Kid-sized railway for a pleasing jaunt up and down the line, open most weekends.
The Railway is open Most Weekends for rides up and down the line.
Catering and shop facilities are available in Kidderminster Railway Museum and Severn Valley Station.
History
History
History tells stories about people, places and things to help explain to young people of any age why the world is as it is as they grow up and begin to question it.
Schools will choose different periods and settings and topics to cove during different Key Stages, but all of them are pretty well guaranteed to be rooted in actual places that can be visited, explored and enjoyed.
It has been a curious fact that for many years primary classes have studied the Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, while secondary school syllabuses have been more engaged in post-medieval periods. For a while secondary courses involved a great deal of ‘topic work’. While this discipline still exists, the recent examination syllabuses have returned to an emphasis on historical periods and links.
But all periods and topics provide fantastic opportunities for school visits. We are so lucky that so many general and specialist museums and visitor centres exist in the UK. The problem is not a shortage of possibilities but how one sifts through the available opportunities to make choices.
The Historical Association website carries information about course, conferences, study tours, and the Association has published ‘The Historian’ magazine for many years. Handsam is also happy to help, please contact us on 03332 070737 or email [email protected].
Most venues will have teaching materials and activities geared to students’ different ages and aptitudes whether at primary or secondary level. All of them will set out to develop students’ ability to understand, analyse and evaluate key features and characteristics of historical periods and events studied.
Some venues will be easy to identify because they fit neatly with the period and topic being studied but others may offer new possibilities, not least to the teachers themselves. Teachers need and deserve their own stimulation.
Over the next four years there will be an upsurge in visits to the First World War battlefields. Because of this there will be an increase in companies offering visits and requirement for battlefield guides, especially in northern France and Belgium. There are bound to be discrepancies in guides’ knowledge and experience. Close research into the credentials of the company you are contracting with, and the company’s guarantees about guides, will ensure that your group will not be disappointed.
Main organisations:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Inclusion: NASEN
Thought of visiting?
Roman Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum at Hadrian’s Wall
Viriconium, Wroxeter, Shropshire
The Jorvik Viking Centre, York
Offa’s Dyke Trail and Chirk Castle
The National Trust for Scotland
Clan Donald Visitor Centre, Isle of Skye
Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre
Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin
Exeter Cathedral Education Centre
The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
The Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth
East Anglia Railway Museum, Colchester
The National Tramway Museum, Matlock
Venues for this Curriculum
The Kidderminster Railway Museum houses a vast range of railway artefacts, most of which date back to the days of steam travel. From pen nibs to clocks, from signs to signalling equipment, from photographs to timetables and rolling stock - there is a vast amount to see when you visit us.
Offering far more than an ordinary cinema, our day time up market coffee shop and gallery turns into a wine bar in the evening alongside the Circle and Auditorium Bar.
Enjoy a great day out in a relaxed countryside setting where you’ll discover an extensive garden centre, farm shop, courtyard shops, restaurants and miniature railway - all within a five minute drive from Evesham town centre.
A modern, interactive museum that offers a fun packed football experience for all the family. Take a penalty against a legendary keeper, or have a go in goal yourself. You don’t have to be a Wolves fan to enjoy it!
A fascinating working museum set in a restored leather factory, where you can watch live demonstrations of traditional leather craft and maybe have a go yourself!
Walsall Leather Museum will help you and the kids to discover why Walsall was known as the capital of leather goods in Britain.
It is free to visit, and is run by a team of friendly and knowledgeable volunteers.
Standard Gauge Heritage Railway set in Chasewater country park, 4 mile round trip with steam and diesel engines and vintage carriages. Accredited Museum, Model Railway, also a narrow gauge miner's-style line, tea room and Sunday Carvery, gift shops. We are a Volunteer run charity.
Located on the edge of Hednesford Hills, the Museum of Cannock Chase illustrates the rich industrial heritage of the area, and the social and domestic life of times past.
Trace the history of Cannock Chase in our Local History gallery. Visit our Coal Mining Gallery to discover how coal shaped our area.
A single-arch stone bridge spanning the River Severn, built in 1825-30 by the great engineer Thomas Telford.
St. Colman’s Cathedral, overlooking Cobh, carries within its walls the traditions of thirteen centuries of the Diocese of Cloyne. It is dedicated to St. Colman who founded the diocese in 560 A.D. Colman was a poet bard to the Court of Aodh Caomh, King of Munster, at Cashel in Tipperary. Influenced by St. Brendan and St. Ita, he left Palace life to become a priest.
A classic and quite delightful working Steam Railway: at 1 in 39 one of the steepest railways in preservation.
Ford Green Hall is a 17th century timber-framed farmhouse complete with period garden. An award-winning museum, the Hall offers visitors a fascinating insight into the life of the 17th century. The rooms are furnished with an outstanding collection of textiles, ceramics and furniture.
Etruria Industrial Museum is the last steam-powered potters’ mill in Britain. The mill is ‘in steam’ several times a year when the 1903 boiler is fired and historic machinery can be seen working. Situated in a pleasant location at the junction of the Trent & Mersey, and Caldon Canals the museum is also a perfect stop-off for walkers, cyclists and boaters.
Warwick's Mediaeval gem
The Lord Leycester Hospital is not now, and has never been, a medical establishment. The word ‘hospital’ is used in its ancient sense meaning “a charitable institution for the housing and maintenance of the needy, infirm or aged”.
The ruins at Weoley Castle are over 700 years old and are the remains of the moated medieval manor house that once stood here. The site has been inhabited from the 12th century and, according to the Domesday Book, was part of the estates of William Fitz Ansculf. Weoley changed hands several times between 1485 and 1531 when it began to fall into disrepair.
Discover a World of Wonders Underneath the Black Country town of Dudley.
An opportunity to travel the complete length of Dudley Tunnel and also visit Dudley's famous Limestone Mines.
An opportunity to travel the complete length of Dudley Tunnel and also visit Dudley's famous Limestone Mines, at the Dudley Canal Trust.
Buckinghamshire County Museum is an award winning County Museum in the attractive old town area of Aylesbury in beautifully restored buildings, some dating from the 15th century.
A branch of the main Natural History Museum in London.
Discover the fascinating animals collected by Lionel Walter Rothschild, in our beautiful Victorian Museum. It is home to the world-class research and collections of the Natural History Museum's Bird Group.
Education
Splendid 18th-century English interiors in an idyllic country setting
In the 1750s at his family seat in Buckinghamshire, Ralph Verney set out to create a country house of extraordinary grandeur that would dazzle his wealthy neighbours and outdo his political rivals. Thirty years on he was facing financial ruin.
Today the interiors that remain are among the most ambitious and lavish ever created in the 18th century.
15th-century chapel, restored by Gilbert Scott in 1875
Tucked away in a cosy corner of the market square, discover the oldest building in Buckingham. It’s had many uses and today it’s a thriving second-hand bookshop and coffee shop. While away the time in this atmospheric and tranquil setting with a good book and a delicious locally made snack.
A quarter of a mile of dimly lit passages and exciting caverns which can be explored endlessly. Originally excavated by hand and now with realistic waxworks and sound effects, this unique and historic place comes to life. Cool on a hot day, dry when it's raining.
Here you can enjoy hands-on activities, exhibitions and special events in a lively and friendly atmosphere. As members of the Thames Valley Museums Family Friendly campaign Wycombe Museum is committed to giving you a warm welcome whenever you visit. General entry to the Museum is FREE.
Jainism is an Indian religion followed by several millions of people in India and by a sizeable number of migrant Jains in Europe, East Africa and North America. The name Jain is derived from a word in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit Jina meaning 'victor' over the passions and the self.
The gatehouse, chapel and other remains of a communal residence for priests serving the parish church, founded by locally-born Archbishop Chichele before 1425. Regularly used to display works of art.
Chichele College was founded by Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1414 to 1443 and the founder of All Souls’ College, Oxford. He was born in Higham Ferrers in about 1362.
Waterside House, Oxford Island houses a local history reference library which has a collection of books, journals, maps and photographs relating to the local area. The library also holds a collection of books from the Ulster Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and a collection relating to Methodist history in Ireland.
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