England/ Wales Ideas for An Industrial Heritage Fan!

Sundew

We have two big birthdays occurring next Easter and the hubby is insisting that we go to the UK for Easter.
Hubby is a big fan of classic cars/ industrial heritage etc that includes steam engines/ classic cars/ bikes/ etc.
We have been to Birmingham & Manchester a good few times so looking for somewhere a little different especially as we have a little one in tow this time.

Just wondering if anybody might have any personal recommendations or some ideas to get me focused on an area and start doing some early planning.

spurious

Sheffield has a lot of Industrial museums.
http://www.simt.co.uk/

I used to bring school children to them years ago. They always liked them - lots of hands on stuff.

Alun

Ironbridge, possibly the birthplace of the industrial revolution. There's a bunch of museums in the area .. Blist's Hill, Coalbrookdale etc. plus it's generally a nice scenic area to visit outside of the industrial heritage aspect of it.

http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/our-attractions/

Harry Palmr

http://www.bclm.co.uk/

oops that Brummy, have you been to the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu

https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/

Alun

Harry Palmr wrote: »

http://www.bclm.co.uk/

oops that Brummy,

Never accuse someone from the Black Country of being a Brummy, they don't like it, despite it being very close to Birmingham

Anyway, Beamish is another great outdoor living museum

http://www.beamish.org.uk/

Sundew

Harry Palmr wrote: »

http://www.bclm.co.uk/

oops that Brummy, have you been to the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu

https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/

Have been to the Black Country Museum...really excellent stuff and do plan to visit again when visiting relatives in " Brum" ;-)
Hadn't heard of the Beaulieu Museum and that has certainly tweaked my interest!

The Ironbridge Gorge is on my own wish list. Thinking my little one might be just a tad too young to appreciate a visit at the moment.

Liking the Beamish Museum too! Some food for thought so far.

Alun

If you do go to Beamish, head north and visit Cragside, the home of the industrialist Lord Armstrong, the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectric power. Then head east to the Northumberland coast and visit Alnwick and Lindisfarne.

munchkin_utd

the imperial war museum aircraft place at Duxford is really really worth a trip.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford

you can see beautifully the demise of british industry, from when they made planes, to now where they just make wings. Theres also a blackbird, the fastest plane ever, and a Nazi V2 rocket which was so advanced that it was the beginnings of the US and Soviet space programmes when they took over the technology after the war.
Theres also tanks and other land based equipment there .

BTW, for the little one theres Peppa Pig world down near Southampton, but not sure how to work that into your plans, even though mid and south england are tiny so its not all that much of a drive down. Duxford to Southampton looks far on a map, but its still only 2 1/2 hours drive which is nothing once the child is asleep in the back after a busy day looking at planes and tanks !

Fratton Fred

Not heritage as such, but the Dinorwig power station is impressive http://www.electricmountain.co.uk

If you're considering the south coast and the motor museum, then try the tank museum http://www.tankmuseum.org

There's the steam ship Great Britain http://www.ssgreatbritain.org

The water Cress Line http://www.watercressline.co.uk

Or, not strictly industrial, but this is good http://www.wealddown.co.uk

Sundew

Thanks Fred ....I'm off to do some googling now based on your reply!