Easter fun at Ironbridge Gorge Museums
The Easter school holidays at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums, Shropshire bring numerous opportunities for families to join in a myriad of creative, hands-on and quirky activities that will be taking place between 2nd and 18th April.
These range from egg rolling and an Easter Bonnet Parade at Blists Hill Victorian Town to china painting and clay modelling at Coalport China Museum, plus the drop-in Springs and Wings design challenge at Enginuity.
Easter Egg Rolling, Egg Dancing, Hunt the Chick and Easter Bonnet Parade at Blists Hill Victorian Town:
Join the residents at Blists Hill Victorian Town as they celebrate Easter over the Bank holiday weekend (2nd - 5th April) and try the unusual pastime of egg dancing; once blindfolded you have to dance across the street without stepping on eggs that are carefully placed along your route. Visitors who come wearing their finest Easter bonnet and take part in the Easter Parade will receive a small Easter egg, regardless of their age. At 2pm entrants will parade around the Pleasure Gardens where prizes will also be given for the best bonnets.
Other activities include a ‘hunt-the-chick’ competition, following a trail of clues around the recreated Victorian town; singing in the New Inn Public House, various hands-on workshops and watching performances by the world renowned Kaleidoscope Theatre Company.
Easter Tile Decorating at Jackfield Tile Museum:
Take part in a drop-in tile decorating workshop with an Easter theme at Jackfield Tile Museum from 6th – 9th and 12th - 16th April where you can learn the tube lining technique to produce a 6 x 6 inch tile featuring your own design and choice of colours. Tiles cost £7 each and can be fired and sent home later for a small extra charge to cover postage and packing.
Spring Themed China Painting and Clay Modelling at Coalport China Museum:
Come and join in some Easter fun with creative activities for all the family at Coalport China Museum. Between 5th - 9th and 12th - 16th April, you can paint and decorate a mug or eggcup with spring flowers, try clay modelling Easter characters or join in Easter themed paper activities. The ceramic workshops carry a small extra charge per item plus postage and packing to send the finished models home after firing.
Springs and Wings Design Challenge at Enginuity:
Enginuity, the interactive design and technology museum will be holding drop-in ‘springs and wings’ design challenges to create moving models from 2nd to 18th April. Using a choice of simple materials such as paper, elastic bands, cotton reels and string, discover how to make your own ‘Flapping Birds’, which are puppets on a stick with flapping wings or ‘Wind-up Wheelers’, which are rubber band powered cotton reels with wacky outer shells, plus a variety of flying creature kites. Workshops are held from 10am until noon and from 1pm until 4pm daily and there is an extra charge of £1 charge per model.
A Passport to all ten museums valid for twelve months and multiple return visits costs £21.95 for adults, £17.60 for the sixty plus and £14.25 for children (up to 18 years in full time education) £59.95 for families. For those on a shorter time scale, individual admission is available into any of the sites.
The museums are open seven days a week from 10am until 5pm; activities and workshops vary day-to-day and some carry an extra charge in addition to the museum admission fee, for further information, visit ironbridge.org.uk. The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).
Accommodation:
For families planning to stay overnight and visit several of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums over Easter, the nearby Q Hotel is offering a two night stay from £115 per room per night dinner B&B per couple, children sharing their parents’ room stay free just paying for meals taken. The price includes tickets for entry into the museums on one day. To book, visit QHotels.co.uk.
