Today we head down to the Dinosaur Museum , and here it is - I know what you're thinking , that looks like a farm shed - you'd be pretty right !! You drive down someone's driveway , past the farm cottage and pull up outside the shed . It certainly has seen better days .
Inside and paid , we get a little speech about their fossils , most of which have been found here on the Isle . His pride and joy was this section of backbone . This vertebrae has a footprint , left by a smaller dinosaur , it's foot being slightly larger than the middle section , and with one claw making the notch just above middle right of the photo . He believes it's the only one in existence !!
Isla didn't miss out either , she loves dinosaurs and was able to sift through 2 trays of shell grit & gravel to see if she could find anything . There are many fossilised shark teeth , and others in there , and she could keep 3 of the ones she'd found . There were 2 sheets with pictures to explain what each one was .
Another of the gentleman proud items are these relatively recent finds - the darker ones are the ones - some back bones and a complete leg .
The roof got my attention - if you look closely , you'll see the uprights are 2 branches , and the rest is very raw pieces of timber dating back to the 16th century , the sheds that old , not sure about the timbers though , it did look really old .
This is a model on display , bit over a metre high and about 2.5 long .
Interesting vents/ windows ? in the walls .
From here we headed over to Fort Victoria , where we had a nice car picnic , that wind was worse than yesterday , temperature was 12 degrees before adding windchill into the equation . Fort Victoria overlooks The Solent , a stretch of water that runs between the Isle and the mainland .
You can walk up on the roof of what remains of the fort , but the best part of that today was the flowers growing on the wall . The next best thing was getting into the car and warming up !
There are walks you can do , that take you down to Fort Albert , too wet & cold today .
Heading back inland , Carisbrooke Castle was next on the agenda . I'd been looking forward to this one , and it didn't disappoint . This is the entry way into the castle and appears to be over an old moat .
After paying our entry fee , we went in and were properly blown away , the history seemed to just come and grab you - you're walking around something many hundreds or thousands of people have over the centuries . Marauding troops coming to try and take it from you , all the things that could've and would've happened make you're head spin .
We walked all the walls around the inside of the castle walls , surveying the surrounding areas . There was a reason they were built on hills - so they could be protected , and see who was coming .
Various sections remain in ruins , whilst others are still in use .
This is one of the entry gates .
This exit/entry door in the back wall was to give access to the bowling green . The wall here is about 5m thick
This is part of the original Keep , and is the highest spot in the castle and has the worst set of steps up to it . The steps are all uneven with varying steps heights and widths - probably to deter intruders as well .
This is part of Carisbrooke township from the highest point of the Keep .
The church is still in use for war memorials , here's a shot of the ceiling and satined glass window .
Here's the organ at the other end .
A couple of hours passed quickly , then it was back to the cabin . Managed to find some even narrower roads for the trip back . Really good to look at , but must be a pain to drive - especially the blind corners !!
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