Birds of Prey

We stopped at one more castle on our way out of Wales.  At each of these ruins/castles the local British use the grounds like a park/picnic area with the kids playing chase or kicking a ball in the grassy area that’s within the castle walls.  We were there mid week so there were also lots of younger kids in strollers. I guess having a 900 year old historic site is better than a modern play area in the city park that our kids are stuck with at home but the downside is that you have to watch them like a hawk to make sure they don't climb up too high.

It didn’t take long to cross back into England and we stopped to visit the Chester Cathedral.  It’s been there for 1000 years but added onto during the 1400s.the which is its current configuration.  I was amazed at the preservation of the interior with all the details still in place after 600 years. But then I read how controversial it was in the 1800s when during its restoration some folks argued that the work was so extensive that it was basically getting rebuilt.  So that was a little disappointing knowing it was effectively only 200 years old.

What made the stop worthwhile was the Falconry that’s behind the cathedral where raise and train birds of prey.  There had a huge golden eagle,  a few species of falcons, owls and a buzzard on display.  Later we went to an open field where they demonstrated with the bird flying to and from the handler/trainer.  Aidan got to experience holding and feeding baby chick parts to a buzzard.  They had some trouble with the demonstration as a Falcon flew away and the owl flew into a nearby tree and wouldn’t come down.  In both cases the handlers were holding dead mice to entice the birds to return.  We had to leave so we don't know if the Falcon ever returned.

We finally made it to our next destination for the next two night,  Patley Bridge is a small town near the sites we will be visiting and had a nice looking Airbnb for a good price.