Part 0800.0005

[welovemarmite]

i am a bit strange as i have a bit of a fascination for the underground, Thought with the celebrations of it this year then it might be a good time to visit again.

[patsylabrador]

We finally got to York and it was worth the wait. We bought a YAT pass which gives us entry into four places for a year so we went round Jorvik museum three times. We thought why not? Actually it was a good idea, by the third time I was learning stuff that I'd missed the first time. That smell though - pooey!

We also visited York Minster which had a return ticket too, so we did. We were very lucky, at the time of the first visit school choirs were rehearsing and they were sublime. I could feel tingles. For the second visit, we had a tour and it was just OH and me so we had a very personal tour. I think we barely touched on what that man knew.

Sadly ran out of time for other museums, I especially wanted to visit the York Regiment Museum. I think that would have been very interesting. We'll just have to go back, especially as the hotel was lovely and I found a buttons&ribbons shop.

[welovemarmite]

i didnt realise that button shop was still there. I remember it when I was a student in york 20 years ago!

[patsylabrador]

I visited Upton House today which is sort of close to Banbury. It belonged - was the weekend house- to the founder of Shell oil. I believe they made their fortune from shell ornaments.

Very 1930s with an amazing red and silver bathroom and an absorbing art collection. It's one of my favourite houses to visit. Lovely warm kitchen with a huge aga and they do cooking lessons and other activities for children in there.

[Daphne]

We went to the Geffrye museum in Shoreditch this week. Its a series of rooms each decorated in a different style through the ages with an educational slant, teaching you about textiles, social history, architecture etc. Its in a lovely herb/veg garden (not open till April) and housed in a beautiful long series of almhouses, which look quaint but are tiny inside. There are loads of activities for children, its really set up for youngsters, both in the room sets and also in separate art and project rooms. Entrance is free and so are a lot of the activities, but think you have to pay for some of the more special ones. However, I don't think I'd make a special trip there if I was just an adult. There is a good cafe. I'd also get there by bus as it is a 15-20 minute walk from the tube (Old St), longer with small ones!

 

We also went to the National Portrait Gallery, I've not been for years. We found it completely fascinating as amongst other things we found a local bigwig whose wife had our cottages built for her workers (!) and I may have found an ancestor But what I liked most was that there was something for everyone as you could browse by era, or style of painting, or subject - there is so much to see in some of the pictures, its very stimulating. You don't have to look round it all which can be a bit daunting. I'd forgotten how interesting it is. The restaurant was very good

[patsylabrador]

Today we visited Basildon Park which is glorious and is also where they filmed some of Pride and Prejudice. The Keira Knightly one. We had a tour and I learnt so many interesting things I don't know where to start. I will tell you that one of it's owners was a founder of Basildon Bond stationery, the American regiment that formed Band of Brothers was based there in WW2, there is a delicious tale of infidelity and general caddishness that resulted in the existence of Bill Sikes from Oliver Twist. It's a great place to visit and I'm looking forward to going back to walk in the parkland later in springtime.

Planning Science Museum trip soon and YS is taking me to this for my birthday.

[Willow]

You should blog about your museum visits

 

If you like small museums you should think about a day in Reading. The hospital have a small museum I keep meaning to visit (has odd opening times). There is a lovely little aviation museum in the suburbs, Reading museum has a copy of the Bayeaux tapestry that is famous in its own right and there is a English rural life museum at the university.

 

A look around Eton college is also worthwhile, it has some amazing buildings and they have a small natural history museum on the grounds. They do allow small numbers of visitors. I used to work for a Japanese company based in Slough and we'd take Japanese visitors to a pub in Eton for lunch as they loved the 'Englishness' of Eton and were fascinated by the school uniform Last time I was in Eton village a charming tall blond floppy haired Etonian stopped me and it was one of my cubs scouts from a few years back

[soapdragon]

We are very close to both Basildon Park and the wonders of Oxford but have not been exploring for ages! You have made me realise that we must make the effort over the summer - if, indeed, we have one !

 

The Ashmolean in Oxford is great and, every so often, there is an open museums day where the museums are all free - we did this with ES when he was quite small!

 

The Chiltern Open Air Museum is wonderful too - like the Weald and Downland in Sussex only a bit smaller but very much worth a visit!

 

I am still desperate to get to Denis Severs House in London but that may have to wait until the boys are older and the coffers are fuller!

 

Thanks for keeping us updated and inspired!

[Charlottechicken]

Thank you for this thread, I really like the look of Upton House, that is now on my list of day trips!

[patsylabrador]

Hello. Done another one. I hope people don't mind me posting my museum trips.

 

This time we went to IWM Duxford. Bit of a cold day but we had 2for1 tickets so it would have been rude not to use them. I headed first for the landwar hangar which is my favourite and furthest away. I can enjoy it then before museum legs kick in. I like big vehicles especially the tanks and tracked guns which you can see at Firepower in London - the Artillery museum near Woolwich ferry.

The picture is part of a Sunderland. My FIL flew one of these and also a Lancaster, post war obviously. He became an airline pilot for DanAir and there are a couple of those at the museum too. He was an interesting man but sadly died when he was 56.

I walked along Concorde which was small and shabby inside but then I suppose it was all about the engines.

The B52 bomber in the American Hangar is a beast and I don't know how it gets off the ground. I think the Huey is OH's favourite - all those years watching MASH.

Apparently, if you live nearby you can get cheaper tickets on non airshow days.

 

 

[Seagazer]

Duxford is brilliant isn't it. We went either last year or the year before (memory is terrible!) Whilst we were there looking at the planes outside there was a two seater spitfire (very rare) taking off and the sound of it flying overhead was just amazing. We had goosebumps

 

We used to take the children to lots of museums when they were younger. Their favourite was the Science Museum. We've done the Natural History, my DD hated this one as she can't stand stuffed animals. I've not been through the whole of the V & A (I must get back to see the rest of it) but have been to a couple of exhibitions there, one was patchwork quilts and the other was a pop art type of exhibition (I was dragged to it by my DD)

 

We've also been to the Museum of London and of particular interest was the Docklands Museum, my FIL had worked in the docks as a young man so that was fascinating hearing and seeing the history. It was also quite hands on so the kids really enjoyed it. We did Jorvik museum whilst in York and particularly enjoyed the ride with all the sights and smells.

 

We've just been away for a couple of days and went to Beaulieu and saw the national car museum there. OH was particularly happy as they have a Bond car exhibition on at the moment. I was just happy to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. What was funny was seeing a Routemaster double decker bus from our local area (nowhere near the New Forest) in the museum.