Winchester, Wolf Hall and more

[caption id="attachment_1015" align="aligncenter" width="363"] The Nave of Winchester Cathedral[/caption]

We had a terrific time when we went to Winchester a few years ago, particularly enjoying the Science Centre, but also doing some brass rubbing and trying on some armour at the Westgate Museum (a former debtors' prison), having a lovely mooch around the city and standing in awe at the incredible cathedral (which had its own children's trail, as well as the grave of Jane Austen, which meant two extra-good reasons to visit).

Now the city has found a new way to market itself, in connection with Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel's book, which is currently being screened on BBC 2. As a Tudor aficionado (I studied Tudor history at school and then at university too), I am really enjoying my Wednesday night treat, even if I was never particularly sympathetic to Thomas Cromwell before now, so I was intrigued by this new Wolf Hall trail. And I have to say it might require another trip to Winchester!

The revamped trail (which you can see here) has been launched in response to many enquiries about the Tudor attractions in Winchester and includes The Great Hall and Winchester Cathedral. If you are a hard-core fan, and want even more, you can also take a walking trail which connects filming locations for Wolf Hall with Tudor landmarks.

Other properties connected with the television seriesl include the gorgeous Barrington Court in Somerset (which represents York Place/Whitehall, the home of Cardinal Wolsey) and Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, which not only represents Wolf Hall itself, but has also appeared on the small and big screen before, including in Pride and Prejudice and two of the Harry Potter films.

Read about our trip to Winchester

Watch our video of Hever Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn

Enjoying an educational day out in Winchester

I love family days out, especially ones with an educational theme. I have written about many places in the past, and also asked for suggestions for others.

Now, with the Easter Holidays less than a month away (I know, so soon!) I’ve got a couple more suggestions for you.

We recently went to Winchester where we visited two completely different places. Let me tell you about them.

Our first port of call was the Science Centre and planetarium. I have to say that, as it was half-term, and raining too, the place was completely packed. But despite this, we all enjoyed ourselves. And that’s impressive.

In fact, the whole place is impressive, and packed full of over 100 hands-on science experiments. Each tells you what you’re supposed to do, and explains the science behind it. True, your child may not be that keen on learning all the explanations, but they’re sure to learn something, which can’t hurt. And we parents can brush up on our knowledge too.

I was especially taken by the broad range of experiments in all types of scientific areas, from electronic circuits and the human body, to thermo imaging and a paper plane competition. There are also regular talks and events, including space lectures for adults.

But the best thing of all was our visit to the planetarium I (this one has the largest capacity in the UK). My children had never been to one of these before and couldn’t believe the effect. We watched a film about space and it was terrific (even though I had to shut my eyes at one point as everything was spinning a little too much!). You can see a picture from the planetarium above.

After our hands-on science fix, I felt we needed something completely different. Winchester Cathedral fitted the bill perfectly.

It is really a stunning place, one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, utterly beautiful and with a great stillness about it. it also has a great (horrible histories-esque) family trail to try out, as well as Jane Austen’s grave (and a small exhibit about the author herself). I loved it.

Winchester itself is gorgeous – and I would thoroughly recommend it for a day out. We also saw the Great Hall, with King Arthur’s Round Table on it, and thoroughly enjoyed the Westgate Museum, a fortified medieval gateway. This was a debtors’ prison for 150 years, and contains walls covered in prisoners’ graffiti (so much more appealing when it is hundreds of years old). The displays included armour (which visitors were welcome to try on), an array of historic coins (including a nicely put together exhibit of some from all the different Tudor and Stuart reigns) and another kids’ trail which was enthusiastically received by our two. Great stuff.