Following our big day out at Shugborough we had a bit of a more sedate day planned for our next adventure with Bobby.
When we picked him up he was all for just lazing around and having a nice chilled out day … he said he was tired out … following a run of summer holiday days full of activity and fun.
We managed to talk him into one more fun day … with the promise of a chill out day the day after and within two minutes of being in the car he was his usual chatty self … looking forward to the day’s adventures.
This time we weren’t going far … literally just 10 minutes up the road … to The Staffordshire Regiment Museum at Whittington Barracks. It’s somewhere I’ve passed literally 1000s of times but have never visited and have always wondered if it was worth a trip. It was finally time to find out.
We arrived at about 10.30am, just after the museum had opened and were greeted by the sight of half a dozen tanks… all just waiting to be explored. Our first impressions certainly met with Bobby’s approval.
We decided to have a look round the indoor part of the museum first and got checked in and picked up a clipboard with a few ‘trails’ with things for us to look out for.
I was a bit concerned that Bobby wouldn’t be that interested with the indoor display cases, which basically showed the history of the regiment. I needn’t have worried … he is a seven year old boy and there were guns and swords galore … he was in his element …
He was particularly taken with the Morse code machine and had great fun tapping all of our names out in morse code …
We then headed outside to see what else we could find and we actually ended up doing everything a bit back to front but not to worry.
We started off in the air raid shelter, which was very immersive. Bobby wasn’t too keen at first but once we’d explained what it was all about he found it much more interesting …
We started off in the air raid shelter, which was very immersive. Bobby wasn’t too keen at first but once we’d explained what it was all about he found it much more interesting …
During August the museum were holding ‘Discovery Days’ on Tuesdays and Thursdays and, as we’d visited on a Thursday we got to see and hold some real army guns and rifles, which Bobby loved … as did Martin if I’m totally honest …
Finally Bobby got to explore the tanks … something he’d been waiting patiently to do …
By now we were all definitely in need of a snack and Martin and I had been hoping for sausage butties from the snack wagon but when given the choice … Bobby opted for the jam sandwiches we’d packed up to take with us.
He didn’t turn down the offer of a tray of cheesy chips though …
He didn’t turn down the offer of a tray of cheesy chips though …
All in all we spent about three hours at the museum … far longer than I’d been expecting. There was definitely plenty to see and lots of opportunities for interaction. Bobby gave it a 9.5 out of 10 … though this did increase to a 10 out of 10 by the time we got back home. I would definitely recommend a visit if you get the chance.
Once back at ours there was just about time to make up a quick boxed cake mix before it was time to drop Bobby back home …
Once back at ours there was just about time to make up a quick boxed cake mix before it was time to drop Bobby back home …
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Thanks for taking time to comment on my blog. I love to hear what people think about what Martin and I have been up to.