Half Term Fun #4 - Dudmaston Hall

"Can we go to the Roly-Poly place?", said Young Miss as she compiled her list of where we should go. By that she meant Dudmaston Hall, just south of Bridgnorth on the A442. We first went there in 2008 and... well you'll see...

They had some giant games in the courtyard by the gatehouse. Young Miss and Brother W had a game of Connect 4. Can you see who is about to win?


First we had a walk in the gardens...


And then we did the "Long Pool" walk...


The Rhododendrons are out. Look at the size of this one!


Roly-poly? OK. Here we go...


And then, after the tour ofthe house, some Still Life artistry in the old kitchen...


Good work kids!

Half Term Fun #3 - Ice skating

Sunday morning we did the ice-skating at Telford Ice Rink.

It is quite a while since we last went (see here), and this time there was no big sister to help.

Young Miss remembered quite quickly...

Young W had to cling to the sides for a while....

But eventually he plucked up the courage, and was soon in the middle of the ice....

I did it too, but I haven't any pictures to show it. Important thing though was the competition - number of times falling on your butt (as Young Miss put it)... Scores on the doors: Young Miss 5, Young W 5, Dad 0 (but only just avoided it a few times!).

Message for GCSE Miss

Seen in the Coalport Museum...



Just kidding. Get your GCSEs first. lol.

Half Term Fun #2 - The Tar Tunnel

While we were in Coalport we went to next on the list... The Tar Tunnel. As you can see from the map...

...if you click on the picture to blow it up, it is just a short walk along the canal. There is a sweetshop and cafe there too...

... and from the bridge you have a view of the Hay Inclined Plane, used to lift barges from the canal to Blists Hill.

You have to wear hard hats in the tunnel...

It's alright for these two, but they thought it very funny when I banged mine against the rather low ceiling.

You can walk about 100m into the tunnel, before it becomes impassible without getting tar all over your shoes...

Apparently it extends another 900m into the hillside beyond this point maybe linking up with a mine shaft in Blists Hill or even further into Madeley. I don't fancy going along there to try and find out!

Half Term Fun in Shropshire #1

GCSE Miss is in the middle of her exams, so to leave her in peace to revise, I've brought Young Miss and Young W to The Barn for a few days. We set off after Swimming lessons ...yes we still go at 8 a.m. on a Saturday - I now have a Marlin and a FAST swimmer, and were there by lunchtime.

Young Miss had her list of place she wanted to go. But, by the time we had done our food shopping and had our lunch, we couldn't get to the ice-rink in time for a complete session, so we decided to start in Coalport.

Shropshire Union Canal and Coalport Museum

The Coalport China Museum is well worth a visit. We got a family passport ticket so we could visit all the museums, and did the "Hunt Snowey the Bear" quiz.

You have to look for the labels for the clues and answer the questions to reveal where to find him. For example, there is a question about the contents of this cabinet....

We were pleased they still had the display with the King Charles silver tankard


and the picture of The Barn...

They have a new audio-visual display in the Bottle Kiln...

which is really effective, and has complete surround sound.

Ooo look. We've found Snowey...

but you don't want me to spoil things by showing you where he is, do you?