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This is a strange hidden gem of a museum. It doesn't really inspire you when you walk through the door but then you begin to look around. It's a free local museum run by volunteers, and kids love the strange and wierd Victorian display, from bugs, cobra skins, lions' teeth and a mummified cat to the man trap and the golden eagle. They can touch and play on a huge victorian stone instrument like a xylophone. It's in a great park with a kids playground so we had well over two hours of fun. It's on the quiet side of Keswick and it is easy to miss but its a great discovery.
Fitz Park, Station Road, Keswick keswickmuseum.webs.com
I recommend it because it is where eccentricities and esoteric objects are the norm. A shop/gallery/museum so densely filled with Victorian taxidermy, animals floating in jars, shrunken skulls and stuffed animals that even the shopkeepers still stumble upon unseen items.
More than just a shop, this is a display of Viktor Wynd’s personal collection inspired by his genuine interest in animals, skeletons and the thrill he gets from chasing, finding and purchasing rare and one-of-a-kind objects.
As much as the store can freak people out with jars of two-headed mini skeletons, human fetuses and just the general mass amount of dead, it is also full of inappropriately placed objects that let the humour shine through…a book titled Sex Instructions for Irish Farmers will be among a collection of fake, bloodied fingers and the books Wind Breaks, Coming to Terms With Flatulence and Whose Bottom is This?
11 Mare Street, London E8 8RP
+44 207 998 3617
www.thelasttuesdaysociety.org/
Google map: bit.ly/kclxPG
This bus tour takes in 20 stops and lasts about an hour and a half. The tour takes in the Shankill and Falls Roads, as well as the Titanic Quarter, city centre, Stormont parliament building & the university quarter, with a live commentary.
Departures every 20 mins in peak season.£12.50 for adults, £6 for kids.
Pick up this red sightseeing bus from the High Street near the Albert Clock Tower.
www.belfastcitysightseeing.co.uk
The 'in your pocket' series of guidebooks are well worth recommending. The list of places is limited, but they are written by locals and are updated every two months. Even better, they are free and can be downloaded from the website.
The Belfast edition in booklet form is also free in the airport and other tourist locations.
In the light of the possible flight disruptions due to ash, it's worth knowing about the 'rail & sail' offer between Belfast and Scotland. You can book a train & ferry between Belfast and Glasgow/Edinburgh for £25 each way. Separate train and ferry tickets will almost cost double.
Train to other parts of the UKwill cost a little more but again far cheaper than if you get the tickets separately.
Buy 'rail & sail' tickets at scotrail.co.uk/content/rail-sail-belfast.html
or
stenaline.co.uk/ferry/rail-and-sail/
Website will only take bookings at least seven days in advance.
This small child friendly musuem is tucked away - many in Newton Abbot don't even know of its existence! It is just five minutes from Newton Abbot railway station. There is a room dedicated to GWR for young and older railway enthusiasts alike and you can even change the signals at the working signal box. The other rooms here are dedicated to social/local history, and change yearly. Last year the focus was Lethbridge, an 18th-century diver, and children could experience what is was like underwater in a replica vessel.
2a St Pauls Road, Newton Abbot
www.museum-newtonabbot.org.uk
'A free destination for the incurably curious' is what this small museum on the Euston Road calls itself, and it certainly is. Henry Wellcome was a Philanthropist and Collector of art and medical curiosities which are still housed in the original building. I pop in here regularly with my kids, have a pastry in the Peyton and Byrne cafe and explore the extensive collection of artefacts and interactive exhibits on display. Children get a free Wellcome pack and a friendly welcome. Oh, and they learn quite a bit too.
www.wellcomecollection.org
+44(0)20 7611 2222
183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE
Google map: bit.ly/lQBqsQ
These are collars of the canine, rather than the ecclesiastical variety, and a pretty doggone impressive collection it is too. Centuries ago, wolves, bears and boars were repelled by the fearsome iron spikes of some; while soft aristocratic hands once stroked the hand-tooled silver and velvet of others. Over 100 intriguing collars are on display, with details of the mastiffs, gundogs, hounds and lapdogs who wore them, along with the history of their human owners. My favourite engraving runs: “I am Mr Pratt’s dog… whose dog are you?” Admission to the museum is included in the price of the entry ticket to Leeds Castle.
Four entirely different museums housed in separate buildings but easy walking distance apart. All four museums are suitable for children and each member of a family should find something of interest. The museums are : "Tutankhamum, The Exhibition" , "The Dinosaur Museum", "Terracotta Warriors Museum" and "The Teddy Bear Museum". Combined tickets for all four museums can be bought. A godsend if the weather is dreary. Unusual gifts and souvenirs for sale. Dorchester is well served with tea shops, pubs and restaurants ( I recommend "The Old Tea House" , 44 High Street West, 01305 263719 for scrumptious cream teas with home-made scones) so refreshments between museum visits are easy to find.
The museums are all situated in the centre of the town and Dorchester is a small town so it difficult to miss them. Tel: 01305 269571
Two railway stations about 10 minutes walk from town.
Pull on your brightly coloured gnome hat and leave your cool ironic detachment at the door. The Bradworthy Gnome Museum and Reserve, in the wilds of north Devon, is not for the faint-hearted, but it will give you and your childen more laughs per minute than any other small museum in the UK. There is not just an indoor museum, devoted to gnomes of the past, there are also four ares of woodland and wild flower gardens with gnomes of all shapes and sizes round every corner and lurking up quite a few trees. And when you collapse, mentally exhausted, to round off your visit with a classic cream tea, you can marvel at the fact that you have just visited the only museum in the UK to have been proposed as a candidate for the Turner Prize.
The Gnome Reserve
West Putford
Nr Bradworthy
N Devon
EX22 7XE
01409 241435, www.gnomereserve.co.uk
Fabulous mix of classical, folk and brass-band music, guided walks and activities for kids, in gorgeous Swaledale and Wensleydale. This year they've got Emma Kirkby, Carlton Main Band, the Fitzwilliam Quartet, Red Priest and dozens of lesser-known but classy performers. I've been for the last four years and can't imagine missing it!
In churches, village halls, pubs and open fields all around the northern Yorkshire Dales. 01748 880019. www.swaledale-festival.org.uk
Cafe du Parc provides an authentic taste of France in small town north Devon. French chef/proprietor Joe Monterieux serves classic lunches, to die for patisseries, & featherlight crepes at very reasonable prices - around £10 for light lunch option plus something sweet & coffee. Rather more if you opt for wine, glass or bottle, or beer. The Cafe is very child friendly - the spacious Victoria park on the banks of the Torridge is just outside with a convenient car park twixt river & park. Take in a culture break too in the Burton Gallery with its changing exhibitions & permanent ceramics display upstairs. For music buffs there are occasional jazz lunches, mid-week or Sundays for which pre-booking is essential since they are popular with us locals.
Cafe du Parc, Burton Art Gallery, Bideford, Devon, EX39 2QQ.
01237 429317
cafeduparc.co.uk
Nearest station: Barnstaple; buses to Bideford with stop outside the gallery.
A fantastic collection of witchcraft paraphernalia and artefacts - one of the largest in the world! Included are spells, dollies, cauldrons, chalices and broomsticks. Gives kids a great alternative view on religion and history. Very informative, and tons to keep them amused for ages. Don't be put off by the theme - it's not at all scary and spooky. Not much anyway!
The Harbour, Boscastle, Cornwall
01840 250 111, www.museumofwitchcraft.com
Google map: tinyurl.com/32djsy6
Fine dining in Stornoway - a new experience and one well worth supporting. Local & Scottish produce, all sources identified, inventively and well cooked; service interested, leisurely - a very pleasant experience.
11 James Street, Stornoway, HS1 2QN
01851 709090; sulair.co.uk
Google map: tinyurl.com/35xfpox
These are collars of the canine, rather than the ecclesiastical variety, and a pretty doggone impressive collection it is too. Centuries ago, wolves, bears and boars were repelled by the fearsome iron spikes of some; while soft aristocratic hands once stroked the hand-tooled silver and velvet of others. Over 100 intriguing collars are on display, with details of the mastiffs, gundogs, hounds and lapdogs who wore them, along with the history of their human owners. My favourite engraving runs: “I am Mr Pratt’s dog… whose dog are you?” Admission is included in the price of the entry ticket to Leeds Castle.
Housed in a 1930s building in Whitby’s main park, the Whitby Museum is stuffed to the gunnels with so many interesting objects that we’ve visited three times and still not seen everything.
Set up originally as a showcase for fossils, since Whitby lies at the heart of the Fossil Coast, it certainly has an impressive collection of beautiful and gigantic marine reptiles.
It also has a Captain Cook room with objects collected on the voyages of the Resolution and Discovery. The notebooks of William Scoresby, Artic explorer and artist filled with his exquisite drawings of hundreds of snowflakes done using a hand magnifying glass. An entire room devoted to ships in bottles. Collections of butterflies, birds eggs and nests hidden in glass cases under felt cloths to keep the colours bright. A case filled with brightly coloured replica corals. More than 500 pieces of jewellery and curiosities made out of jet (fossilised monkey puzzle trees which grew along the coast of Yorkshire) including a gibbet complete with noose, mourning jewellery and chess sets. A model Noah’s Ark, painstakingly carved and painted by Napleonic prisoners of war. Dolls, a Witch post, china, mummies, coins, pressed flowers, clocks, costumes, domestic objects like gingerbread moulds and corn dollies – the list goes on and on.
The museum is staffed entirely by friendly volunteers from the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society (established in 1823) who set up the museum to avoid the giant fossils being “lost” to the town.
It even has a charmingly clunky website www.whitbymuseum.org.uk
Pannett Park, Whitby
01947 602908
www.whitbymuseum.org.uk
Google map: tinyurl.com/3a6txf9
Bakewell Old House Museum is a facinating, small and quirky museum of local and social history.
Explore the nooks and crannies of the atmospheric Tudor building, and discover the secrets of historic Bakewell via the Museum's trail. This museum is family friendly, with hands-on activities for children, a superb Tudor Dressing-up box and much more. It's 100% recommended for a great addition to a day out in Bakewell. Well worth the wander up the hill!
The Old House Museum, Cunningham Place, Off North Church Street, Bakewell.
01629 813642, oldhousemuseum.hammerdesign.co.uk
Google map: tinyurl.com/2u7vmpj
Live at the Bandstand happens every Sunday through the summer and has a huge following. There's a different theme every week - this year has swing, urban, rock'n'roll, jazz, country etc. Take a rug and a picnic and relax - there's nothing better on a Sunday afternoon!
West Battery Gardens, Southsea seafront, Portsmouth
www.visitportsmouth.co.uk
Now, my dears, if you love the stories of Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggy-winkle and Jemima Puddle-duck, then run along to The Lake District to go and play in the charming World of Beatrix Potter Attraction. But don't get into mischief amongst the sights, sounds and smells of Beatrix Potter’s stories, and take great care if you find yourself in the shop! This is one of the few museums in which children keep their parents waiting, not the other way round.
Anyone not acquainted with Beatrix Potter should watch the film Miss Potter to give themselves a quick primer on all things Peter Rabbit. Grown up children might want to venture out for a nice, long walk which takes in Hill Top, the farm Beatrix Potter bought with the royalties from her books, and the excellent National Trust Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead.
This is the perfect museum for kids. There is a lot there, an aquarium, a natural history museum and a music gallery, but all on a fairly small scale. Most importantly they understand that children need to do more than look, they need to touch, play and get involved, and here they can. There are magnifying glasses in the aquarium, quirky instruments to play in the music gallery, and fabulous and free creative activities and story-telling sessions. When you have exhausted all on offer inside you can stroll through the pretty gardens and visit the small menagerie.
100 London Rd, Forest Hill, London, SE23 3PQ
www.horniman.ac.uk/
+44(0)20 8699 1872
Google map: bit.ly/iQfW9K
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