Today, I took the day off work to spend with Tolii, on his last day of half-term break.
We went to Brooklands Museum and Mercedes-Benz World just inside the M25, about an hour’s drive away from Whitchurch (or 1.5 hours returning during rush hour on a Friday! Luckily, we got home just in time for the [...]

[Read more →]

We went to Portsmouth this morning, expecting to park right near the Historical Dockyard.  We got to within a half of a mile of it.  Then the traffic jam began.  I even was able to turn off the car’s engine for a bit as we watched the clash of old and new building styles from [...]

[Read more →]

Today, we went to Paultons Park for the first time. We had been meaning to go there all this summer but never got around to it - maybe because of the grey, cool weather? Or we just didn’t know how wonderfully it would surprise us.
The park’s lovely grounds are a mixture of plants, [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…
Here’s an alternative to climbing up St. Catherine’s Hill to the Mizmaze: hike along the River Itchen from the same car park (its off of Garnier Road at the bridge over the river). The story of our first hike is [...]

[Read more →]

We had a wonderful afternoon walk after the kids’ swimming lessons (like last week, Tosha put up a fuss, let’s hope he’ll settle into the lessons by next week). We’ve written a separate Kids’ Outings page about the walk itself. There are a ton more photos, of course, in our gallery.
We drove the [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…
The Vyne is a National Trust property just to the north of Basingstoke.
It has a mansion to tour and a good sized garden to explore, including a footpath into the surrounding countryside.
References

National Trust website page about The Vyne
Our first visit to [...]

[Read more →]

What a day Sunday was for us!
First, the morning was a chance for us all to play in the freshly fallen snow. Then the afternoon was spent in the tropics of the greenhouses at The Living Rainforest, located just north of Newbury. God help you find your way through the A34/M4 roundabout [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…
The Living Rainforest is a couple of very large greenhouses that are linked together. The greenhouses are filled to bursting with luscious plants and animals (and bugs!). Its laid out nicely and gave our kids a couple hours of [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…

The Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is a wonderful place to wander around to see (and climb all over) historic ships.

Most famous of all the ship’s is probably HMS Victory. Its captain, now known as Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, KB [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…
The Beaulieu Motor Museum is more than just a motor museum. There’s also a walled garden, a palace house and an Abbey ruins. Alongside the ruins is the active parish church. There is a beautiful footpath that runs [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…
Under some electricity pylons, beside a roundabout, just off the ring road, down from a housing estate there is a little gem of a lake and park hidden away in Andover, Hampshire.
Its called Anton Lakes Local Nature Reserve. We first [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…
The Finkley Down Farm Park in Andover, Hampshire is like a mini-zoo and play park rolled into one.  As its name says, its a farm and a park!
Our kids love to take food around to feed all the animals. At [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About the place…
Just a few short miles away from Whitchurch, Hampshire is Popham airfield. I made a short movie of the “Fly-In” in Oct 2005.
It has two grassy runways, a radio operator (not “ATC”), a café, a grapevine (leave some for us to [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…
The Moors Valley Country Park is a forest park with custom-built climbing frames in the shapes of forest creatures scattered throughout it. There’s even a raised walkway that takes you through the forest canopy, overlooking a swamp below! Business types [...]

[Read more →]

Been here with your kids recently? Then please leave a comment below.

About The Place…

The Intech Science Centre and Planetarium is just outside Winchester. Its spread across two floors and includes a planetarium which is linked to the main pyramid by a small corridor. There is an outside picnic area and a café.

The menu [...]

[Read more →]