August 24, 2017

The Money Fight as Foreshadowed By Castle Ward's Boxing Squirrels- Plus Their Game of Thrones Winterfell Festival

August 24, 2017/ Claire Spence

I've been totally and utterly suckered into the hype for the Money Fight. Some guys are boxing in Vegas for billions of dollars. If you live in the States you have to pay $80-$100 just to watch it. What happens if one knocks the other out in seconds? Is there a refund policy if you get twelve seconds of a match?

Its on at 5am our time, early Sunday morning, and whilst I'm not going to pay to watch it (£20-£24 here, I assume cause it's 5am) I am going to set an alarm to wake up and be on social media for the buzz. I love this sort of thing.

Anyway, it reminded me of one of my favourite parts of Castle Ward's grand house tour- the taxidermy boxing squirrels.

If you are a Game of Thrones fan (and who isnt? Well, me, but I'm odd) then you might be excited to know Castle Ward is holding a Winterfell Festival on 24th September .

Festival gates will open at 11am on 24 September and at 12 noon a fanfare will herald the arrival of the King’s procession as he visits House Stark at Winterfell for The King’s Tournament Games. Irish Arms, a historical reproduction company, will perform a series of medieval jousting shows on horseback throughout the day. Sword sparring, archery demonstrations, jesters and falcon flights will add to the atmosphere in the tournament ring where visitors will be able to feast on roast hog washed down with local cider.

Amongst the medieval themed stalls, armourer Boyd Rankin, who starred as Mikken in Game of Thrones will showcase a selection of the weapons he forged for the world famous TV series. Special guests will also include two of the original Stark family Direwolf dogs.

The iconic Winterfell Tower House will be open throughout the day and fans can join Winterfell Tours on a skirmish to Audley’s Castle before having their very own green screen photo taken in the Winterfell Courtyard where the Stark family famously lined up for the King’s arrival. An interactive show and workshop with Shadow Puppets themed on Game of Thrones will take place in the historic courtyard and can be enjoyed by all.

Travellers will also be encouraged to walk down the Kingsroad to the Inn at the Crossroads where they can pull up a pew and listen to stories from A Song of Ice and Fire Series One being performed by Footsteps theatrical company, while dining on venison pie and ale.

Adult - £22.50
Child - £10.00 (10 - 16 years)
Family - £60.00 (2 adults and 2 children between 10 - 16 years)
*Children under 10 are free

Access to Castle Ward on 24 September will be exclusively for Winterfell Festival ticket holders only. Castle Ward will be closed to non-ticket holders, including National Trust members, from 9am-6pm on 24 September.

You can plan a do it yourself road trip to visit all the filming locations the National Trust work with HBO on Game of Thrones, with this handy guide to where they all are.

So, shall I see you online at 5am on Sunday morning? Who do you think is going to be champion?

P.S. I made the long list of this year's Irish Blog Awards in the Lifestyle and Best Blog Post categories, but I won't make a song and dance about it as every valid blog that got nominated makes the long list. When the short list, then the finalist lists come out I'll add buttons etc then (if I'm a finalist again this year- fingers crossed!) But thank you to anyone who nominated me I really appreciate it.

September 26, 2016

Modern Day Ulster Travel Posters- Show Your N.I. Pride Or Visitors, Remember Your Game of Thrones Location Tour With a Beautiful Print

September 26, 2016/ Claire Spence

I love vintage travel posters. I have two in my home at the moment, purchased from Travel Posters Online, a Bangor one in my living room and a Portrush golfing print in my bedroom.

Artist JS Kelly is keeping the tradition alive with simple yet beautiful designs of local landmarks and towns. There are designs of places all over Ireland, but it's the Northern Irish prints that I'm sharing with you today.

There are illustrations of well loved destinations, home towns & tourist attractions.

You can search for a design of your home town, but if you aren't from NI you still might like these prints. There are several artworks of Game of Thrones filming locations, including the Dark Hedges and Ballintoy harbour.

If you've taken the Game of Thrones location tour, you may recognise some of the other Antrim coast and north coast locations.

I'm definitely planning on buying one or more of JS Kelly's prints, it's just a matter of trying to decide which ones!

They would also make great Christmas gifts, and if you buy now there is an offer to get 20% off when you buy two or more, so you can get two 50x40 prints for £40.

If you follow me on Snapchat you might recognise the station house at Helen's Bay from my walks.

May 30, 2016

Geocaching at a Game of Thrones Location

May 30, 2016/ Claire Spence

It's the Bank Holiday & the weather is lovely, so Smix & I tried our hand at geocaching for the first time.

We downloaded the official app, which uses your phone's GPS to show you how close you are to the hidden log. These can be little containers like those you used to send your camera films away in to be processed, with paper inside to log your find.

We picked the walk that leads up to Helen's Tower, near Clandeboye Estate, where Game of Thrones films every year.

Helen's Tower is the pinnacle of this walk. It was a bit far for us today, as my M.E. is playing up right now, but we got past the lake, so that was an achievement.

The tower was built for the same Helen who the nearby village of Helen's Bay is named after. She was Scottish and her husband built the tower so she could gaze out across the sea at her home.

So, geocaching. When we parked on the road we found we were right on top of one already. It was located at the entrance to the saw mill and the clue was to do with seeing the light. We looked for a street light, or a source of light, but even after checking the comments from previous finders, we still couldn't work out where it was.

As we walked on through our trail there were several other geocaches, but they were more advanced ones, and I didn't want to upgrade to the paid app when we struggled and failed to find an easy one!

We did find some really cool freak of nature sights though, like this tree above. I thought it was fungi, but when Smix dared me to touch it it was rock hard. We concluded it must be some sort of sap from the tree.

There are lots of old stone walls boardering the farms around. I liked this secret hidey hole- even if it was a cider hidey hole (as not seen in Game of Thrones).

Smix found 20p on that big tree stump!

When we got back to the car we noticed another 'easy' geocache on the road that is opposite the Clandeboye Hotel, the road that leads as a shortcut to the Craigantlet Road.

The clue was that the geocache was inside a container that looked like a hedgehog. We were right on top of it, rummaging in the bushes, shining the phone torch down into the hibernation holes under the tree, but we just couldn't find it.

So disappointing. There's meant to be a cache up on the dual carriageway bridge close to our house, so we might give it one last go later tonight. Does anyone know of any REALLY easy to find local ones? Let me know on Twitter @rudedoodle

Have a lovely half term break from Smix and me!

April 10, 2015

Targaryen Farmed Dragon Eggs on Sale In Belfast

April 10, 2015/ Claire Spence

Northern Ireland is home to a good proportion of the filming of Game of Thrones. When filming is in town, you often will find the actors at St. George's Market on a Sunday morning. They love the local cheeses, fresh fish and beautiful cupcakes.

But it seems they've left a prop behind, with these rare Targaryen Farmed Dragon Eggs popping up for sale at the world famous market. I wonder if they are tasty?