Continued from Part 3…
Following on from an active Wednesday, we set off Thursday morning for another adventure. Today would be more of a mixed bag rather than concentrating on one area like the Cotswolds.
First on the list was “Crocodiles of the World”, a nearby crocodile sanctuary. On the drive there it poured with rain, but just as we arrived it cleared up for us. Inside each of the buildings it was insanely humid and hot for the crocodiles, a huge contrast to the cold wind outside.
We were initially pretty disappointed with the crocodiles, none of them moved at all, it was like being in a wax museum! Eventually one of them stuck his tongue out at me.
Half way around the sanctuary was a meerkat enclosure, and we arrived just in time for a feeding and talk. It was fun to watch them all run around after crickets and cockroaches!
We walked around some more, saw some baby American Alligators (the first to be hatched in the UK), these were only a few inches long. Then there was a Schneider’s Dwarf Caiman called “Trigger”, who stands up in the water and loves having his picture taken! He looks like a dinosaur!
Finally, we got to see a crocodile feed as well, which put some life in to the animals! It was hard to get a good picture as they all moved so fast when the food came down, this was the least-blurry of the two-dozen I took!
We learnt the reason the crocodiles seem to be so lazy is that they conserve all their energy, and as a result they only need to be fed every couple of weeks. If they’re not being fed and not hunting, they tend to just lie around doing nothing. Similar to myself in that regard!
Just as we were leaving the sanctuary, it started raining again. Good timing! We started on our way towards Banbury, stopping off briefly at North Leigh Roman Villa. The villa was about half a kilometre down a rough dirt track, and wasn’t very impressive. Just a few short walls, and a closed off building holding a large mosaic (I managed to take a picture through the window though). I wouldn’t recommend this one.
Again, the weather was on our side, staying dry while we checked out the villa, then raining again just as we got back to the car! Very eerie! We set off to our next destination.
We arrived in Banbury shortly after 1pm, so decided to grab some lunch. We found a Dutch restaurant called Little Amsterdam where Helen had a pulled pork and apple pancake, and I had Dutch meatballs. We both had a waffle for dessert. It was all delicious and the bill was handed to us in a tiny little clog.
After some lunch, we drove to Broughton Castle about 5 minutes away from Banbury town centre. Unfortunately it was closed to the public, but we were still able to walk around Broughton Park and take photos of the castle from just across the moat. The park was full of sheep and lambs as well that kept shouting as we walked past them.
Next to the castle stood the Church of St Mary the Virgin, but this was also closed to the public unfortunately. It was still a nice area to walk around though.
The skies had cleared by this point, so no more rain for the rest of the day. We headed back to the hotel, but since we got back at 4pm, I decided to drive in to Oxford to catch the last tour of Oxford Castle and Prison (Helen decided to skip this one, so I went alone). I arrived just in time and made my way around the castle and prison following the guide.
The first room of the prison used to hold a capstan wheel, that multiple prisoners would turn on the spot to pump water up the water tower (only for the water tower to drain nearly as fast as it was filled). The floor of this room is warped from the circles the prisoners used to walk in, it’s the only floor of it’s kind that still exists.
From here, we were taken to the top of St George’s Tower, where you can see in all directions for miles. That mostly meant looking out over Oxford, but one direction showed the old motte, and another showed grassland in the distance which was nice.
Back downstairs, we were shown the massive water tanks that are still present in the tower, then down to the crypt, before exploring a little more of the prison itself. We were told a few stories about people who haunt the crypt and the cells we were in, and some basic facts about castles. I think the tour was more targeted to people who’d never seen a castle before.
After the guided tour ended, I went and took the above photos while everyone else went to the gift shop so I didn’t get anyone in the shots. I can confirm, neither the crypt, nor the prison itself is haunted. The ghosts had plenty of opportunity to come and get me while I was on my own! (Though I do admit it was a little scary down there alone).
Back on the outside, I climbed to the top of the motte and took a few more pictures. There wasn’t much more to see that I hadn’t seen from the top of St George’s Tower, but the view back toward the castle and prison itself was quite nice (albeit a little blocked by trees).
Having done Oxford Castle and Prison, I returned to the hotel to pick up a hungry Helen, and we went to a local pub called The Trout Inn, just 5 minutes down the road. After we ordered our food, I walked over the bridge to take a look at Godstow Abbey, a small ruined abbey right next door.
I tried to take a 360 image of the site, but my camera wasn’t playing ball with the setting sun unfortunately. The area was lovely though, the Thames in particular looked great in the sunset.
We had our dinner. We both chose Wagyu steak burgers, and shared a veggie side, then a couple of desserts. Helen had a melting golden chocolate bomb (which involved pouring hot sauce over a hollow chocolate ball with ice cream inside, quite impressive), while I had a cheesecake. All delicious!
After our meal, we walked back to the car, saying hello to a friendly peacock on the way, who was stood on a wall by the river, trying to get some other customers to share their food with him!
We got back to the hotel around 9pm ready for bed after another long and adventurous day!
A very interesting day again Thom. Good to see you’re eating for England but where was the morning’s cake and coffee?
Not tempted to bring home a baby alligator? Or a meerkat? Think the first picture was of a lizard not a croc.
Lovely blue skies and views of the castle and prison.