Visit Date: 21 February 2008
Admission Price: At time of visit, the charges were as follow:
Adult - £4.50
Concessions - £4.00
Saver - £13.00 (defined as 2 adults and 2 children)
Please check to see whether these charges have since been revised.
Ownership: The Science Projects Foundation (in 2008)
Tel. Number: 01603 612612
Website: http://www.inspirediscoverycentre.com/index.html
Walkthrough: Housed in a former church, Inspire’s demographic is immediately apparent as the floor is covered in blue rubber matting, with a variety of books and toys at the side of the entrance, along with the refreshments area on the ground floor and the upstairs area for school groups. The main space of the building houses hands-on science exhibits, with individual panels that explain the science behind each display in an accessible way. Going around the space, these exhibits included spring-activated siege catapults, clockwork mechanisms, mirror displays, a ball chute and an interactive table area that tests a visitor’s hearing, reaction speed and ability to count. There is also a covered area where the site’s light-related exhibits are displayed. A large part of the centre was taken up by a temporary exhibition on flying, entitled Jet Set Go. This boasted features where visitors can stamp passport booklets, move objects through a conveyor belt and work an air traffic control display. This has further interactive buttons as well as a communicative link to the cockpit of the plane structure, which is split into the front area and the back area with a large space in between. Whilst the front area looked at the technical aspects of flying a plane, the back part of the plane was more of a cushioned reading/activity area.
Highlights:
- Interesting location.
- Fun interactives.
Lowlights:
- Jet Set Go didn't interpret much of the airline-based activities.
- Some additional interactives could have been fitted in.
Access: Located north of the river (Wensum), the site isn’t immediately easy to get to on account of the one-way road system, although it isn’t very far from the city centre either. There aren’t bus stops nearby and the parking is on-street with pay & display spaces nearby. The exhibits are all on the ground floor, although there is wheelchair access for the education space on the first floor.
Overall Impression: Whilst the temporary exhibition took up more space than it probably warranted, the Inspire Discovery Centre is a welcoming venue that allows children to get to grips with science. The fact that it isn’t a large venue limits the extent of what the site can offer, but it’s a good regional science-based attraction.
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Monday 14 June 2010
Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Visit Date: 21 February 2008
Admission Price: At time of visit, the charges were as follow:
Adult - £5.80
Concessions - £4.95
Ages 4-16 - £4.25
There are additional charges for the separate tours of the castle’s battlements and the dungeons. Please check to see whether these charges have since been revised.
Ownership: Norwich City Council
Tel. Number: 01603 493 625
Website: http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/default.asp?Document=200.21
Walkthrough: Starting within the Castle Keep of the building, there are displays on the three storeys open to the public. The main floor, in so much as it is level with the admissions desk, has a number of displays that have the thematic connection of being linked with Norwich. These include a carnival costume of the Snap Dragon, medieval metalwork, displays of armour from the Norman era through to the English Civil War and activity tables for children. The floor above is effectively a balcony area that runs around the walls of the keep, with information panels about the castle, tapestries and a dummy Norman. You have the option of either doubling back to make it down to the basement level, or take the direct spiral staircase instead! This floor is more geared towards younger visitors and is split into two areas. One area examines the castle’s construction and masonry, with displays on where the stone came from, a boat journey table to illustrate how the stones were transported, dummy masons and an archway to construct from foam blocks. The other area has a circular area in the middle for children to play with assorted toys and building blocks whilst the outside of the circle featured the grated off castle well, map-based games, a model of the castle keep and imprisoned dummies.
Moving into the main museum building, the central hub (the “Rotunda”) leads to the majority of the site’s art galleries opposite the entrance, which include collections of watercolours, porcelain and teapots. The history begins with the stylised Boudica gallery, which splits itself between the local Iceni tribe and the Roman Empire. Starting through a wicker hut entrance, the main area combines displays of the gallery’s many artefacts (which include pots, amulets and coins) with eye-catching displays. These include a dummy Celt making a religious offering with birdsong playing over him, a tree stump colouring table, a model of a traditional roundhouse and a chariot simulator where visitors stand on an uneven cab floor and watch video footage that suggests the vehicle is in motion. Further along is a video of an Iceni storyteller recounting the history of Boudica from a local perspective before a diorama of Romans sacking Celtic huts. Somewhat symbolically, the rest of the gallery becomes Roman-ized with tiles underfoot and a brighter light intensity. The information panels in this area focus on Roman Britain, whilst the hands on features consist of a mosaic puzzle and a dressing up area containing togas.
Directly above it is the Anglo-Saxon & Viking gallery, which looks at life in East Anglia after the collapse of the Roman Empire. This splits the gallery space into three areas (Dark Ages, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings) via banners, with display cases for each one. Artefacts held include pots, weapons, coins and jewellery. Throughout each area are activity tables for children, with hands on features such as illustrated slide puzzles, a game with counters, a dressing up box and crayons. More specifically, the Anglo-Saxon area features the contents of a burial site, with a women’s skeleton within, whilst the far end of the gallery has a model of Norwich before the Norman invasion with a modern map of the city etched into the glass above the model. The remaining historical gallery on this floor is the Egyptian gallery, which is accessible through glass doors on the Rotunda’s balcony. The gallery corridor is dimly lit, to good effect, with motion-triggered lighting that flashes up onto the uncovered face of a mummy on display. There are artefacts along the wall, including mummified animals, a very grand sarcophagus, jewellery, pots, amulets and hieroglyphs, as well as a lit screen for visitors to press x-ray panels against.
Around the rest of the Rotunda’s balcony has more art-based displays, with the space opposite the Egyptian gallery taken up a display of the Norwich Silver collection. The final gallery space on the middle floor is given over to modern art, with the remaining galleries being located on the ground floor. With the art galleries to the rear of the building, the final rooms contain the Natural History galleries. These house a number of rooms containing various exhibits of animal taxidermy, set out traditionally in display cases with labels. The degree of stylisation differs between the rooms, with the mammal gallery being fairly minimal in stylistic terms whilst birds and waterfowl are situated against a mock riverside environment, with buttons that play duck noises when pressed!
Highlights:
- The Iceni & Roman Galleries.
- The Mammal Gallery
- The Castle Keep
Lowlights:
- Despite the displays, the Mammal gallery sound effects didn't fully work.
- The museum building was showing its age in places.
Access: Easy to find, given that it is a castle over-looking the city centre, and straightforward to get to as a result, with a number of bus stops running along the main road beside it and 10 minutes away from the railway station. There’s a car park directly underneath the castle which is connected to the nearby shopping centre, although it does charge for its usage. Despite being on top of a hill, there is a lift provided to allow wheelchair users access to the site itself. Within the building, there are lifts that allow wheelchair users, who are allowed to bring in one companion for free, to access all parts of the site.
Overall Impression: Norwich Castle Museum covers a wide range of topics in both heritage and art, and manages to be fully accessible as well, which is usually a problem with castles. There is a slight problem with regards to the condition of the museum building itself. Although it isn’t a glaring problem in the majority of the galleries, the admission price is sufficient enough to expect a higher standard of maintenance – particularly for the renowned natural history galleries. It is certainly worth visiting, although it may be slightly expensive for what it offers overall.
Admission Price: At time of visit, the charges were as follow:
Adult - £5.80
Concessions - £4.95
Ages 4-16 - £4.25
There are additional charges for the separate tours of the castle’s battlements and the dungeons. Please check to see whether these charges have since been revised.
Ownership: Norwich City Council
Tel. Number: 01603 493 625
Website: http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/default.asp?Document=200.21
Walkthrough: Starting within the Castle Keep of the building, there are displays on the three storeys open to the public. The main floor, in so much as it is level with the admissions desk, has a number of displays that have the thematic connection of being linked with Norwich. These include a carnival costume of the Snap Dragon, medieval metalwork, displays of armour from the Norman era through to the English Civil War and activity tables for children. The floor above is effectively a balcony area that runs around the walls of the keep, with information panels about the castle, tapestries and a dummy Norman. You have the option of either doubling back to make it down to the basement level, or take the direct spiral staircase instead! This floor is more geared towards younger visitors and is split into two areas. One area examines the castle’s construction and masonry, with displays on where the stone came from, a boat journey table to illustrate how the stones were transported, dummy masons and an archway to construct from foam blocks. The other area has a circular area in the middle for children to play with assorted toys and building blocks whilst the outside of the circle featured the grated off castle well, map-based games, a model of the castle keep and imprisoned dummies.
Moving into the main museum building, the central hub (the “Rotunda”) leads to the majority of the site’s art galleries opposite the entrance, which include collections of watercolours, porcelain and teapots. The history begins with the stylised Boudica gallery, which splits itself between the local Iceni tribe and the Roman Empire. Starting through a wicker hut entrance, the main area combines displays of the gallery’s many artefacts (which include pots, amulets and coins) with eye-catching displays. These include a dummy Celt making a religious offering with birdsong playing over him, a tree stump colouring table, a model of a traditional roundhouse and a chariot simulator where visitors stand on an uneven cab floor and watch video footage that suggests the vehicle is in motion. Further along is a video of an Iceni storyteller recounting the history of Boudica from a local perspective before a diorama of Romans sacking Celtic huts. Somewhat symbolically, the rest of the gallery becomes Roman-ized with tiles underfoot and a brighter light intensity. The information panels in this area focus on Roman Britain, whilst the hands on features consist of a mosaic puzzle and a dressing up area containing togas.
Directly above it is the Anglo-Saxon & Viking gallery, which looks at life in East Anglia after the collapse of the Roman Empire. This splits the gallery space into three areas (Dark Ages, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings) via banners, with display cases for each one. Artefacts held include pots, weapons, coins and jewellery. Throughout each area are activity tables for children, with hands on features such as illustrated slide puzzles, a game with counters, a dressing up box and crayons. More specifically, the Anglo-Saxon area features the contents of a burial site, with a women’s skeleton within, whilst the far end of the gallery has a model of Norwich before the Norman invasion with a modern map of the city etched into the glass above the model. The remaining historical gallery on this floor is the Egyptian gallery, which is accessible through glass doors on the Rotunda’s balcony. The gallery corridor is dimly lit, to good effect, with motion-triggered lighting that flashes up onto the uncovered face of a mummy on display. There are artefacts along the wall, including mummified animals, a very grand sarcophagus, jewellery, pots, amulets and hieroglyphs, as well as a lit screen for visitors to press x-ray panels against.
Around the rest of the Rotunda’s balcony has more art-based displays, with the space opposite the Egyptian gallery taken up a display of the Norwich Silver collection. The final gallery space on the middle floor is given over to modern art, with the remaining galleries being located on the ground floor. With the art galleries to the rear of the building, the final rooms contain the Natural History galleries. These house a number of rooms containing various exhibits of animal taxidermy, set out traditionally in display cases with labels. The degree of stylisation differs between the rooms, with the mammal gallery being fairly minimal in stylistic terms whilst birds and waterfowl are situated against a mock riverside environment, with buttons that play duck noises when pressed!
Highlights:
- The Iceni & Roman Galleries.
- The Mammal Gallery
- The Castle Keep
Lowlights:
- Despite the displays, the Mammal gallery sound effects didn't fully work.
- The museum building was showing its age in places.
Access: Easy to find, given that it is a castle over-looking the city centre, and straightforward to get to as a result, with a number of bus stops running along the main road beside it and 10 minutes away from the railway station. There’s a car park directly underneath the castle which is connected to the nearby shopping centre, although it does charge for its usage. Despite being on top of a hill, there is a lift provided to allow wheelchair users access to the site itself. Within the building, there are lifts that allow wheelchair users, who are allowed to bring in one companion for free, to access all parts of the site.
Overall Impression: Norwich Castle Museum covers a wide range of topics in both heritage and art, and manages to be fully accessible as well, which is usually a problem with castles. There is a slight problem with regards to the condition of the museum building itself. Although it isn’t a glaring problem in the majority of the galleries, the admission price is sufficient enough to expect a higher standard of maintenance – particularly for the renowned natural history galleries. It is certainly worth visiting, although it may be slightly expensive for what it offers overall.
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