Things to do in Britain - Part One

The first of several (hopefully) reviews of places to visit in Britain. UK tourist attractions are notoriously bad value for money. Admissions can be high, and attractions are often not up to scratch, but some attractions do have a lot to offer and I would like to mention a few of them here, in no particular order.

Recently, whilst in Leicester, Ratboy and I visited the National Space Centre They charge about £8.95 for an adult which includes access to everywhere in the centre, including a free show in the planetarium which is about a particular planet (when we went it was Mars, you don't get a choice) which is informative and fun. They also have other films showing sometimes for a small extra charge (about £2-3). We saw The Planets which was an interactive one. Mainly it is designed for kiddies, but it was still quite interesting.

In the main part of the centre you see exhibitions of what life is like for an astronaut, the universe (complete with interactive games)and a comprehensive and informative guide to all the planets. There is also stuff about the weather and the recent (unsuccessful) Beagle 2 mission to Mars. In another part of the centre there are two real rockets and various other space related pieces of metal such as satellites and things to play/experiment with.

The centre also contains a cafe, a bar (closed whilst we were there) and a gift shop. It obviously caters for school groups, so it may be worth checking that none are visiting when you want to go (unless that it your thing!). There is good disabled access (but when I was there they were refurbishing the lifts, so you could only access the Rocket Tower by stairs. This would be worth checking out if you were going in the middle of 2004, in case the work has not been completed.


Last Year, we went for a weekend in Cornwall and went to the Eden Project . Developed for the millennium, it is an environmental project showing flora and fauna from around the world. When we went it was one of the hottest days of the year, and as a lot of the project is based around tours of biomes (giant greenhouses) this should be a consideration in choosing when to visit. But as there are also lots to see outside, you don't want to go in the rain either! It is about £12 to get in for adults, which is quite expensive but there is a lot in there (perhaps too much).

As you exit the visitor Centre to the outdoor biome (not a greenhouse) you have a choice of several paths. The official path is quite a long, winding one that takes you downhill to the greenhouses (don't worry there is a little train to take you back up to the top!) and you will pass little sections of plants in themes such a plants for food, plants for tea or beer or rope etc, that can grow outdoors in the UK (admittedly in a very sheltered, well cared for environment) This is where you truly discover how poor you are at naming which plant is which (fortunately most have labels). The bigger of the two greenhouse biomes is dedicated to the Humid Tropics. Rather confusingly same parts are labelled by place or region, and some by plant (i.e. rice, sugar). It can be very hot in there but there are plenty of seats and a few waterfalls.

After the Humid biome, you cross over a cafe area to the Temperate biome. Again, classified partly by area, partly by plant group. This is the smallest biome, and when we were there had a mime and music act doing a performance. There is a Dry Tropics biome under construction also. There is also a couple of cafes and a gift shop. I would advise wearing comfortable shoes as the areas are vast, it is disabled-friendly as paths are smooth and wide, and there is the train to help you get back to the top.

One quite unusual attraction that I will recommend is the Secret Nuclear Bunker, which obviously isn't a secret anymore. It is where the government were going to hide out and run the country from in the event of a nuclear attack during the Cold War period. You enter the bunker through a bungalow and take a tour using headphone-type devices. It is a very informative tour showing the potential self-contained environment that the bunker would have to be in the event of a nuclear blast. You see the plant rooms, communication rooms, planning/meeting rooms and places where the staff lived and worked. There are also Public Information films showing in parts of the bunker. They are original films and picture quality is quite poor but you get the gist of what the government wanted the people to do in that situation (stay indoors and don't panic). One thing that lets the attraction down a bit and makes it look a bit shabby (let's face it, it was designed to be functional rather then attractive) is the use of shop window dummies in various positions such as pretending to be radio operators or senior military officials. The fact that they are actually stiff, female forms makes them look a bit odd and out of place. Unfortunately I don't remember how much admission was, but I guess between £5-7. There is a large canteen with souvenirs also. Disabled access is possible by prior arrangement (basically you have to go in another entrance, I believe). Overall the attraction is very informative and thought provoking, definitely well worth an afternoon's visit.