Windsor in a motorhome

WINDSOR, like most old towns, is not designed for large motorhomes or even much regular traffic for that matter.

There are car parks around the town, but they fill up quickly and are not that easy to find. Fortunately Windsor has an excellent park and ride scheme based on the extensive, motorhome-sized car parks at Legoland. The park-and-ride is well signposted and easy to get to. Buses run frequently from here to the town centre.

Eton College
Alighting from the bus we made our way down to the river before crossing the pedestrian footbridge over the Thames to the small town of Eton. Eton is dominated by the college in all ways. As you walk up the High Street the shops sell goods specifically for students. Sports shops, bookshops and even cafés rely on the college for their existence.

The college has been here for a long time. It was founded in 1440, rather surprisingly given its current reputation, to provide free education to the poor, enabling them to continue their education at King’s College, Cambridge. Now around 1200 boys of rather wealthier backgrounds attend the college that has become one of the most exclusive schools in the world, still dressed in black tailcoats and waistcoats. Eighteen prime-ministers have been educated here, hence the old saying that the country’s history was made on the playing fields of Eton.

Guided tours of the College run daily during the school’s holidays and take visitors around the Cloisters, College Chapel, old classrooms and the Museum of Eton Life. The museum tells the story of the college from its foundation and looks at the students’ life. Exhibits cover school work, physical education, punishment and Eton’s traditions and customs. Another section looks at the famous men who have passed through the college.

After a fascinating couple of hours enjoying the old school we made our way back down the High Street to the river bridge, stopping off in one of the cafés for lunch.

Windsor Castle
Across the river the larger town of Windsor is equally dominated by one building. Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. For nearly a thousand years the castle has dominated this stretch of the Thames Valley. Over the years the castle has been altered many times, always getting larger and stronger. Although now it is a royal palace and not a military fort. The town contains many barracks and security is very much in evidence.

William the Conqueror first built a castle here in a location not only covering the western approach to London, but also, coincidently, right next to a Saxon hunting ground. It was in the 1170s that Henry II added the Round Tower that gives the castle its trademark looks. In later years the Royal Apartments, St George’s Hall and St George’s Chapel were added.

From King Charles the Second onwards successive monarchs have enriched the buildings using the finest architects, artists and wood-carvers to produce the most sumptuous of palaces. It was Queen Victoria in 1845 who first opened the castle to visitors.

In 1992 a fire came close to closing the palace for good. A spotlight was left too close to a curtain and fire swept through the roof spaces of the State Apartments. Five years of restoration costing £37 million brought the castle back to its great magnificence. And magnificent it is as we found out on our visit.

The entrance to the castle is at the end of Castle Hill off Windsor High Street. Here security measures are in force before visitors, having picked up an audio tour guide, walk through a gatehouse into the castle grounds.

The tour includes the State Apartments, the Semi-State Rooms, St George’s Chapel and Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. The Dolls’ House took three years to build and involved 1,500 craftsmen, all making miniature classics. It has real electric lights and running water, even the loos flush.

The State Apartments are magnificent, they are filled with treasures from the Royal Collection and include works by Rubens, Rembrandt, Holbein, Gainsborough, Breugel and Van Dyck. St George’s Chapel is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England. Within the chapel are the tombs of ten sovereigns including Henry VIII and Charles I.

The audio tour takes you through the castle at your own pace, tracing the history of the castle and pointing out the highlights of each room as you pass through. If you have any interest in buildings and history then Windsor Castle is unmissable.

On leaving the castle we walked past the Guildhall, where Prince Charles and  Camilla were married, and found a Greek restaurant on Church Street for a delicious meal.

Legoland
Next day we again drove the motorhome to the car park at Legoland. But this time we had our family in tow and Legoland was our actual destination. The amusement park is aimed at children between the ages of two and 12. There are no death-defying rides here, just good fun rides for kids to enjoy. A tram takes visitors from the entrance into the heart of the park located on the site of the Windsor Safari Park. This year it is celebrating its tenth birthday and has four new attractions open.

The Knight’s Kingdom contains the Dragon roller coaster and the much gentler Dragon’s Apprentice for younger kids. Lego models of knights, dragons, dungeons and castles decorate this part of the park. The wild woods is the home to pirates. A log flume is the highlight and there are mazes for older kids, like us, to get lost in.

Adventure Land is the home of dinosaurs and the Adventurer’s Wave Surfer, the biggest ride on the park. The Dino Safari ride takes visitors back to pre-historic times.

The Traffic section lets children drive cars around a town. The kids first get a road safety lesson and are then let loose on the roads. The Fire Academy involves the whole family in putting out a fire in a burning building. Duplo land is for the very young with gentle rides based on fairytale characters.

All this is set off with cafés to let the parents rest while the kids play and there are live shows to help pass the time. The final attraction was the most interesting to the adults. Miniland contains scenes from all around the world made out of lego bricks. Forty million of them have been used in this area. One great aspect of a park like this is that its relatively safe. You can let the kids run off and play on their own while you enjoy the more peaceful aspects of the park.

The activities at the park more than filled the day and rounded off a great weekend in a very royal town.

Fact File

Eton College Eton High Street, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 6DW Tel: 01753 671177 Website: www.etoncollege.com

Windsor Castle London SW1A 1AA Tel:020 7766 7304 Website: www.royal.gov.uk

LEGOLAND® Windsor Park Ltd Winkfield Road, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 4AY Tel: 08705 04 04 04 Website: www.Legoland.co.uk

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