Kennilworth Castle

I very much enjoyed Kenilworth today.  It is another ruin of a castle but still beautiful.  It has an interesting history that goes back to the time of Some of the earlier kings and queens of the country.
    It originally started out as a settlement of approximately one hundred people in an obscure clearing in the middle of a forest.  It was small and obscure until a treasurer to Henry I decided to build a stronghold there in 1120 a.d.  One of the oldest parts of the castle is the Norman Keep designed to be an unconquerable fortress with some stone walls up to twenty feet thick and is located at the center of the castle.  The streams near the castle were damned, creating a large lake surrounding it, which became the largest man-made lake in the nation.  It was then that the castle became a royal residence under Henry II.  Over the succession of rulers the castle was upgraded and added to which brought it to is present day size.
    Today, the lake was been drained and no longer is part of what would have been the castle's fortifications.  It's a pity because it would have been beautiful.  I enjoyed climbing through and over the now dwindling walls of the castle.  The stone queried for the building of the castle is a beautiful reddish sandstone, that over time has been in a way melted by the elements.  It is evident to see when you can pick out trenches the running water has cut into the stone from rain.  Eventually there won't be much left of the beautiful edifice to explore.

     I found a great little gently slopping hill to roll down and did it a couple of times.  One is never to old to do such things, right?