The last time I wrote Mrs H3 and I were heading to Leeds Castle for their ‘fantastic’ firework display. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really the stunning evening that we’d been hoping for or expecting considering the tickets cost £34 for the two of us. Firstly the fireworks started at 5.30pm; not exactly a useful time when I didn’t finish work at the pub until 4pm and had some networking to do (and I mean real work-related networking not just drinking). To cap it all on the evening in question the weather was appalling. It had rained all day and was torrential by the time of the display. Mrs H3 was certainly pleased she had her wellies – me I was in Converses which aren’t exactly known for their water-repellent qualities. Unluckily I didn’t have a waterproof coat either and was therefore dressed in a wool cape with fur around the cuffs and hood, pretty but definitely not functional in a monsoon. In fact at one point I was seriously upset that I hadn’t thought to bring a black bin liner as that would definitely have been more waterproof than what I was wearing! Mrs H3 did (apparently) have a waterproof jacket, but it leaked so badly she may as well not have worn it. I was wearing my Slytherin scarf though, which was a good thing as by that time my nasty cold had turned into a serious chest infection for which I was taking antibiotics and using an asthma puffer regularly and at least I managed to keep reasonably warm even as I got soaked to the skin.
The display took place over the top of the castle and was supposed to be an impressive mix of fireworks and lasers. Unfortunately, the low cloud meant the lasers were almost invisible and the driving rain – which as luck would have it was coming directly into our faces from the castle obscured the view of the fireworks especially when my glasses got completely soaked. The only point in its favour (considering the weather - although had the evening been fine it would have been an even worse point) was that it was short. We arrived in our watching spot five minutes before the display started (at exactly 5.30pm) and even taking into account walking back to the car and queuing to get out we were back in the Sherwood Oak by 6.45pm. Yep that was it – 1 hour and 15 minutes in total door to door – definitely NOT worth the money, even if there had been no cloud.
So considerably poorer we spent the evening thawing out in the pub, which although a tad frustrating considering the money we’d already spent turned out to be rather more entertaining than originally anticipated. Mrs H3’s red wellies garnered considerable interest from several patrons and eventually by the end of the evening we, with the admirable help of Neil had talked Chris (who may or may not have been very drunk) into drinking a pint of Kronenberg from one of them (I’d just like to point out that Mrs H3 DID have spare boots available).
Below is the video (totally rubbish quality as it was taken on my crap phone camera) of the whole event. To be honest we didn’t expect him to drink the whole pint – a few mouthfuls would have done, but he was obviously enjoying himself, so kudos for that.
The display took place over the top of the castle and was supposed to be an impressive mix of fireworks and lasers. Unfortunately, the low cloud meant the lasers were almost invisible and the driving rain – which as luck would have it was coming directly into our faces from the castle obscured the view of the fireworks especially when my glasses got completely soaked. The only point in its favour (considering the weather - although had the evening been fine it would have been an even worse point) was that it was short. We arrived in our watching spot five minutes before the display started (at exactly 5.30pm) and even taking into account walking back to the car and queuing to get out we were back in the Sherwood Oak by 6.45pm. Yep that was it – 1 hour and 15 minutes in total door to door – definitely NOT worth the money, even if there had been no cloud.
So considerably poorer we spent the evening thawing out in the pub, which although a tad frustrating considering the money we’d already spent turned out to be rather more entertaining than originally anticipated. Mrs H3’s red wellies garnered considerable interest from several patrons and eventually by the end of the evening we, with the admirable help of Neil had talked Chris (who may or may not have been very drunk) into drinking a pint of Kronenberg from one of them (I’d just like to point out that Mrs H3 DID have spare boots available).
Below is the video (totally rubbish quality as it was taken on my crap phone camera) of the whole event. To be honest we didn’t expect him to drink the whole pint – a few mouthfuls would have done, but he was obviously enjoying himself, so kudos for that.
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