Dartmoor National Park and Buckland Abbey

Now that the kids are in school and we have all of our stuff we have settled into a routine. Rather than mundane daily posts I will post about specific topics and the places we visit.

Dartmoor National Park (9/16/16)
Annette completed her project for the Enterprise Challenge at Dartmoor Zoological Park. The challenge was for children to select an animal from a specific list, create an enclosure for said animal, write a statement as to why this animal should be added to the zoo, and stay within a budget for the addition. The winner and 4 other children would be selected and become part of a committee at the zoo. Ron and I drove up and dropped her entry off. Unfortunately she didn't win, nor was she selected for the committee, but I think she enjoyed working on the project and will try again in the future.
After that Ron and I drove up through Dartmoor National Park. It is a really beautiful area. We came to a spot where we could see all the way down to Plymouth.

It was breathtaking and this picture does not do it justice.

Buckland Abbey (9/18/16)
Buckland Abbey is a National Trust property located in Yelverton. They were having an Elisabethan Weekend, so we decided to check it out.

We started off the day by listening to a couple playing traditional Elisabethan music on traditional instruments.

We went to an archery demonstration where the archer told us the history of archery and explained the significance of his clothing. Everyone got a chance to shot some arrows.

After that we saw a falconry display and learned that hunting with falcons was a sport in which only the wealthy would partake.  The falcon landed in the tree right above us, so I was able to get a real good picture (as good as you can with a cell phone.)

Annette was selected to enter the demonstration area and have the falcon fly to her, landing on her arm. It was soooo cool!!! And I was totally jealous.

Holding food to get the falcon to
fly to her.

The falcon landing on her arm
taking the food.

What an experience!

Lastly we toured the abbey/house.  An abbey is building occupied by monks or nuns. Many abbeys were converted to houses when Henry VIII issued the Dissolution of Monasteries in 1536.

It is so amazing to see how much time and detail went to buildings like this. When you think about the tools from over 500 years ago it must have taken so much skill and patience. I was amazed by the details in the ceilings.

For those who love art, they have an authenticated self portrait of Rembrandt on display.

There are also trails and gardens around the property to explore. The volunteers are very helpful and informative giving you great details about the history of the property and sharing stories. We learned that during the Protestant era the Catholic altar was destroyed and covered over. Years later when Catholicism returned to England the altar room was excavated and the altar was rebuilt from the pieces they found while digging the room out.

It was a wonderful day and we all had a great time.