Celebrate the end of the Theme Park season over three days, 4-6 November 2011, with the ultimate Fireworks Event at the Alton Towers Resort.
The Theme Park is open every day until 9pm, with Fireworks at 7pm – so you can enjoy a day of rides and entertainment, see a world class Fireworks show and then ride the rides afterward in the dark!
The Alton Towers Resort Fireworks are extremely popular so you might want to pre-book your ticket!
The first two films were brilliant, so will the latest Toy Story live up to your expectations? You decide …
If you are looking for entertainment in the Midlands this half term, don’t miss this article in a new series by the Telegraph by by Ben Hatch and Dinah Hatch (and little critics Charlie and Phoebe). In it they share 10 of their favourite family days out in the Midlands.
‘Museums at Night’ is a national campaign, led by Culture24, and funded by MLA and the National Museum Directors’ Conference (NMDC), to showcase the unique and vibrant museums, galleries, heritage sites, libraries and archives in the UK. Running over the weekend of Friday 14th May to Sunday 16th May, museums and galleries alike will aim to inspire fresh discovery by opening their doors to late night visitors.
Museums will be unrolling an imaginative array of activities across the country. From candle-lit readings, paranormal investigations, sleepovers, night-time tours, musical events and much, much more.
This year’s programme sees the return of firm favourites, like Cabinet War Rooms sleepover and the Old Operating Theatre at St Thomas Church, plus exciting new additions such as the; Helicopter Museum’s ‘Back to the Blitz’ experience, follow a night shift at Cornwall’s Geevor Tin Mine and the chance to see a ‘Light in the Night’ at Cromer’s Lifeboat Museum.
You can find up to date listings at the Culture 24 Website
Families should head for the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway in the Staffordshire Peak District over the early May Bank holiday weekend for a great value day out. Kids get treats with free lollipops whilst the adults the enjoy the superb scenary.
The Rudyard Lake Steam Railway is located 2 miles North of Leek in Staffordshire. The railway, runs for 1.5 miles from Rudyard Station along the side of Rudyard Lake before terminating at Hunthouse Wood. There is lots to do and see at the lake with boat trips and wildlife all around.
For those of you who are thinking about Rudyard Kipling, author of the Jungle Books, apparently his parents named him after Rudyard Lake because they met there at a picnic!
Spokesman Mike Hanson said. “This is a family day out and the kids really enjoy getting their free lollipops. It is one the ways we are trying to provide good value family days out at a modest cost.”
The normal return fares of Adult £3.50 and child £2.50 apply and prior booking is not required. The Trains will run from 11.00am to 4pm every day and the new Platform 2 cafe will be open at Rudyard station.
Find out more here
For those of you who are looking for ideas about where to take the kids during half-term, here is our compilation of great days out (just click the link for more details):
1. Alton Towers, Staffordshire
2. Eden Project, Cornwall
3. Legoland, Berkshire
4. Longleat, Wiltshire
5. Babbacombe Model Village, Devon
6. The Canterbury Tales, Kent
7. Jorvik the Viking City, York
8. London Dungeon, London
9. National Sea Life Centre, West Midlands
10. Ironbridge Gorge Museums, Shropshire
If you have already been to one of these attractions, do share your views and experiences.
The researchers who recently conducted a holiday survey for Total Greek Yoghurt have put together a list of places for a family outing this coming August Bank Holiday weekend:
A NEW DAY OUT Bewilderwood, Norfolk
ADRENALINE RUSH Dalby Forest biking trails, Yorkshire
ALFRESCO BATH The Samling, Cumbria
ANIMAL ENCOUNTER Monkey Forest, Staffordshire
BANDSTAND Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Birmingham
BEACH CAFE East Beach Café, Littlehampton, Sussex
BEACH FOR KIDS Crantock, Cornwall
BOATING The Thames at Richmond, Surrey
BREEZY HILLTOP Great Hetha, Northumberland
CAMP SITE Budemeadows Holiday Park, Cornwall
CLIFFTOP COTTAGE Whitby lighthouse, Yorkshire
COASTAL WALK Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim, Ireland
CREAM TEA Southern Cross tearoom, Devon
DEGUSTATION Valley Farm Vineyards, Suffolk
DONKEY RIDE Maggie’s beach donkeys, Weymouth, Dorset
DRIFT DOWNSTREAM River Wye, Wales
FAMILY CYCLE Loch Katrine, Trossachs, Scotland
FAMILY HOTEL Fowey Hall, Cornwall
FISH AND CHIPS Ben Ledi Cafe, Callander, Stirling, Scotland
FLYING International Kite Festival, Portsmouth, Hampshire
ICE CREAM Morelli’s, Broadstairs, Kent
LAKESIDE PICNIC Buttermere, Cumbria
MOONLIT WALK Seven Sisters, East Sussex
PICNIC CONCERT Battle Abbey, East Sussex
PUNCH AND JUDY MAN Codman’s, Llandudno, Wales
RIVERSIDE PUB The King’s Head, Northamptonshire
ROCKPOOLING Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset
SAFARI Cairngorms, Highlands, Scotland
SEA BREEZE Yachting on the Solent, Isle of Wight
SEAKAYAKING Beara Peninsula, Co Cork, Ireland
SEAL BOAT TRIP Searles, Hunstanton, Norfolk
SEASIDE PIER Southwold Pier, Suffolk
SEA-VIEW ROOM Mullion Cove Hotel, Cornwall
SECRET GARDEN Hawkstone Park Follies, Shropshire
SOLAR-POWERED STAY Mesmear, Cornwall
SOLITUDE Sandwood Bay, Sutherland, Scotland
STRIP Morfa Dyffryn Beach, Snowdonia, Wales
TOPLESS DRIVE A686, Penrith to Haydon Bridge, Cumbria
VILLAGE CRICKET Hambledon, Hampshire
WOODIE Oakwood Theme Park, Pembrokeshire, Wales
WILD SWIM Angle Tarn, Cumbria
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