Category: Adventures

Posted on

Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire

Located down some twisty and fairly small roads outside Congleton (there are several routes to get there so ours might have just been a back way in) is this beautiful Elizabethan house, National Trust owned, the site has the house and grounds to wander around and peruse.

This is one of my favourite places, I’m an Early modern historian by inclination and the black and white timber building makes me smile whenever I see it. My immediate family are from the area and growing up we knew the sight of old black and white timber buildings and metal fences that curve over at the top meant we were in Cheshire and near Nan & Grandad’s!

The undulation of the building is visible from the outside and you can feel it on the inside, the long gallery in particular feels like your in a funhouse!

The building has a central courtyard area in the middle and the wings wrap around, with access to each part and the gardens once you cross the bridge and walk through the main gate area.

It’s one of those places where you feel like you’ve stepped back in time, especially with rooms set up with original furniture and features and the signs of previous occupants and visitors with graffiti like carvings and apotropaic marks.

Posted on

Attingham Park, Shrewsbury

Attingham, situated on the outskirts of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, in the village of Atcham. A restored mansion property owned and managed by National Trust, Attingham is a lovely mixture of a location. From the imposing mansion to walk around- both above stairs and the heart of the action in the basements and former servants rooms. Attingham also has acres of deer park, woodlands and fields to walk around, a formal walled garden and orchard and over the last few summers there have been archeological digs taking place on the site.

Attingham has seasonal delights throughout the year, spring blossom in the orchard, summer walks in the parkland, autumn colours in the woods, deer feeding in the deer park and every Christmas the mansion is decorated with dozens of themed trees and decorations.

One of our closest sites, many an hour has been spent investigating both the history and natural environment of the area. The walled gardens, glass house and bothy are particular favourites- I personally like to try and spot the bothy cat, Scraps.

Posted on

Museum of Witchcraft & Magic, Boscastle, Cornwall

This unique and interesting museum sits by the side of the river Valency as it winds down to the harbour and out to sea. An old fisherman cottage style building, white washed and irregular in shape, the museum is unassuming in looks but full to the brim with items spanning multiple decades, locations and interests. With exhibitions that consider huge ranges of the subject and including historic witchcraft, modern magic, local lore and practices. There are displays designed to examine, explore, explain, entertain and in some cases protest or memorialise on behalf of those who’s histories are forever linked with magic and the title ‘witch’.

I first visited this museum as part of my MA course in Museum & Heritage studies and it became a key site of interest for my MA dissertation.

The museum sits in a beautiful location and just gets better with each return visit.

Posted on

Oxford University Museum Of Natural History Give Foxy Greetings To Visitors

When you walk into the Natural History Museum in Oxford, it is easy to be over whelmed by the bright and airy interior, filled with numerous treasures from the delicate glittering rocks of the geology collections to the assorted skeletons that fill its space. However it is one of the more humble objects in the museum collection that I choose to investigate further.

Sitting to the left of the main entrance doors on the furthest end of the customer service desk of the museum, sits one of the saddest looking examples of taxidermy that I have ever laid eyes on! A lonely Red Rox (Vulpes Vulpes).

With its fur beginning to thin in some places and a general air of age and deterioration from over use, this fox might not be the most dramatic, exciting or unique object but it is the museums’ use and interpretation of this item that caught my eye.

Placed next to the fox is a polite notice inviting visitors to touch it, it explains that the fox is no longer looking its best and has been placed on the desk for visitors to see and touch.

This type of museum object is, as previously mentioned, not particularly unique or exciting. It is an example of an item that many museums in the UK will hold, some will have multiple examples such as this. It would be possible for the museum to arrange for the disposal of this fox, as an item who’s degradation is at a point where its conservation or storage costs will overtake it importance or value. However the museum have created an opportunity for tactile interaction and interpretation. The opportunity for visitors, young and old, to interact with a museum object in a way that would not normally be possible, meaning the museum is able to extend the life and practical uses of its collections.