Donnington Castle, Costco, and Football

Yesterday, we made the short journey to Newbury to see Donnington Castle. The castle was built in 1386, hosted King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. It was one of the last Royalist strongholds of the Civil War and mostly destroyed by the victorious Parliamentarians in 1646.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnington_Castle

The castle sits on the top of a hill only 1 mile from Newbury.
There was only this English Heritage sign  marking the historic site.
I was pleased that there was no gift shop to distract Matthew, king of souvenirs.

Most of the castle was destroyed many years ago. All that remains is the gate house.
The area was peaceful with only a few people walking the public footpaths and a family flying kites.

We surmise that this hole in the wall was probably a toilet drain.
The area inside the wall would have contained the great hall, a kitchen, and some other rooms.
We just used our imaginations.

The castle would have been a great defensive location due to the elevation.
The city of Newbury and the River  Kennet  can be seen in the background.
The castle wall was originally much taller. We ran on it and pretended anyway.

Sir Mark and HRH Lori in front of a royal residence.

My beautiful Queen. Matthew is becoming a good photographer.

We transitioned from history to shopping. The traffic was horrific because the local football club, Reading FC, was having a match at the stadium next door. Even the Costco parking lot was full of the vehicles of fans. I guess buying a Costco membership is less expensive than paying for stadium parking. We shopped so long that we we were in the after-game gridlock traffic. We re-parked and went back inside until the lot cleared out. Next time, we will check the game schedule before making a Costco run.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madejski_Stadium

The Reading Costco is smaller than most U.S. locations but carries the same large portions.