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November 16th, 2008 Tilgate Park, West Sussex Although approached via one of the less attractive areas of Crawley, don’t be put off by the location as the park itself is excellent. It has a small “zoo” (farm animals, birds, wallabies etc.), gardens, maze and craft shops. Entrance is nominally free, however donations are encouraged.
Apparently it also has extensive cycle paths, although we have yet to venture this far into the park.
Child-Friendliness: 5/5 October 18th, 2008 Nymans Garden, West Sussex The main attraction of this National Trust property is that it makes a pleasant fall-back destination, i.e. if you just want to get out of the house for a walk in attractive surroundings, this fits the bill nicely. It also helps that this is sufficiently close to where we live to allow us to pop-in at short-notice.
The property consists primarily of gardens, in a variety of styles, with the remains of a house (only a handful of furnished rooms are accessible). There are also some longer walks in the surrounding countryside.
Child-Friendliness: 4/5 October 12th, 2008 Paradise Park, East Sussex We weren’t quite sure what to expect of Paradise Park. We had passed signs for it a few times while passing through the area, and seen the odd advert, but were never entirely sure what it had to offer. The adverts and website seemed to sell it as a sort of Shangri-La with something for everyone, however this image never seemed to quite suit its position (wedged in the corner of an industrial estate in Newhaven). The name also seemed to smack a bit of desperation. For these reasons we had never been particularly inspired to visit. Finally, however, a desire to do something other than the usual suspects at the weekend (plus a small dose of emotional blackmail from Alex) forced our hand. And I’m glad it did. Paradise Park is essentially a large garden centre, hence the somewhat industrial location, to which has been added a surprisingly wide ranging set of attractions, all imaginatively crammed into a fairly small area. These include a somewhat random museum (several large animatronic dinosaurs are the main selling point, although it also covers an eclectic range of other topics), a set of tropical green houses, a collection of miniature Sussex landmarks, a small train. It also, apparently, has more to offer, however our smallest companion was distracted by the train at this point and thus we got no further. Having said all that, the entrance price does seem a bit steep when you first present yourself at the door. There are also a number of attractions that require extra payment (such as the train), so I am in two minds as to whether this is good value for money. We did not, however, leave feeling like we had been ripped off.
Would we go again? Probably, at some point. Would we recommend this to others? Well, this should probably be on your list to visit at some point, if you are in the area, however there are other attractions (such as Drusillas or Newhaven Fort) that you will probably want to visit first. Having said that, if you are waiting to catch a ferry and have kids to entertain, you could do a lot worse than let them burn off some energy off here. Child-Friendliness: 5/5 October 11th, 2008 Jack and Jill Windmills, West Sussex The South Downs above Clayton are one of those places where it is nice to go when you’ve been stuck inside and you just want to blow the cobwebs away. Like Devil’s Dyke and nearby Ditchling Beacon, the hilltop offers excellent views from of the valley to the North, and access to all the wind that one could wish for (it is a good place for kite flying). In addition to this it also has the windmills: Jack and Jill.
Jack is privately owed, and so must be viewed from afar, while Jill is maintained by a charity and can be visited on most Sundays and Bank Holidays through the summer months (and occasionally other days). When the mill is open, you can enter (via the precipitous stairs) and visit the three floors. A favourite feature among the young is a small, manually-operated grindstone (called a quern, apparently) that allows flour to be produced (and spread liberally around the person operating it). There is also a teashop on the ground floor. Child-Friendliness: 4/5 October 4th, 2008 Booth Museum of Natural History, East Sussex (bought to my attention by Anna) Edward Thomas Booth, like Augustus Pitt Rivers and Frederick John Horniman, was one of those Victorians who thought the best way to pay homage to the wonders of the nature around them was to shoot anything that moved and stuff it. Booth’s chief area of expertise was birds. While it is debatable whether the natural world benefited much from triple-monikered men such as the above blasting away at all and sundry, the chief result of their efforts are museums for which the word “eclectic” was invented. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I have a weakness for museums full of random crap.
While not the largest example of it’s kind (it will be unlikely to delay you for more than an hour), it does ensure that you are unlikely to want to see a stuffed bird for quite a long time. There are hundreds of them.
It is not all stuffed birds though; there is also an eclectic range of skeletons and stuffed mammals.
The small size of the museum, combined with it’s lack of entrance fee, means that you can combine it with Brighton’s attractions and make a day of it. I would recommend the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery as a suitable accompaniment. Child-Friendliness: 5/5 September 28th, 2008 RHS Wisley, Surrey Wisley is the south-east outpost of the Royal Horticultural Society.
The gardens cover an extensive area, with sections devoted to borders, woodland, rockeries, fruit, flowers - in fact, pretty much every aspect of gardening and plant life. The latest addition is the large Glasshouse, which houses temperate and tropical displays.
You don’t need to be a keen gardener to get enjoyment out of these gardens; it is possible to while away many hours just wandering through the various environments. Of course, if you are keen gardener, there are few places that offer so much opportunity for inspiration.
Entrance is free for members + one guest. Child-Friendliness: 5/5 September 23rd, 2008 BTW, RSS I have updated this blog’s RSS feed to point to the Yahoo! Pipes version (i.e. the same as the box at the top of this page). This includes a whole bunch of content from all over (blog, photos, videos, tweet, links etc) and so will (hopefully) be updated a bit more frequently. Any issues or complaints, let me know… Update: Well, that didn’t work. RSS feed is back to the old version. September 20th, 2008 Amberley Working Museum, West Sussex As suggested by the name, this is an open air museum where people re-enact various activities on an arts & crafts/industrial theme. It would appear that there are often events here (steam rallies etc.) and I would recommend coinciding your visit with one of these, as these greatly add to the experience. The museum is mixture of people performing activities such as wood carving and some displays on a electricity/communications theme. The latter are beginning to show there age a bit, having obviously been inaugurated a fair few years ago (one exhibit extols the virtues of “A View to a Kill”, some scenes of which were filmed here). Having said that, the displays do have a varied and interesting collection of ephemera, from old electrical products to a (somewhat forlorn) Sinclair C5, and an exhaustive collection of telephony-related products. The latter was the most popular attraction on our most recent visit, with many of the phones on display being interconnected, providing much amusement for younger (and older) visitors.
Other attractions include a small train and a collection of restored rolling stock and buses. In summary, the makes a pleasant place to visit for an afternoon out, if the weather is nice, as long as you don’t raise your expectations too high. Child-Friendliness: 4/5 September 14th, 2008 Beechhurst Gardens, West Sussex A small park in Haywards Heath, the main attraction of which is a small train track that offers rides during the summer and holidays. While probably best aimed at smaller children, it is a pleasant place to spend an afternoon. Child-Friendliness: 5/5 September 5th, 2008 Herstmonceux Science Centre, East Sussex Bearing in mind that we visited in torrential rain, the Herstmonceux Science Centre is a surprisingly successful “hands-on” science exhibition, albeit one that doesn’t quite shake off the impression that it is run by the local astronomy society (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). The centre is based in and around a cluster of domes that comprised Herstmonceux Observatory, an off-shoot of the Greenwich Royal Observatory. The exhibits provide a wide range of demonstrations of various physical (and biological) processes (optics, electomagnetism, time, the human body etc.). Most of these are designed sufficiently well that they can keep young children entertained for several hours without expecting too much from them by way of comprehension. At the time of our visit, the vast majority of the exhibits were also actually in good working order, which makes a change from some similar places we have visited. Surprisingly, one area that feels like it could do with a bit more investment is the presentation of the original telescopes in their domes. There seems to be an assumption that telescopes are sufficiently grand to present a satisfying spectacle in their own right, which may be true for visiting astronomers but is probably not so for less inspired visitors. A few more simulations and explanations of what it is actually like to use these huge time-machines wouldn’t go amiss. Another area that could do with some investment is the catering, which doesn’t stretch beyond tuna sandwiches and beans on toast. Again, I can see influence of people who are more interested in grabbing a quick bite to eat between sessions on the telescopes than producing satisfying fare for the general public. These are minor gripes however, as the people who work there appear genuinely keen and approachable and the quality of the exhibits is as good as or even better than those you can expect to find in somewhere like the Science Museum.
Note that, if the weather is kinder, you can combine your visit with a walk around the grounds of neighbouring Herstmonceux Castle, however there is an additional charge for this. Child-Friendliness: 5/5
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