Great visit for kids and adults
Discussion
Stuck for things to do today so i was going to take the kids onto HMS Belfast. They have an excellent website, reasonably priced and not too far from me. On the drive there however i heard about the Imperial War Museum on the radio ( not far from Elephant and Castle tube ). It was pouring with rain so i thought we'd be better off there.
i have never seen such a comprehensive and interesting collection of militaria ( if that's the right word ). there were tanks, planes, rockets and several realy large and interesting exhibitions there.
It took us 3 hours to get round with the kids dragging me off all the stuff i wanted to read. There were videos you can watch of the iranian embassy seige and loads of hands on stuff for the kids.
Most places i take them including the tower of london can be done within 2 hours with 2 semi interested kids in tow. I am going back by myself to spend a day there at some point it was that good.
And do you know the best part?
It was FREE!
Yeah that's right free. One of the better things about our country is having excellent places like the V&A or science mueum etc etc where you can look at history free.
Anyway i thought i would let you know about it seeing as half term is upon us.
Now i was lucky because i know the area and work close by so i parked at work but i would suggest taking the bakerloo line to Lambeth north and walking the 5 minutes to it. Oh, and take a packed lunch unless you can find the chippy we went to on london road, they want £7 for a cooked plate of food. Couldn't complain though what with entrance being free.
The kids liked it so much that they actualy agreed to back after we had wandered off to find the chippy.
www.iwm.org.uk/
i have never seen such a comprehensive and interesting collection of militaria ( if that's the right word ). there were tanks, planes, rockets and several realy large and interesting exhibitions there.
It took us 3 hours to get round with the kids dragging me off all the stuff i wanted to read. There were videos you can watch of the iranian embassy seige and loads of hands on stuff for the kids.
Most places i take them including the tower of london can be done within 2 hours with 2 semi interested kids in tow. I am going back by myself to spend a day there at some point it was that good.
And do you know the best part?
It was FREE!
Yeah that's right free. One of the better things about our country is having excellent places like the V&A or science mueum etc etc where you can look at history free.
Anyway i thought i would let you know about it seeing as half term is upon us.
Now i was lucky because i know the area and work close by so i parked at work but i would suggest taking the bakerloo line to Lambeth north and walking the 5 minutes to it. Oh, and take a packed lunch unless you can find the chippy we went to on london road, they want £7 for a cooked plate of food. Couldn't complain though what with entrance being free.
The kids liked it so much that they actualy agreed to back after we had wandered off to find the chippy.
www.iwm.org.uk/
Mrr T said:
If you liked the IWM then also try Duxford and the Tank Museum at Bovington. All are very good and not just for military freaks, all present a balanced view and great exibits.
Hah!, I was based at bovington for my last 3 years in the army And yep the tanks dispays are pretty good there. Also a slightly blinder eye is taken to kids clambering on the tanks
. I believe iv'e been to Duxford too to a pistonheads do i think. Loads of tivs racing down the runway?
I might be thinking of somewhere else though.
I just thought the IWM was so comprehensive and such a good way of explaining stuff interestingly. And no i'm not even interested in militaria even though i was a CVRT ( Scimitar ) crewman for 6 and a half years.
Compared to the £50 with lunch at subway that i spent on entry for us to the Tower of London a fortnight ago this was such a relief to my wallet. I almost felt ablidged to pay for a meal at the IWM.
Oh, i forgot to mention that they have a full sized mockup of a wartime house complete with anderson shelter too. I thought that 3 and a half hours with more Why? and Whats that? to send my head spinning was more than enough without preping them for the holocaust exhibit.
The last thing i wanted was a " boringggg!" or something equally disrespectful slipping out. I think that one can wait untill wev'e had a talk first. Then i will explain the facts and try to let them make their own conclusions after.
One last thing. Anyone who is interested in finding stuff for the kids, check out the HMS Belfast site on the web. The site itself kept the boys busy for 40 minutes on sat afternoon. It's free for under 16's and i think only £8 per adult. Also a gazillion more times educational, tiring , and memorable than 2 hrs at the cinema
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