One of the things that many American visitors dream of when they visit the UK is seeing castles, stately manor homes, and other such pieces of antiquity that just aren’t available in our young country. I remember being amazed when I looked down at where I was standing in Westminster Abbey and seeing a date carved into the marble floor: 700-something AD. A full thousand years before my country even existed!
If you’re coming to the UK in the winter, however, you may need to look into alternate opportunities to soak up British culture, especially if you’re outside of London and the Home Counties. Many of the attractions that you might have on your list are not open in the winter time, simply because they don’t have heat. So I’ve started a series of posts designed to give you some other ideas for days out in the cold, and I’m starting, again, with what I know.
Tropical World in Leeds offers an afternoon of sub-tropical educational entertainment and it’s mostly indoors! To be fair, I visited Tropical World in the summer, but the only part that I remember as being outdoors were the ring-tailed lemurs whose enclosure is just outside the exit. Included in the walk-through are such exhibits as The Desert House, Butterfly House, and Amazon Tank. The Desert House is by far my favourite, simply because it has meerkats. Not this kind, though, sadly:
This kind:
In addition to these cute and furry residents, Tropical World is home to butterflies, spiders, snakes, and birds, all represented in their natural habitats as much as possible. Birds and butterflies roam freely in their “rooms,” and visitors soon feel as though they’ve been transported to a rainforest – a very nice change from the ice and snow just outside the walls. If you’re feeling adventurous, you’ll find more pictures of my visit to Tropical World within my Flickr set of my 2007 Yorkshire Vacation.
Currently at Tropical World is a new exhibit, Morelets Crocodiles (Crocodylus Moreletii). They are young as of yet, but when they reach adulthood they will join whistling ducks and a pair of macaws in the South American House. Be sure to bring a good camera and take your time walking through all the houses at Tropical World. This link provides virtual tours of each to give you an idea – or just warm you up a bit.
Opening times & Charges (updated May 2008):
Summer (BST)
10am until 6pm (last admission at 5:30)
Winter (GMT)
10am until 4pm (last admission at 3:30)
Closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Admission charges
Adults £3.19
Children (aged 8 – 15yrs) £1.96
Under 5’s free
Leeds/Breeze card holders free
Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
The next installment will find TOB visiting the National Media Museum in Bradford. Stay tuned!
Winter Tourism, Volume Two: National Media Museum, Bradford
Welcome to another brisk and ever-so-slightly treacherous day in the UK! The weather here in West Yorkshire and, indeed, over most of the country is cold, icy, and threatening more of the same for the rest of the week. I’m in fact home today because without a car, it was just too dangerous to try to get to the bus stop, let alone work. Schools remain closed save the ones running exams today, and everyone is generally continuing to hunker down and stay indoors and warm.
So what to do if you find yourself here in the UK when the weather’s showing itself to be rather difficult? I’m glad you asked. In this, the second volume of What To Do When It’s This Bloody Cold Outside, we’re going to visit the National Media Museum in Bradford. Formerly called the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, the name became the National Media Museum in order to keep up with the rapidly changing face of media in Britain. The museum includes such attactions as the first IMAX cinema in Britain (built/opened in 1983), “TV Heaven,” an exhibit that allows visitors to view classic British television dating back as far as 1946, and many other educational exhibits focusing on the history and future of media in all of its forms. The BBC has a functioning studio within the museum where visitors can see news stories being assembled and broadcast on the web for BBC West Yorkshire, and one of the exhibits even lets visitors take a live part in a “broadcast” that can be seen by other visitors on a monitor.
If you’re a follower of my personal blog, Isn’t the Lettuce Brave?, you may remember my post about my experience seeing the movie Avatar in IMAX 3D at the NMM. The movie aside, I want to praise the staff and the overall experience. I have been in other IMAX theatres and rarely have I found the seats as comfortable as those at the NMM. Trivial thing to some, I know, but when you’re sitting through a movie as long as Avatar, it becomes important. The staff are also welcoming and very helpful. My husband is six foot five inches tall, and as a result didn’t fit comfortably in the seats in the General area. A quick word with one of the staff and we were moved to the Disabled area (due to there being empty seats at that showing) where he had more legroom and could enjoy the film.
Making a Dalek's acquaintance at the NMM, Summer 2007
All in all, this is a fantastic day out during the season when the days are dramatically shorter. The museum is a five minute walk from Bradford Interchange railway station and accessible by the Free City Bus that stops at Bradford Forster Square railway station.