Go time travelling with Swindon Museums this summer

From dinosaurs to Anglo Saxon warriors, from Victorian games to an air raid experience, Swindon Museums are inviting families and communities across Swindon to get hands-on with history and find out more about Swindon’s past. The Time Travellers programme is run jointly by STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery and Lydiard House Museum.

Each week during the summer holidays, families can choose to travel back to two different time periods. Events will take place across the summer at STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway, Lydiard House Museum and Swindon Central Library.

Sessions offer chances to see and hold real artefacts from the past, to dress up in historic costume, and to take part in art and craft activities, with a range of hands-on activities to try in each session. Families will receive a special Time Travel Passport and can get their passport stamped in each time period they visit. Activities encourage friends and families to work together and are suitable for ages six and above. All sessions must be booked online in advance.

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery are running the following sessions at Swindon Central Library:

•  On Thursday, 3 August, visitors can find out if they could have survived the Stone Age, hold real Stone Age tools, try cave painting and Stone Age costumes and get up close with real mammoth teeth.
• On Thursday, 17 August, children and families can meet the Anglo-Saxons. Visitors to the library will be able to see the possessions of an Anglo-Saxon warrior found in Swindon, create an early medieval coin, and have a go at every-day tasks from 1,200 years ago.
• On Thursday, 31 August, visitors can unearth Swindon’s ancient stories by becoming a trainee archaeologist. They can even get hands-on with real objects unearthed by archaeologists in Swindon and have a go at finding artefacts in the Dig! pit.

On Wednesdays throughout the summer, visitors to the STEAM Museum will be able to experience a Second World War air raid. The warden will be on hand to take people into the safety of the shelter after the siren is sounded where they can experience the sounds of the Blitz and the darkness of the shelter, whilst imagining how they would have passed the time overnight. (Over 7s only).

Lydiard House Museum sessions are on Thursday 10 and 24 August. Families can find out what it was like to be a Victorian child living at Lydiard House, by getting hands-on with domestic items that would have been used in the House and playing with Victorian toys, just like young Vernon (later 6th Viscount Bolingbroke) would have played with.

Mags Parker, Learning & Engagement Officer for Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, said: “This is a unique and exciting opportunity for us to share Swindon’s rich historic collections and for families to get hands-on with history. How often do you get to hold a 200 million-year-old dinosaur bone, or dress up in Stone Age costume?! By physically getting involved with history, we can get a real sense of what it felt like to live in past times.”

Councillor Marina Strinkovsky, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Heritage, Art and Culture, said: “There is so much history in Swindon, and it’s wonderful that kids can get up close and personal with it. The best way to get excited about the past is to be involved in it, and nothing is as much fun as dressing up – although handling a real mammoth tooth might come close!

“Our wonderful Museums and Libraries teams have put together so many opportunities for families to immerse themselves in the lives of other people, you’d struggle to fit it all in. Luckily we have our Kids for Quid offer running and there’s no better time to take advantage of it.”

More info and how to book:

Swindon Museum & Art Gallery activity sessions are free and take place at Swindon Central Library. Sessions last 45 minutes with start times of 10.30am; 11.30am; 12.30pm; 2pm and 3pm. Sessions must be booked online in advance; for more information, visit Eventbrite and search Swindon Museum & Art Gallery: www.eventbrite.com

STEAM Museum Air Raid experience sessions are free with normal museum entry and bookable in advance through the museum website www.steam-museum.org.uk/.  Sessions last 30 minutes with start times of 10.30am; 11.30am; 1.00pm; 2.00pm). Slots may be bookable on the day if there is availability, as numbers are limited. The museum is open Monday to Saturday between 10am and 5pm, and on Sundays between 11am and 4pm. Last entry is one hour before closing time.

Lydiard House Museum Victorian sessions are free with normal museum entry.  To book in advance, please contact LydiardLearning@swindon.gov.uk or book on the day at Lydiard House Museum (numbers are limited).  Sessions last 30 minutes with start times of 11.30am; 12.30pm; 1.30pm and 2.30pm. Lydiard House Museum is open Wednesday to Sunday between 11am and 4pm. Last entry to the House is 30 minutes before closing time. 

Between 22 July and 3 September, the Kids for a Quid offer, means that up to four children (aged three to 15) can visit either STEAM Museum or Lydiard House Museum for just £1 each when accompanied by a full-paying adult.