'Mummy, that's an actual mummy!'
Chips, fish and Egyptology in Bolton
Readers, hello! How was half term? We had a great time despite the truly horrendous weather. We managed a three night mini-break in Scarborough before the storms hit. It’s our third visit in 12 months and we love it there. So much to do, loads of fun and not outrageously expensive.
Did your homes and gardens survive Storms Eunice and Franklin? I hope so. Our bin blew over but thankfully that’s as much storm drama as we’ve seen. I’m v much looking forward to some spring sunshine now, so I hope that’s not too far away.
Anyway, this week I wanted to share with you a brilliant trip we took into Bolton over half term. The kids loved it and it’s largely indoors, so perfect for a rainy day.
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This week’s adventure… Bolton Museum
We had some friends to stay with us during half term, which meant two mums in charge of four kids aged between 9 and 5. During a massive storm, which ruled out any outdoor activities. I was worried.
But riding to our rescue came the fabulous Bolton Museum. You wouldn’t really expect Bolton to have a museum this good or this much fun, but outside of London I struggle to think of a better museum I’ve visited with the kids.
The museum is on Le Mans Crescent in Bolton town centre. In the past five years loads of TV shows have been filmed here (it was even transformed into London’s Whitehall for the protest scenes in Channel 4’s devastatingly brilliant It’s A Sin) and the elegant buildings curve round the wide street.
Head for the basement first, and visit Bolton’s aquarium. I’ve been coming here since I was a child, and now my own kids love stomping down the entrance ramp, and gazing into the tanks filled with some very cool fish.
There are piranhas (both vegetarian and flesh eating varieties, I was informed), gorgeous spotted river rays from Brazil and a whopper of a catfish - 1m in length and a huge 22lb in weight, according to the aquarium’s fish catalogue.
Next up is the top floor, and the fabulous Egyptian experience. Bolton Museum has always had a strong tradition of Egyptology, but it had a £3.8m refurb in 2018 which has made it one of the best museums in the North West (IMHO).
There’s an actual mummy with the coffin lid off, you can see the eyes, the teeth, the fingernails, the mummified bandages. Everything. Our four were super impressed. The whole room is painstakingly decorated and lit to give the feel of a underground tomb, and a cool animation runs on a 10min loop charting a pharoah’s journey from death to the afterlife (my 5yo was tranfixed and we watched it twice).
There’s also a second room where you can see mummified pets, and the gallery outside is filled with glass boxes containing Egyptian artefacts, which sparkle and glint off each other in the light.
We also visited the story of Bolton gallery where the kids were especially excited by a Victorian toilet (I know) and upstairs we spent ages looking at all the taxidermied animals and skeletons on display.
All in all this was a cracking day and all four kids (plus two mums) really enjoyed it. Next time you have a rainy day pop it on your list for a visit.
Before we went to the museum, we fought our way across the town centre in gale force winds and driving rain to get to… Olympus chippy.
Truly a special place to have a chippy lunch, Olympus has quick, friendly service, kids are more then welcome, there’s a grand piano in the middle (sometimes with someone playing it) and they have a cracking menu.
Our visitors live in South East London, and the two kids reacted with total bewilderment when I ordered gravy to put on my chips. ‘But don’t you put gravy on a roast dinner?!’
They were quickly converted to Northern ways though, especially once they saw all the different ice creams and puddings on the menu.
Always a treat to have lunch here, and it’s been ages since we visited. Hopefully it won’t be too long till we’re back.
That’s all for this weekend. Thank to everyone who made it to the end, you know you’re the ones I like the best.
Have a great week and I’ll see you in your inbox next Friday.
Jenna