Things to do
Spare a thought for Simon Baines, the Ice Age hunter, as he spends half-term showing kids what life was like BC. No that’s not Before Covid – but well Before
Christ.
Wrapped in draughty-looking animal skins, Simon, 48, works on the Heritage team at Creswell Crags Museum & Prehistoric Gorge in Worksop on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
The archaeological site is home to Britain’s only known Ice Age cave art – and Simon, who’s looking pretty good for 15,000 years old, dresses like this to educate kids about our prehistoric history.
“I have to say that gearing up as an Ice Age hunter is a pretty cool perk of the job,” he says.
“It’s a bit like being Mr Benn, getting dressed up and then entering into a different world.
“I get a tiny sense of what it may have been like living in those times. It was too cold to get undressed and washed, so I can imagine some prehistoric BO going on.” Creswell Crags is now fighting tooth and nail (pun intended) to stay afloat in these tough times. As Simon explains: “Not only is the Crags a hidden but important gem in Britain’s history, we are also an education centre for children. “Hippos, rhinos, hyenas and lions have lived here over the past 120,000 years. “Neanderthals hunted mammoth here 50,000 years ago, and Ice Age hunters tracked and killed reindeer. “Around 13,000 years ago they also created this cave art which we think was to draw out animals from the rocks.” And now the outdoor site needs small, noisy homo sapiens to discover their prehistoric past. Crags is holding suitably creepy bat trails and witch marks tours between now and Halloween. Visit creswell-crags.org.uk.