Enys has asked me to write something for a local Welsh newspaper, so here it is. It is time I got back into the swing of writing again!
This last week I have been visiting le Pays de Galles, spending four days in Tenby in South Wales and four in Denbigh in the north.
My friends surprised me with visits to two outstanding indoor attractions.
Both were developed by people passionate about their interests, who have
managed to turn those interests into businesses, allowing others to share
their passion. A bit like Barry Brickell and the Driving Creek Railway.
Silent World in Tenby is much more than just an aquarium.
Ginny and Russ are collectors and conservationists, whose passion is
the life in the seas and rivers around Wales.
Silent World is in a stone chapel, tucked away in suburban Tenby.
So unexpected and so intriguing, it took us a whole morning to explore what is really a very small aquarium, but which houses so much of interest.
The "thinking person's" Aquarium and Reptile Collection offers a fascinating
view of all sorts of aquatic creatures as well as reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
The owners have made sure each tank has full and informative notes, making
a visit so much more interesting.
I loved the pair of pot bellied sea horses, which obliged me by posing for
a photo at the front of the tank, the pregnant male's swollen belly so
stretched and white, it looked like it would burst.
The baby chameleons upstairs in the reptile section were fascinating, their
bodies a beautiful shade of green, scrambling over each other with their skinny white legs thrashing.
The little shop is stuffed with marine and reptilian paraphanalia, useful,
educational or just plain fun, and parents can relax with a cup of very
good coffee, while the children explore. It was so homely and friendly and
Ginny and Russ have just got the right touch to avoid it being "just
another attraction."
They have turned the 19th century chapel into a special place, which is
also the centre for the South West Wales Reptile &
Amphibian group(SWWRAG), giving help and advice, as well as selling home
breed stock.
The comments in the visitors book, "it managed to keep a two-year old
occupied and that's got to be good news," and, "well worth giving up a few hours on the beach for," were spot on.
I was a child in the fifties and my home was built in 1953 so I have a
special interest in that era. When my friends suggested visiting The
Fifties Museum I was very keen. Just outside Denbigh, hidden away down a
country drive in a jumble of old sheds and outhouses, Cae Dai was another
unexpected treat.
Sparrow Harrison is a passionate collector of fifties and sixties
memorabilia and one of Denbigh's more colourful characters.
He invites visitors to, "Experience the 1950's Era - when sex was forbidden
and smoking was chic!"
As we drove into the yard of what is still a working farm, the first thing
I spotted was an old Standard car. My mother had a Standard Eight when I was
a child in Australia and later I had my own Standard Ten, in which my
daughter Jennie and I travelled all over the North Island. I hadn't seen
one for years.
Inside we had a guided tour of the maze of 1950's rooms, displays of show
biz and sports memorabilia, classic cars, and in the crime area, the actual
lorry used in the Great Train Robbery and the police car, a much loved
Anglia, used in Heartbeat. This was a very popular series in New Zealand
and I couldn't resist putting on the policeman's hat and posing for a
photo.
It is a very hands on museum. The displays of everyday life, not unlike life in the
colonies, brought back many memories. I loved the 1950's kitchens and
sitting rooms. I couldn't stop smiling.
"From Drab to Fab," the visit was a delight. I could have spent all day
exploring.
http://www.silentworld.org.uk/sw%20frame.html
