The South Riding RV Travels

Tour 3 - Weapons, Armour, Crown Jewels Museums

Then on to automata of a different kind. Close scrutiny reveals that most have a connection with the jewellery business and they were used in jewellers' shop windows to advertise the wares with a note of humour rather than just displaying the jewellery. It is the most complete collection of Baranger motions. Again, Alex Jordan just bought the whole collection, and all the pieces are on display, some working if you press a button and some not - if there is ever a fire, the whole lot will be lost.

This last one particularly appealed to us - as the saw blade turns, the lady moves along the bench towards it. At the last moment her hero appears inside the window and literally puts a spanner in the works to stop the blade.

The next section covers antique guns. I'm not usually interested but these are fine works of art. I'm not sure all of them would have fired and some are fairly exotic in appearance. But they are magnificent examples of the gunsmith's art.

There is so much ivory surrounding this, you wonder if it actually has a metal barrel.

A set of knives with pistols attached. All's fair in love and war but this is a bit sneaky.

And this four barrelled blunderbuss type pistol almost makes you laugh. The barrels even look curved.

But they are incredibly ornate and obviously presentation pieces, or figments of someone's imagination. One must remember that Jordan was a bit of a prankster.

But gimmicks or not, one has to admire the artistry. A far cry from the museum in Cody with examples of every working rifle ever made.

And so to the medieval armour collection. In some ways this is disappointing because it is so dark it isn't clear enough to see. There are examples of European armour and of Oriental armour, with fanciful settings with elephants and dogs and other indeterminate creatures.

I'm sure this sort of idea is the product of Hollywood. I know some armies used elephants  but...

And so to the last of the fantasy with a set of imitation crowns and jewels from the English royal family. The Americans are obsessed with this sort of stuff. With their presidents in recent years, I guess I can understand it.

And so to the end of the House on the Rock. I would like to have known more about the thinking behind it, the history and some of the items. Perhaps this will come out when the new pavilions are opened next year or two. It might be interesting to come back then. They reckon you need about 4-5 hours to see the whole attraction. Our view is that you need three days to do it justice. Each tour leaves you exhausted. And take plenty of film or memory chips and batteries with you!