Review: Warwick Castle - The Legend of Trebuchet
Review by Ally Richmond, Toddle About West Northants
We have lived close to Warwick for 2 years now but hadn't been to visit the Castle yet so my three children aged 6, 4 and 2 were so excited to be invited to watch the new Legend of Trebuchet opening show.
The car park was very easy to find. It is a short walk from the entrance but safely pedestrian friendly and there are disabled spaces nearer to the castle if needed.
It was a quick pit stop to the toilets which are very easily accessible by the main entrance. There is a bag check point on the way in which was really fast and efficient. Once through the baggage check area you are instantly greeted by the Zog trail. Julia Donaldson is a huge favourite in our house so this was so exciting! It's super easy to navigate but still engaging enough for my three.
We unfortunately didn't have time to visit the Zog playground but we did have a great time in the Horrible Histories Maze. Both Zog and the maze had collection booklets for the children to go around collecting the stamps.
Next was over the bridge into the central Castle grounds. We were greeted by some excellent actors and a Knight in Shining Armour with his beautiful white horse. This was a huge hit with my daughter's especially. After a few photo stops and a bite to eat from the cafe, we went off to complete the remaining Zog trial points.
The grounds are stunning enough without any extra activities, it was lovely to have a bit of a break in the weather for the children to run around the grassy areas outside the castle walls.
We made our way to the Peacock garden to await the main event. What an absolutely beautiful courtyard and gardens. My youngest was happy to sit and watch the ducks and my eldest had taken his camera so sat and happily took hundreds of photos of the peacocks wandering about the garden.
All of the actors and staff were so welcoming and kind. My son, although pretending to be embarrassed, was knighted by the knight in shining armour from earlier in the day, he loved it really!
Then came the main event, the show we were there to see, Legend of the Trebuchet. We were led down to the grassy area by the river to watch the performance. Unfortunately it was a bit drizzly, as expected really on an evening in March! It didn't dampen the spirits of the actors though who were very engaging and set the scene for the drama very well.
The Trebuchet itself is a sight to behold, what a great feat of engineering, it was fantastic to see the children so interested. The performance was a perfect length to keep them intrigued without the need for snacks even!
Even though the cast was relatively small, they performed really well together and it was a very realistic and funny performance. There was enough of a storyline and pyrotechnics to make the drama come alive.
Without giving away the story too much, it leads up to a big ending with the trebuchet being launched. The process is explained within the story really well, my only criticism would be the actual firing of the trebuchet as it was quite dark clouds at that point my children actually couldn't see the boulder in the sky! Perhaps making it colourful or seem like it's on fire or something would have made the ending perfect. All in all though, as an extra during a fabulous day out it is absolutely worth watching! We are so grateful to have had the chance to see the performance and enjoy a day out in a truly magical place.
Our first trip to Warwick Castle certainly won't be our last. We're looking forward to coming back and making our way up the towers, seeing the bird show and next time will definitely make time for the Zog playground!