Launched a rocket – check; walked on Mars-check; selfie with a wild beast – check; chilling with Darth Vader (or that metal part of him) – check; learned about UK’s most poisonous plants – check. All that in three days?! Impossible, one might say. As we discovered, the word itself does mean I’m possible.
When I’m planning our wee family getaways, the biggest chunk of my time goes on discovering the unknown, the unusual, the memorable. If I pop our destination plus kids plus what to see in search, there seems to be loads of blogs that include visiting all those things you would, usually, find in a tourist info guide. They are great, but not necessarily aimed for kids. Well, my kids at least. We are more into hands on, tasting new food, experiences, mingling with humans and animals, the more movement and senses involved the better.
So, if you are interested in, who made more friends while filming Robin Hood Prince of Thieves – Kevin Costner or Morgan Freeman, and what does sausages have to do with it? Where’s the place that world of Dr Who comes to life, or where do you need to stand to catch a rainbow? Where’s the best wee chocolate house in the area? Read on…
Was it the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or a rainbow at the end of the pot of candy🤔
There are certain castles, abbeys that get our attention. They usually include movies or stories. As in a movie was filmed there, actors tell the history of the place or there is an escape room! With Jedburgh being our first stop, the idea of getting one-on-one with ghost sightings in the Jedburgh Castle Jail came to mind. Then we remembered a legendary Korean horror movie Shutter and decided to literally go in the opposite direction.
There aren’t many streets in Jedburgh. This once royal burgh is quite cute and compact. One end of the High Street – Castle. The other – House of Chocolate. Like Willy Wonka’s own little shop, with a friendly owner, a chance to try some brains (keeping that horror spirit alive) and stock up on chocolate and other delights for the trip ahead. Exploring with all your senses recommended.
There was one other stop on our Jedburgh list The Capon Oak tree. A 2000-year-old Oak tree, one of the last surviving trees of the ancient Jedforest. But the weather had other plans. Unlike our usual dress for all weather living in Scotland style, we definitely miscalculated on this one, and it cost us snuggles with ancient and wise oak. Or is it just a good excuse to visit and raid the chocolate shop?! I call that food for thought.
My favourite part of a van road trip is sleeping so close to nature. The greener and if possible further away from mobile and other signals the better. Hence, Kildare forest park. And nestled in this Dark Sky territory, our next stop – Kildare Observatory.
Getting there is an adventure of its own. Looong road that is obviously one way, but it is used as a two-way. Sign on the car park that says ‘wait in the car, someone will come for you’. Of course, Area 51 came to mind (read this with X-files theme song in your mind). We were followed by rain on our way to the Observatory, but the real pouring started a bit later in the night. Not that it matter as we were having a great time in our Space Kids – Light Year Academy. Not to give too many spoilers, but we did get the chance to gaze upon Jupiter up close and personal, touch a bit of our Moon and walk, yes walk on the Mars.
And so my feet walked the line…on Mars…; the boys launched their rockets up into space, and we all touched the Moon. All-in-one at the Kildare Observatory with kids🥳
My kids favourite part – launching their own rockets way up into space. Special thank you note to Astronomers and Volunteers who made the launching work even in the storm blasting outside.
Although Kildare is loved in the mountain bike community, ours was a simple two feet love for walking, and we enjoyed every step of the way. Pipistrelle bats came to say hi, we tested our favourite Dylan Dog theory on solving the Minotaur Maze and had an eye-to-eye meet with some unusual forest creatures. Like we didn’t have enough out of this world experiences the night before, from all the walks at the Kielder Waterside, we chose the Enchanted one. Why enchanted? The trees hide fairies and pixies for sure but just there in the middle of it all a door to another dimension. Step through if you dare. Tiny bit of visual artworks’ collection that Kielder is home.
Where nature meets magic, although they are One, and a door to another dimension is revealed😮
More moving – Wolfgang Weileder’s Mapping mini golf, in which it’s not necessary to play the holes in a particular order. You can use any combinations, starting and ending points depending on your skill level or how much time you have. Definitely a different and dare I say fun approach to mini golf.
‘Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose. ‘ – Winston Churchill😂
There’s no visiting Northumberland National park and missing Hadrian’s Wall. Our pick point was Sycamore Gap. That whole – movies we like thing. And the Sycamore tree here, one of the most photographed trees in England, is one you might remember from Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves. You remember the one that Christian Slater climbs on running away from Sheriff Nottingham thugs and dogs. To film that scene, there were loads of sausages hanging from the tree to get the dogs to bark on young Will Scarlett. And not a rumour but a fact – although Kevin Costner was a bit grumpy and not so friendly, Morgan Freeman made a great impression on everyone involved filming in the Sycamore Gap for the whole three weeks.
In memoriam to Sycamore Gap Tree❤️
Only 20 minutes away in a historic village of Allendale, we found yet another ‘out of this world’ collection. The Museum of Classic Sci-Fi holds original items from Alien, Star Trek, Star Wars and Dune among others, with a special section that will take you on a chronological history of the iconic British-sci-fi-series Doctor Who. Museum creator/curator Neil Cole build it from his love of science fiction and years of collecting movie memorabilia. He has spent nearly thirty years conserving and where needed restoring fragile pieces, and it all comes down to really having that ‘wow’ effect once you pass sentinel Dalek, standing guard at the entrance.
The museum was founded by art teacher Neil Cole and opened in October 2018.
The most dangerous of them all we saved for last – home to around 100 of the world’s deadliest plants, Alnwick Poison Garden isn’t your typical stroll in the Botanics. Our guide, with a great sense of humour, weaved through the carefully caged plants, recounting chilling tales of historical poisonings, while sternly reminding us: don’t touch, smell, or taste anything here. Intrigued by nature’s dark side, or curious about what not to forage in the wild, this tour should be on your ‘to do’ list. If you are more set in the Jedi ways the rest of Alnwick garden is very tame and absolutely georgeous.
Do you dare to enter☠️You might want to exclude hands-on experience in this one 😂
Here our Northumberland family travel drew to a close, and it takes me a while to put it all into words. Just as I was writing about the amazing places we got to know, the iconic Sycamore Gap tree was lost to senseless destruction. The sadness of this unforgivable act didn’t allow me to end our journeys’ story until now. Now, I feel it as a constant reminder to embrace these moments, to cherish them and to keep telling stories to keep them alive. Here’s to the Sycamore tree – forever part of our stories and a testament to the magic of unfiltered adventure.