We are so lucky to have LINCOLN CASTLE so close to home. We were invited to try out their Easter Alice In Wonderland Quest and gifted entry to share on our blog.
The Easter holidays were a welcome break this week. To be honest, the last half of term has disappeared into nothing, I am not quite sure what I have spent the last seven weeks doing but I know they have gone and that time won't come back.
As soon as the holidays hit we got questions about where we were going? The Easter holidays usually mean time at home with family. We don't often go away this holiday simply because we end up just getting busy with stuff on at home.
It's nice though, spending time in your hometown and just doing normal things. These next two weeks in LINCOLN seem to be full of activities and play days. So many local attractions are offering craft days or exploration activities and we are lucky as we have just a mile walk to get to our most local attraction.
LINCOLN CASTLE invited us down to try out their Easter Quest, we were only too happy to go as this is actually one of my favourite destinations for us as a family. It was late in the afternoon but the sun was shining which meant we had time to spend a good few hours at the castle.
The Easter quest is based around characters from Alice In Wonderland. It is a word task; find a character, work out a riddle and then take a certain letter from the answer to spell a secret word. Something all children could partake in.
The quest leads you around the grounds of the castle, following the white rabbit signs to each character. You start and finish with Alice and Lewis Carol, two actors ready to talk to you about what you have to do and anecdotes from the story. Having actors always makes a big difference to children, they seem more willing to explore when someone else is asking them!
The quest itself doesn't take too long, it is nice to do and takes you on a walk past a charity art installation. Local charity ST. BARNABAS have a beautiful 'Forget Me Not' display in the grounds currently. Each flower has been placed to represent a loved one who has been lost. ST. BARNABAS offer excellent end of life care and these flowers have been placed by families in remembrance of their loved ones. The FORGET ME NOT Display is worth a visit, it doesn't cost but I am sure they would appreciate any donation you can spare.
Once you have found out the answer to the mystery word, you head back to Alice and Mr Carol for a sweet treat. All participating children get one, a little 'well done'!
For us, we then went on to spend more time inside the castle. We stopped for a bit of tea and cake in the beautiful Cafe, the decor is right up my street and then we headed into the Victorian Prison.
We actually missed out loads that was in the castle and discovery centre. We have seen it before but kind of went with what the kids wanted. First stop, the prison chapel; I think this place really scares the children {it's not scary at all} in fact I think it is more the idea of the individual seating cells that is totally weird but the kids seem to have a love / hate relationship with this room. From there we went to the cells and dressed up as prisoners. Again, with our kids being partial to some role play, Rob pretended to be the guard while they marched round the prison. They loved it and as it was quiet they just got free roam!
We actually missed out loads that was in the castle and discovery centre. We have seen it before but kind of went with what the kids wanted. First stop, the prison chapel; I think this place really scares the children {it's not scary at all} in fact I think it is more the idea of the individual seating cells that is totally weird but the kids seem to have a love / hate relationship with this room. From there we went to the cells and dressed up as prisoners. Again, with our kids being partial to some role play, Rob pretended to be the guard while they marched round the prison. They loved it and as it was quiet they just got free roam!
After a play in the exercise yard we headed for my favourite bit; the castle wall. Not only are the views excellent but just being high and having a whole walk around the entire castle makes me happy. I love the wall walk, really, it is just the nicest walk on a sunny day and it displays the castle beautifully. I also find it is perfect for photos, we have many from being up there; the backdrop is always perfect!
What I love about this space is that you can pay for entry to all of it or you can just come into the lower outside grounds for free. This means that in the summer you can just wander in and play on the grass and have a picnic whenever you want. This was one of the best things they have done in recent years and that alone means that we spend more time up at the castle than ever.
If you are in Lincoln at all the Castle should be on your list of places to go. It is so worth it and as a family, we loved getting the time to just hang out together in a really stress free place!
*We were gifted our entry.
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