Picture this: my husband and I are at home one night, sitting together. He was on his laptop planning our trip to Ireland, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the North coastline of England in Northumberland. He was figuring out what castles we could visit along the coastline while I was watching a documentary about castles in England on the History channel. The entire time we are doing this, we are also looking at our Castle app to see which castle is in the app and what might need to be added. And then all of a sudden this documentary talks about Bamburgh Castle, I become intrigued and ask if we can go to that particular castle. He takes a look at his “map” and says, “Yes, it’s on my route”. I got very excited. Little did I know.
We finally arrive in England. We are driving along on the highway. We stop at different places while we are using our Playground App and Castle App. We find some playgrounds and castle ruins. We are enjoying the sights of Northumberland while we are working our way towards Bamburgh Castle. We finally get to this Castle literally five minutes before the last entry and make it inside. Oh, by the way, you need to pay to get into the castle, and it’s worth every pound.
Anyway, we started our tour, we walked around the first room, and I was amused because the man who made the model of the castle had the same name as my husband. We somewhat quickly made our way through Bamburgh Castle. I was totally fascinated with every room I walked into. And then we entered the grand hall, and I saw this huge poster of The Last Kingdom, and I became even more intrigued. I was staring at it, and I asked my husband what that was all about. He explained to me that it’s a TV show. Apparently, we tried to watch it when it first came out, but I couldn’t get past the first episode. I told him we needed to give it a second chance when we got back home.
That’s exactly what we did. We watched all five seasons and the movie. That show really got to my emotions. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me happy. It annoyed me. It had cheering for the main character Uhtred. It also made me feel sad for him. And the end of the movie The Last Kingdom Seven Kings Must Die I was crying like a baby. Don’t know why it got to my emotions so much, but it did. One of the cool things about the show is when they are riding on the horses through the gate in York. My husband pointed out to me that, that gate is still there. Infact we ate at a restaurant right inside that gate while we were visiting York. So to see that Gate and realize that it’s still there was pretty cool.
Another thing that cool thing about the show and the movie is the Bamburgh Castle itself. I believe they used part of the castle for the show and I know they used it at the end of the movie. I’m not quite sure if Uhtrech is real or not. I did watch a show on the History Channel suggesting that he was and that Bamburgh Castle really was his at one point in history. What I do know is I enjoyed watching The Last Kingdom so much that we are watching it again for the second time. I also know that I want to go back to Bamburgh Castle and spend more time there exploring it. I also know that I am now kicking myself for not buying one of their teddy bears with a sweater on it when I had the chance. I am looking forward to going back to Bamburgh Castle one day with husband. Sooner rather then later would be nice, but realistically I know it’s going to be awhile. I guess in the mean time I will keep watching The Last Kingdom and wishing I was at Bamburgh Castle.
Kathleen Smith is the author of Miscarriages: My Journey From Heartache to Healing, and other books. Blogs about a variety of things. Her podcast is Kathleens Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel