Day 9 - Tuesday 8th July

We drove to Skipton in Mandy and Graham;s car. What a hoot with Wendy, Mum and myself squished in the back of the Skoda. One person at a time here! I would get in and belt up and move myself as far over as I could get. Then Mum would get in the middle. I would have to play with her bottom for a while trying to do the belt up (I think Em was secretly enjoying it!). We were having lots of laughs with it anyway. After we got ourselves sorted Wen would hop in ... by this stage it normally took a couple of slams to close the door ... we were very cozy!!

Once in we were off to Skipton, which is a delightly town with the castle, church and canals dominating. Part of the castle has beenb used continuously by the Clifford family as a private residence. You are able to walk through the castle which is in surprisingly good condition. We saw the dining hall, kitchen and even the loos which were more or less a hole overlooking a moat. Sit on the seat and shit in the moat .... lovely.

After a walk around town, lunch and a look at the canal boats, we headed back home. We were going to see a Midsummer Night Dream at Ripley castle in the evening.

What an experience this was. It started within the walls of Ripley Castle on the common. Everybody had folding chairs, wine and eats etc. The first act took place here. It was still broad daylight at 7 pm so it gave a surreal feel (to an Australian). After the first act the medieval drummers came up and rousted us to move to a new location outside the gate, then we were move into the woods with loud drumming. One of the acts when we were in the woods had the fairy king coming from the cleared area outside the woods to the woods. He was backlit by the sky at dusk with the light behind him. It could not have been more perfect!! I cannot say enough here about how much I enjoyed the performance and thanks to Mandy who thought we might enjoy it and brought our tickets. James and Amy also went along and enjoyed the performance. This is a link to Sprite Productions who organize these every year with a different Shakespearean play http://www.spriteproductions.co.uk/. It was absolutely a wonderful experience. I did not take my camera as this was frowned upon with good reason. Actors do not want flashes in their face constantly!

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