Muncaster Castle

On Saturday, we took a trip to Muncaster Castle. It's a famous "haunted" castle here in the Lake District, and hosts all kinds of ghost walks and nighttime tours. During the day, though, it's not creepy at all... In fact, it's downright delightful. There are playgrounds, gardens, and really breathtaking views of the English countyside.

Muncaster Castle also has a fairly significant Owl Sanctuary on the grounds. We got there in time for the afternoon Owl show, where we saw buzzards, hawks, and owls up close. Most of the birds were trained to fly from perch to perch, and to stroll on the grass as though being walked by their trainers. The most disturbing part was what they gave the birds as a reward when they each completed their part of the show: a whole dead mouse. I get that birds of prey eat mice, and I'm totally ok with that. However, there's something kind of revolting about watching a grown man pulling a dead white mouse from his pants pocket and feeding it to an owl.

Still, it was a cool show, and I really enjoyed it.

Later, we took a long walk through the woods around the castle. It was a really gorgeous day, and it seemed like we were the only people around for miles.

After we got home, I read up on the history of the castle, and one of the most famous ghost stories in the area involves the spirit of a woman named Mary Bragg who is rumored to haunt the very trails we were exploring on our lonesomes. We didn't have any run-ins with Mary on our hike. But if we had....Well, that'd make a pretty darn good story, wouldn't it?