Berwick upon Tweed and Alnwick Castle (or Our Visit to Hogwarts)

After taking a few days to catch our breath, unpack and do a bit of much needed laundry, we saw that the weather was good and made a dash to Alnwick Castle in Northumbria. We've been excited to take the kids here because Alnwick is used as the backdrop for Hogwarts for some of the Harry Potter films, and they have some Harry-related activities. Its a beautiful castle in its own right, with a rich history dating back to 1096 and the current home to the Duke of Northumberland, but having the Harry Potter connection made it a kid-favorite as well.

When Hagrid saw Ainsley approaching for her picture, he told Harry "I'm a bit worried about this one, she has spots!"

Before our visit to Alnwick Castle, we stayed the night in Berwick Upon Tweed (located between Spittle and Tweedmouth interestingly enough), the northernmost city in England. We were not in Berwick for too long, but found time to walk to city streets, visiting a great used book store, grabbing some fish n' chips, and walking the castle walls.

A spooky October cemetery by the castle.

Not a bad place to stop and read your new book.

Sorry to all our PETA friends.

The ramparts are a series of castle walls which were built up for protection, holding guns that could protect the town from a coastal invasion. The kids enjoyed climbing up and down the grassy hills and we walked along the top enjoying beautiful views of the North Sea.

In later years the guns were placed on these rotating tracks to for increased mobility.

Countryside around Alnwick Castle

Bright and early Saturday morning (we were the first ones to arrive actually), we headed down the motorway to Alnwick. The weather was beautiful, and it really did feel like we were at Hogwarts as we strolled towards the castle and enjoyed the scenery. One of our favorite parts about Alnwick Castle was that you're not in a city, but instead the castle is located out in the countryside and you can escape modern life.

The entrance to Alnwick Castle

One of main courtyards, which you might recognize from the movies.

Here is the spot where the broomstick lessons take place in the first movie. Later in the day Will and Ainsley took part in their own special broomstick training session

Not a bad place to live, if you like the whole castle-look.

Alnwick was home to an earlier Harry, known as Harry Hotspur, or Sir Henry Percy. Harry led rebellions against the Scottish and French, known as "Hotspur" because of his "impulsiveness".

Alnwick Castle has an area called Knights Quest, where kids can play games and do craft activities. Will and Ainsley are playing a nice game of "toss the dead rat".

Ring toss with mom.

Ainsley doing a bit of bowling. All that Wii has finally paid off.

 

It was finally time for broomstick lessons in the courtyard where the movie scene was filmed. Although Will was a bit bummed that he didn't actually get to fly up and over the castle walls, the broomstick session was still a lot of fun and you couldn't beat the scenic backdrop of it all.

We were all yelling "Up!", but no luck. We were forced to keep our activities on the ground.

"Muggle" broomstick races

View from one of the castle walls of a small bridge leading to the castle.

Another view of the surrounding countryside. The stream has undergone a few changes over the years as residents of the castle worked to make it more scenic. It was originally wider , but was gradually dammed to control the water flow. It was thought that a smaller stream would look prettier from the castle. It must be difficult when the view from your castle is just not right.

Similar to Berwick, Alnick Castle eventually had walls created to hold guns for protection. This was Will's chance to get fired from the cannon. I barely caught him in time.

As you're leaving the castle grounds, there is a giant treehouse restaurant with suspension bridges and observation areas. It makes our tree fort at home look a little small, but now we have some addition ideas. 

View from one bridge to another.