Many members said they only knew Newark as somewhere they bypassed en route to the wider world. Our recent visit to the new Civil War Centre allowed them to see some of the town as well! First off we enjoyed coffee and cookies on arrival, then everyone took as much time as they wanted to explore the permanent displays relating to the Civil War which caused Newark to be besieged, and also the current exhibition about the techniques of dealing with injuries sustained in the bloody hand to hand fighting of that age. Pretty gruesome.
Then we met our guides for a tour of Newark Castle, where several intrepid climbers made their way up the 77 steps to the top of the Tower.
Our guides, Floss Newman and her assistant, unlocked doors to the Undercroft (built in what had once been the river itself), and then the Debtors Dungeon – if you got thrown in there, you came out as bones … It was amazing to see original graffiti from the time of the Templars.
We rounded off the day with an afternoon trip on the 1902 MV ‘Sonning,’ from Newark to Farndon (the original site of the Roman settlement which later moved to Newark). It got a bit chilly on the return journey, but it allowed a different view of the countryside, and we saw many waterfowl, including herons patiently fishing.
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