Possibly Cambridge Museum of Technology is an example of Big Society in action. It’s also the perfect place to spend a few hours on a wet bank holiday afternoon, soaking in the smell of hot metal and grease.
The museum is housed in a Victorian pumping station, staffed by volunteers, and stuffed with beautifully maintained Victorian [...]
Entries Tagged as 'children'
Cambridge Museum of Technology and Related Stuff
August 29th, 2010 No Comments
Tags: cambridge · cambridgeshire · east anglia · east of england · museums · printmaking · Technology · victorian
Cambridge Festival of Ideas
October 21st, 2009 No Comments
Just a quick note to say that the Cambridge Festival of Ideas starts today. Their programme is hugely wide, from a plant orchestra at the Botanic Gardens to curators at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology sharing their favourite pieces from the museum, to an Intaglio printmaking workshop, plus talks, performances, hands on workshops. It’s [...]
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What to do in East Anglia when it’s wet
August 7th, 2009 No Comments
Call me cynical and depressed about the weather, but I thought a round up of some good places to spend wet afternoons might be a timely and useful thing for a British August. I personally like knocking around big museums when the weather is bad. Coming across beautiful and interesting things is always an antidote [...]
Christchurch Mansion
June 24th, 2009 No Comments
The children of Ipswich are lucky indeed. Not only do they have an estimable town museum, they also have Christchurch Mansion, where they can go and develop their taste by looking at beautiful domestic objects from centuries past, in a beautiful old house surrounded by parkland for running around in afterwards.
The interiors are from every [...]
Tags: christchurch mansion · furniture · ipswich · museum
Audley End
June 15th, 2009 4 Comments
The house at Audley End is the cut down relic of a much large Jacobean palace, and is surrounded by acres of lavish parkland mostly used these days for picnicing, sunbathing and concerts. Arriving is almost the best part – you stop at the gatehouse and then sweep along the enormous curved drive across the [...]
Tags: audley end · decoration · espalier fruit trees · gardening · greenhouses · historical gardens · historical re-enactment · nineteenth century life · organic garden · organic growing · servants quarters · stately home · victorian
Ipswich Museum
June 8th, 2009 4 Comments
Inching into Ipswich through an endless traffic jam on a wet Wednesday, I never expected to fall in love with it. Too many ugly 1980s buildings, depressing 1970s bungalows and grey drizzle turning everything it touched sticky and sad.
And yet… that’s just the face it shows to casual visitors. As soon as I parked the [...]
Tags: animal bones · ethnography · fish skull · fossils · giant stuffed woolly mammoth · ipswich museum · stuffed animals · victorian curiosities
The Good Life Festival
May 26th, 2009 No Comments
The Museum of East Anglian Life (more on that in a future post) is holding the Good Life Festival on 31st May. Their pitch is “During these times of economic uncertainty, when we are all trying to save money, the Good Life Festival gives us all a chance to find ways to improve our lives [...]
Tags: aspall · cider · education · festival. cider drinking · grow your own · museum of east anglian life · smallholders · suffolk · the good life
A local show for local people
May 20th, 2009 No Comments
The Cambridgeshire County Show is coming up on 31st May at Wimpole – it’s an agricultural show of the old school. I grew up in the Yorkshire Dales (James Herriot country), where agricultural shows were a major form of summer entertainment. Two of my favourite events from the Dales – sheepdog trials and fell racing [...]
Tags: agricultural show · cambridgeshire county show · east anglia · livestock · morris dancing · wimpole · young farmers
For small boys of all ages
May 10th, 2009 3 Comments
If there is no one in your household with the mindset of a small boy (any age or gender) you might want to skip over this post – maybe glance over the pretty pictures, but basically nothing to see here, move right along to gardens or theatre.
Sunday 17th May is the Duxford Spring Air Show, [...]
Tags: aircraft · cambridgeshire · duxford · east anglia · spring air show · visiting with kids