Birds of prey swoop in for new Warwick Castle show - review with pictures

It' so easy to lose a day at Warwick, with reenactments, displays, fascinating tales and plenty to keep families of all ages thoroughly entertained.

It was my first visit to Warwick Castle in a good few years and I went with my wife, Kelly, four-year-old daughter Annabelle, and nieces Olivia and Lucy, aged eight and six.

The main reason for our visit was the launch of The Falconer's Quest, the UK's biggest birds of prey show.

We all sat on the banks of the river, waiting for the show to begin. There is a tale behind the action as a heroine sets off on a quest to find the finest birds in all of the land, to bring back to the castle.

It began with a barn owl. We couldn't tell where it came from but it was soon floating over our heads, over the water and up to the turrets, before swooping back down again.

And the birds just kept getting bigger and more impressive. There was an array of hawks and eagles, huge vultures and the star of the show, the peregrine falcon.

The speed of that bird, which we discovered is the fastest in the world when it dive bombs to catch its prey, was spectacular. It was pointless trying to catch it in action on camera.

For sheer size, watching the Andean condor and bearded vulture take off really did take the audience's breath away – and harrier hawks were the birds that really came up close and personal. Kelly had to duck at one point.

It was one of those shows where adults and children were equally entertained. I'd never seen such stunning birds so close before and although keeping birds in captivity is also a touchy subject, The Falconer's Quest doubles as a conservation project, which sees the castle working with other charities to try save some of the world's rarest breeds from extinction.

There are two shows throughout the day, and as we had caught the earlier one it gave us plenty of time to explore the rest of the castle.

Next was a trip to peacock garden where we had some lunch while the kids could also run around the beautiful gardens and water fountain, with the peacocks just strolling past, minding their own business.

One thing that really stood out during the whole visit was how entertained all the children were. Touring a castle may not sound like the most appealing day out but they loved every second of it.

"What want to see the gaol," Olivia demanded, and our search for the hidden treasures in the castle became a bit of a running joke. "We haven't climbed any stairs for five seconds," one would say, because there were a lot of them. More than 500 in total one just one side of the castle.

But the views at the top were stunning and the staircases, turrets and platforms were littered with handy snippets of information.

The history reaches back almost 11 centuries and more than £6 million has been ploughed into restoring the castle over the last 10 years alone – and it shows, too.

Everything is immaculate and a tour of the great hall saw the waxwork dummies, voiceovers and architecture helps bring the past back to life.

The children loved checking out all the armour, old costumes and even had a dance in the grand hall.

It was also fascinating to learn how close the castle came to being demolished entirely, as well as the role played by Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker, and history behind The Royal Weekend Party.

The Princess Tower was a lovely, interactive experience for chidlren, where actors helped tell the tale of the brave Guy of Warwick, his fearful quest to win the hand of the beautiful Felice, and how they could help break a curse by solving a riddle.

The Time Tower included 15 minutes of videos and 3D characters that helped bring the castle's past back to life, covering all the bloodshed, death, treachery and destruction – but in a family-friendly way.

Everyone was happy just walking around and entertaining themselves, which meant there were so many demonstrations and hands-on activities we missed out.

The castle dungeon, where some of Warwick's darkest, bloodiest and frightening tales are brought to life by actors, looked great but it was only for children aged 10 and above.

Then there was the bowman show, mighty trebuchet talk and knight's school, but we can always visit them next time.

Finally, we headed to the Horrible Histories maze, where we genuinely got lost. The kids loved solving the clues, hunting down the stamps and then winning a badge for their efforts.

We were lucky with the weather and the visit was superb fun family day. Well worth a visit.

For tickets, bookings, special packages and overnight stays, go to warwick-castle.com