What to do in Thanet on a rain June Saturday. Mr Tara Plumbing is at Wimbledon but unlikely to see any tennis, judging by the forecast.
I decided we should visit some local museums. R.A.F Manston history museum proved to be absolutely fascinating. I have never been here before because I’m typically girlie with no interest in anything along those lines: trains, planes, etc. To me the main difference between the cars on the street are the colour – don’t talk to me about models, injections and engine size unless you want to test out my ‘eyes-glazed-over’ expression.
Even to my eyes it seemed strange that on the bomber, the Buccaneer, the seats were labelled ‘front’ and ‘rear’. If they weren’t sure which seat they were sitting in I’m not sure they should have been on board! How strange – but what do I know of such things?
There are many bits of aircraft (real and model) in this museum, but lots of interesting stuff too.
As well as a significant military history, at its peak in the 1960’s almost 200,000 passengers passed through the airport on their way to package holidays. There was also an excellent collection memorabilia from 1940’s, with a re-creation of a wartime home. Our son did not recognise a tin bath and was interested to see a sink situated in a box, the dirty water simply ran into a bucket underneath. Lucky for our family, most people have greater plumbing aspirations these days!
There is a map and photos of the tunnels dug under Ramsgate to provide shelter from the bombs for up to 60,000 people. And photos and narative of the local death and destruction.
You can’t get much for a £1 these days and yet that is the admission price! What a bargain, I highly recommend it as good value for money.
I was also very pleased to see that in the gift shop there were lots of inexpensive toys or souvenirs, which is something else that usually need to budgeted for in a day out with children. (“Usually” as it is not a problem I suffer, I have NO difficulty saying NO.)
It is next to the Spitfire museum see: http://www.the-battle-of-britain.co.uk/men/B-Manston.html
I had been here before, as I visit everything that has FREE Admission! It is not really free, because I always feel compelled to eat in the cafe there. This cafe is highly recommended, is always busy and has lots of space outside, when the weather is suitable.
On a similar theme, for those who may be interested: http://www.battleofbritainmemorial.org There is an annual memorial day soon and this is near Folkestone.
Recent Comments