying cos it’s touch screen.) Plus it was quite cold and windy so I preferred to keep my hands in my pocket.

Unfortunately, during winter in England, it starts getting dark from 4:30 pm onwards, so if you don’t start the day early enough, you don’t get enough time to visit places and do stuff.

We left Lulworth and headed for home around then. Would have been nice to stay longer. It really is a very peaceful, beautiful place that is sure to lift your mood.

If it isn’t raining.

Lucky I have enough time in England so I don’t care when it rains. There are enough sunny days for me to go out, and I think I might extend my stay again to enjoy even more sunny days.

=P