Ensure it’s a summer they’ll never forget
The school holidays are soon upon us, so we thought we’d dedicate all of this week’s BT to helping with your childcare duties with a great big list of ideas for history-flavoured outings. Please note that this is in no way a comprehensive guide to all the visitor attractions in the region. We don’t have room for that. It’s just our totally biased set of suggestions!
THE long school summer holidays will be here soon (they’ve already started for some), presenting a challenge for those (grand)parents who are on child-minding duties.
Back in the olden days, your Mother would shout you out of bed at the crack of 10am, hand you a couple of cheese & pickle sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper and tell you to clear off and not be back until teatime.
If your family were posh, Mum might also give you 6d for a bottle of Corona and 10 Woodbines, with a stern warning of the consequences (i.e. violence) if you didn’t share everything fairly with your little brother.
It’s all different now. The conscientious parent or guardian needs to ensure that each day is closely supervised, and spent constructively in healthy exercise and educational and emotional development. And it all needs to be planned in the sort of meticulous detail that went into the 1944 D-Day landings.
To assist readers on childminding duties, we’ve got a load of suggestions for history/heritage outings, from the grotesquely expensive to the completely free. Stick some of these into your forward planning calendar/spreadsheet to ensure it’s a summer they’ll never forget. (Hopefully for good reasons, not bad ones.)
As this is BT we’re focussing on the history, ignoring farm parks, sporty things and seaside towns, though you might want to include all of the above in the mix. And of course, of course, everyone’s summer itinerary round here ought to include trips to Weston and Clevedon.
Some big attractions
Or … a few places every youngster should see before they’re old enough to think they’re really, like, (insert current slang for un-cool here.)
Bristol’s brilliant museums That’s M Shed, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, the Georgian House, the Red Lodge and Blaise Museum. You may know all about them, you may never have been to some, but all are child-friendly and admission to all is free (though you’ll be reminded that a donation is very welcome).
And of course there are plenty of workshops, events and exhibitions for the school hols – not least the days on which M Shed’s boats and trains are in operation. Details of everything are at https://www. bristolmuseums.org.uk
Go to church, because Bristol has some fantastic old churches, places where tombs and memorials can bring you into touch with those who lived here in the past very powerfully. Here we find the effigies of mind the effigies of Thomas Canynges (one of the richest men in Medieval England), Mr and Mrs Blanket (who invented the blanket, allegedly), or of 17th century schoolboy John Cookyn or the illegitimate son of King Henry I.
Why not devise a walk around the middle of town taking in the Cathedral, St Mary Redcliffe, Wesley’s New Room (and the museum), St James Priory, St John-on-theWall, St Stephens and/or the Lord Mayor’s Chapel? Not all are open to the public all the time, but most will be.
The SS Great Britain is Bristol’s leading visitor attraction, and with good reason. It’s not just Brunel’s great ship and the stories of those who travelled on it – there are loads of associated exhibitions and displays. Check website before visiting for children’s activities. This year’s programme includes the chance to test your engineering skills with “Brunel’s brick building” and a really interesting-looking botany trail highlighting the way Victorians travelled the world in search of new plants. But there’s loads more, too. See www.ssgreatbritain.org
Bath. Big Georgian city along the A4, with lots to see and do. We would here list its numerous delights, but let’s not dwell on it too long as Bath gets very busy in summer. If you fancy it, bear in mind that only a lunatic would attempt to drive into the middle of Bath at any time of year.
If going by car, use a park & ride (the Newbridge one if you’re coming on the A4 from Bristol). The train services between Temple Meads and Bath Spa station are very frequent, and the journey is a short one.
Once you’re there you find all manner of historical attractions. The Roman Baths are always, always, always packed, so you might want to give them a miss, but if you really must, then get there the minute they open.
Stonehenge? Yeah, well Google it for times and prices if you like. Sooner or later you have to see it, but not every child is going to be impressed by a bunch of rocks they’ve already seen loads of pictures of, and you’re not necessarily going to be impressed by the admission charge and the fact that you’re sharing your visit with loads of other people.
If you want to visit standing stones, Avebury (www.national trust.org.uk/avebury) in Wiltshire may be a better prospect. Avebury is the heart of a huge ancient complex, including some of the most important megalithic monuments in Europe, spread over a large area of land mostly owned by the National Trust.
The stone circle, which encompasses part of the village of Avebury, is enclosed by a ditch and bank and approached along an avenue of stones. Nearby are such ancient sites as the West Kennett Long Barrow and the eerie manmade Silbury Hill. Be prepared to walk if you want to get the most out of the site, and as there’s not much in the way of trees or shade in the area, don’t do it on a hot sunny day, or a cold windy one. Also in the village is the excellent Alexander Keiller Museum & Barn Gallery which tells you everything we know about the history and archaeology of the site and the people who lived there.
Berkeley Castle, near Dursley in Gloucestershire is the medieval real deal, a proper castle with bastions, cannon, weapons hanging on the walls and dungeons and stuff. It’s been home to the Berkeley family for hundreds of years so it includes some fabulous living spaces – though one suspects they’d be pretty chilly in winter. Down the years it’s been the scene of some pretty serious history; it got fought over in the Civil War and (as every schoolboy used to know) Edward II was supposedly murdered here in circumstances most foul.
Actually, that whole Edward II thing gets more interesting the more you look into it; there’s a plausible conspiracy theory that his death was faked and that he escaped to Italy. There’s loads to see indoors (knowledgeable, friendly attendants will tell all) and with some nice terraced gardens outdoors. It also has a huge programme of events and activities for the school hols, including actual jousting (August 25 & 26). Wait until September and there’s also an exhibition of costumes from BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
If you are visiting Berkeley, you might also want to give the young ‘uns a massive booster injection of proper education by visiting Dr Jenner’s House (jennermuseum. com), which is next door. It tells the story of Edward Jenner and his pioneering work in vaccination as well as the later history of immunology, a science Jenner more or less founded on his own and which has come under attack from assorted conspiracy theorists ever since. Anti-vaxxers were around long before Covid.
P.S. If you’re visiting Berkeley, dip into the churchyard and look for the grave of Dicky Pearce, a 17th century jester.
Wells Cathedral (www.wells cathedral.org.uk) has to be seen because it’s amazing. Salisbury Cathedral (www.salisburycathedral. org.uk) is arguably even more amazing (and has a copy of Magna Carta), but Wells is closer. Pretend you’re a medieval pilgrim who’s come from a village of wattle-and-daub huts with a little stone church and imagine how utterly awesome it would have seemed both inside and out. In case you didn’t already know, both cathedrals, along with many other historic churches nowadays, charge admission.
Aerospace Bristol. Because every local boy and girl needs to know about Bristol’s proud heritage in aerospace. Particularly the space bit, which tends to be very under-appreciated. Though the big exhibition this summer is about Bristol’s long history of ballooning. See aerospacebristol.org
The American Museum & Gardens at Claverton Manor near Bath is one of the few Bath attractions you can drive to from Bristol without going mad. On the surface, it might seem that a museum of American furniture and interiors from earliest colonial times to the 19th century isn’t going to excite even the most nerdy child, but the place more than makes up for it with a superb summer programme of fun stuff for kids. And the grounds are lovely. Take a look at americanmuseum.org and see if anything appeals.
Glastonbury Abbey (www. glastonburyabbey.com) in Somerset is in a town that’s worth visiting anyway, thanks to all its historic, religious and legendary overlays. Nowadays, most people tend to think of Glastonbury as a hippy mecca, but you have to remind yourself that it’s been a major Christian centre for a whole lot longer – and it still is. In the Middle Ages, the Abbey became one of the wealthiest and most powerful religious houses in Europe, and a major place of pilgrimage until Henry VIII took it all for himself and it fell to ruin. For lovers of mystery and weirdness, Glastonbury Abbey is probably one of the top 10 sites in the whole of England. The museum next to the ruins does a good job of telling you both the history and the legend. Then make the kids run up the Tor before finding somewhere to eat, drink and poke fun at the hippies.
Bowood is a big old stately home (plus hotel, conference centre, golf resort, etc.) with a load of parkland near Calne in Wiltshire. The house’s famous connections include it playing host to Joseph Priestley (a regular radical political firebrand in his time) when he was carrying out the experiments that would lead to his discovery of the existence of oxygen 250 years ago this year – so there’s a special exhibition and associated activities. The grounds (with lake, temples and cascades) are fabulous, and there’s a spectacular and cleverly designed adventure playground, so you have to visit with the kids before they hit teenagerhood, and the Priestley anniversary is as good an excuse as any. See www. bowood.org
Woodchester Mansion near Nympsfield in Gloucestershire (www.woodchestermansion.org. uk) is a place you absolutely have to see. A Victorian mansion that was never completed; the hollow shell of a building, with all the stonework and lots of the plaster in place, just waiting for floorboards, plumbing, wallpaper and furniture that’s never going to arrive. Given that it was done in the Gothic style the Victorians loved, and given its spooky appearance at dusk, it’s not surprising that the mansion has a reputation for being haunted. The grounds are vast and spectacular, with ornamental lakes, a hidden garden and acres of way-marked woodland and grassy walks.
Longleat is of course the granddaddy of all English stately home attractions and theme parks, this year celebrating 75 years since it first opened to the public (though the lions didn’t come until the 1960s). Everyone goes for the safari park and the vast range of other fun stuff, but if you want to be seriousminded about it, the house has a rich history and includes some pretty significant works of art and other bits and pieces. One of the exhibitions this summer looks at a visit to Longleat by Elizabeth I 450 years ago (she came to Bristol the same summer – look out for BT’s royal visit special edition in August). So yes, we can justify a visit to Longleat as being educational. Go for it.
Bristol’s smaller museums
The George Müller Museum, 45-47 Loft House, College Road, Bristol, BS7 9FG, www.mullers.org. A small museum dedicated to the life and work of Christian evangelist George Müller, who in the 19th