coolcat. Ooo that looks good. sort of thing i would like. have you been to Kentwell Hall its in suffolk. based on the tudor period and they have lots of " dressing up " days. haven't been there myself but heard its really good. then theres Audley End which i think is near cambridge. its a house with lovely gardens and is owned by the english heritage. we've been many times and they certainly used to have "battle enactment" weekends which were great fun to watch. medot.x

Thanx medot

All the places you've mentioned are easily reachable for us



xxx

coolcat. another good place near you (?) is Framlingham castle. i haven't been for a few years but it was quite good for a castle. its another property run by the english heritage.
if you fancy a weekend away two really good open air museums are "blist hill" ( near Ironbridge) and "the black country living museum" in Dudley. i could not fault either of these places. your children may be too young at present to appreciate the places but we as adults loved them. at the black country museum we went on a special weekend. there are lots of houses here that have actually been knocked down then rebuilt here.
you have houses from the 19th century up to the 2nd world war. each house is kitted out as a house of that time. when we went people were living in them for the weekend. there was a victorian school where we went and actually had a lesson. brilliant is all i can say. shame its not nearer. medot.x

Great idea's for family things to do, is very useful.
Here is what you can do in our area.

http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/www.php/mwl/ this is a museum of welsh life.

http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/www.php/bigpit/ a museum of mining

http://www.neath-porttalbot.gov.uk/margampark/general.cfm a fab park

http://home.clara.net/l.a/pembrey.htm a great place to visit, with fab beaches a country park, play area, dry ski slope.

so come on guys what's there to do in your area??