Sizergh Castle

More pottering in the Lake District this weekend and this time we visited Sizergh castle. It was hosting Greenwood Fair, a selection of woodland crafts and interactive workshops with kid’s activities and music. There was something very pagan about it all and I liked it.

Men were making wooden things, bowls and toys, and they were demonstrating how they were made using wooden machinery. Kids were being shown how to make head dresses made from leaves and pears and there were some owls on show.

I’m not a fan of the ever increasing owl/bird of prey show. The birds always look a little bit ‘condemned’ for my liking and I’m pretty sure their desire to be mauled by large mammals is minimal. And I wasn’t keen on going to the flea circus scheduled for 3pm.

We did go to the flea circus as we were quite amazed by the uproar it was causing. Fortunately for the fleas no actual fleas were involved. It was a man and a woman performing a Punch & Judy-esque show, without Punch nor Judy, and with pretend fleas. The kids were shouting as desired and everyone was having a wonderful time. I don’t think Darwin knew what to do but he became slightly concerned when for the finale a flea was put into a pretend hot air balloon (a party balloon filled with helium!) and let go to make his way to Paris.

One of the woodland craftsmen stopped me seeing my retro looking Fuji around my shoulder. “Do you develop your own film?” he asked. When I told him it was a digital camera he looked disappointed and said, “Oh, it’s fucking shit then!”, and then he laughed.

"Pagan Stuff"

"Watching the Balloons"

"The Paris Bound Balloons with Flea Onboard"

"The Flea Circus"

"Rolling Pig"