We had tickets booked for Alnwick castle at 0930 but any concerns about waking late and being in a rush were quelled at 0630 when two excited children started bouncing around the bus. Bad news for the grown ups as the late night last night could only mean two things: tantrums and meltdowns. Great. As it turned out, we only had one major meltdown per child so wasn’t too disastrous.

Alnwick castle is home to the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland but is probably better known for its appearance in the first two potter movies as the setting for Hogwarts. Notably the courtyard where the broomstick lesson was held. It’s an impressive place and I’d highly recommend it if you’re ever in the area. Turns out that it’s a great idea to get tickets for first entry as not only is there a lot to see, but you also get to enjoy it before it’s really busy.

First on the agenda was broomstick lessons. The kids got taught how to mount brooms, speed up, slow down, stop, start, etc. It was really well done - delivered by two actors who made it all really comical.

Next up we watched a falconry demonstration. Again, it was well done, providing history of how birds of prey were used for hunting whilst giving demonstrations of the beautiful birds in flight. We then rushed over to watch a master archer longbow demonstration which again came complete with history of archers and their effectiveness in battle.

Our next stop was at the dragon quest. This was really cool though a little scary for E. It was a theme trail through smoke and a mirror maze, past witches and skeletons to find a dragon that left out at the end. I liked the mirror maze best. Really clever and fun to navigate.

After lunch (yep - that was all in the morning!), we went into the state rooms which are stunning, especially for Italian renaissance fans. Elizabeth was blown away and wants to live there. In fact, at the gift shop, she bought herself a crown and proceeded to wear it for the rest of the day. Oliver bought a sword and has gone to bed with it under his pillow. Around all the scheduled activities we wandered around the castle and on the battlements. We easily could have done more, especially go to the gardens next door (different entry ticket) but it was time to move on to the next campsite. I’d definitely go back to Alnwick.

Our next campsite is in Kielder forest on the lake. We crossed miles and miles of stunning moorland, blanketed with purple heather. I’ve never been to Northumberland and was amazed by its beauty. Kielder Lake is huge and our campsite is unbelievably tranquil. Sadly we’re only here for one night but have already talked about coming back. Next to us, nestled in the trees, are some lovely looking lodges with hot tubs. The lake has activities on and around the water. I can hear owls and there are red squirrels here (hopefully we’ll see some). Now I’m just waiting for the sun to set to see the dark sky.