PARENTS

We had a fabulous day! The sun shone and the frost glittered as we set off in the minibus with our packed lunches, cameras and winter woollies.

When we arrived, we were shown round the castle by a very kind guide. She told us all sorts of interesting facts about the building and its contents and showed us lots of amazing things. There was an elephant's foot waste paper bin and a stuffed lion's head in a glass case, as well as lots of suits of armour. Grace tried on a helmet, it was very heavy. In the dining-room there was a huge table with 20 chairs around it (we counted them in 2s) and a sparkling chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The library held 5,000 books and was Nigella's favourite room of all.

We saw a bedroom fit for a princess, with a beautiful four-poster bed and a funny bath with feet. Some of the pictures on the wall had been sewn, not painted, and there were lots of portraits of famous kings and queens.

After lunch in the Octagon Room – trying not to spill any crumbs – we went outside to explore the grounds. We saw crenulations, turrets and arrow windows (which we had learnt about at school) and went down a secret passage to the lake.

At the Adventure Playground we went on the zip-wire and played on all of the exciting equipment. But while we were there, Mrs W got an important text… a princess had been captured and needed us to rescue her. We raced to the maze and there, crying for help, was a beautiful princess. She had been captured by a wicked witch and trapped in the castle at the centre of the maze. Of course we set forth to rescue her and soon led her out of the maze (after a few false turns!).

It was great fun and we learnt a lot too.