www.paulburt.co.uk -- places to visit

Places to visit

On this page I have listed some of my favourite places to visit in the South of England.

Hampshire

www.hants.gov.uk/countryside/staunton
Staunton Country Park and Ornamental Farm, near Havant, is a regular destination for my family. The farm has many friendly animals that children can feed and stroke. Recently a new play area has been added and the tearooms have been refurbished.
www.hurst-castle.co.uk
The best of the many castles/forts along the Solent. Originally commissioned by Henry VIII in 1544, the castle was much extended in nineteenth century with heavy gun emplacements. We particularly enjoyed visiting Hurst because it involved a short boat trip from Keyhaven and then had the utilitarian architecture of two very different periods.
www.sammymiller.co.uk
The Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum near New Milton contains over three hundred vintage motorbikes. The collection tends to focus on British bikes and includes many early examples.
www.milestones-museum.com
Milestones is a ‘living history museum’ in Basingstoke run by the county council and initially funded by lottery money. It is housed in a massive, modern ‘shed’ that is partially below ground level. Inside the museum is split into two ‘time-zones’, one depicting life in Victorian Hampshire and the other life during 1930’s. Complete town streets have been recreated and the authenticity is enhanced by volunteers role-playing in costume.
www.hollycombe.co.uk
Hollycombe Steam Collection is a collection of working steam-powered vehicles and fairground attractions from Edwardian times. It is located near Liphook but is only open on certain days (and not during the winter). There are three gauges of railway on which short rides can be taken.

Sussex

www.amberleymuseum.co.uk
Amberley Museum is much bigger than you might suspect from the outside. Although the museum has the impression of being untouched by modernity, there are in fact a couple of new buildings on the site which house special exhibitions about telecommunications and electricity. The museum will take at least a day to explore fully and is better suited to fine weather because of the amount of walking involved between different areas. Includes a working display of an early 20th Century printers (with much of the equipment coming from a printing company called ‘Chaffers’ that existed in Chichester when I was a child).
www.charleston.org.uk
Charleston was the home of Bloomsbury group artists Duncan Bell (1885–1978) and Vanessa Grant (1879–1961). It is a remote farmhouse that they moved to during the first world war in order to avoid conscription. The house, north of Lewes, has been restored to its 1930’s state and contains many beautiful wall and fireplace paintings. Not particularly suited for children and not wheelchair friendly, it is nonetheless one of my favourite places to visit.
www.ditchling-museum.com
Ditchling Museum, East Sussex (just North of Brighton) contains many exhibits about 20th Century typography. The museum is home to the ‘Edward Johnston Foundation’. Johnston (1872–1944) designed the sans-serif alphabet for the London Underground Railways which changed the direction of modern typography. The Turner Room contains original sketches and designs by Edward Johnston and Eric Gill (1882–1940), Johnston’s pupil who created the popular ‘Perpetua’ and ‘Gill Sans’ fonts.

Somerset

www.fleetairarm.com
The Fleet Air Arm Museum is located near Yeovilton, just off the A303. Situated on an operational naval airstation, the museum charts the history of the Navy’s aircraft fleet. Throughout the museum good use is made of AV and multimedia equipment to help bring the exhibits to life. Highlights for us included the mock-up aircraft carrier and its ‘Island’ (the main control tower part of the ship). Also interesting to see was Concorde 02, built as a research aircraft before the passenger carrying versions.
www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk
Located on the outskirts of Weston-Super-Mare (which is grim), the Helicopter Museum is precisely what you might expect. Run by volunteers, the museum buildings are not particularly inspiring but the collection of over eighty helicopters is great for young children.