Great day out at Conisbrough Castle with Katie! When Katie and I first got to Conisbrough Castle we had actually arrived slightly early and the visitors centre wasn’t open as it opens at 10:00am however the lovely staff had invited us in as we were there for business, they escorted us to their staff room where they offered us tea or coffee and made sure we had everything that we need while we waited for the lady we were meeting. A lovely young girl who was a volunteer was going on the tour with us, she explained her role and how she helped out on a weekly basis. Once the visitors centre opened the school trip which we were following on the tour of the castle arrived, the castles staff immediately assisted the staff and students and made sure that they had everything they needed, they showed them all the facilities (toilets, gift shop etc.) and made them feel comfortable.

Once the tour began the staff got everyone together and explained the castles history with a poem and then asked the children questions about the poem to see if they were paying attention and also to get them involved. The staff then took the group up to the castle and explained the next activity they were going to do, they split up into three groups and took them to different parts of the main area to do a little investigation with a bag that had objects in that the children to could look at, smell and touch that helped the children understand what it would have been like 850 years ago, it was a great sensory activity that got all the children and staff involved. The staff got all three groups back together and got them to explain about each of their areas to the rest of their group.

We then went into the castle itself, the first area was about the keep and ask the children what they though was kept in there, the volunteer girl explained that on some days there would be a short film shown. We then moved up a floor to the main chamber where the lord of the castle would plan and discuss issues, the staff got the children to go and see different parts of the room and asked them what they thought the areas where used for and got them to see if they had the same areas in their homes and how they were different if they did, once again they got the children to explain what they had seen to the rest of the group. We then moved to the next floor to the lord and lady’s sleeping chambers where there was a chapel attached and the staff explained about the activities the lady would have done. After all this we had lunch and then spoke to some of the staff about what other activities they did and what they thought could be improved to make it better for disabled visitors.

The second part of the visit was an activity that got all the children to get involved in the story about the history of the castle by getting them to dress up and do some of the work that the workers would have done in the castle, it lasted a good couple of hours and I must say I think Katie and I enjoyed it more than then children, the young male staff member who was telling the story, Liam, was incredible!! I’d highly recommend going just for the second have!! Well at the end of the day it was time to go home, we had a lovely time, met some wonderful people and it’s safe to say that our day out to Conisbrough Castle was the best work day I’ve had and I will definitely be going again!!

To find out more about great days out at Conisbrough Castle, click on the link.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/conisbrough-castle/