Cardiff Model Engineering Society puts on family events throughout the year giving members of the…read morepublic the chance to take a ride on their miniature passenger-carrying railways, running through a section of Cardiff's Heath Park. It's something smaller children seem to enjoy, and some of their parents too (and not just the closet-train-spotters amongst them). Known officially as the Heath Park Miniature Railway and Tramway, all the work at the site is down to the voluntary efforts of keen members of the Society, which is a non-profit making organisation. The Society was founded in 1948 and moved to Heath Park in 1987, and its current site has two railway tracks and a unique electric tramway, two model railways, and refreshment facilities. To visit and ride on the railway you do have to wait until a family 'open day' event crops up - but these take place throughout the year. Although their website appears a bit dated, it is actually well-maintained and currently shows events taking place right up until the 'Santa Special' in December 2010. Have a look at http://www.cardiff-mes.org.uk/RailwayG.html for details.

Great place to be outside in the sunshine and have a walk around the well kept gardens. My mum and…read moreI went in the blazing heat a few weeks ago. Parking was easy (and free!) and we had a drink and a slice of cake in the cafe and then a walk around the gardens. The cafe is reasonably priced and had a large selection of cakes and snacks. We grabbed a seat outside overlooking the lake and gardens which was lovely. There is a historical house that you can pay to visit, but we gave that a miss this time due to the beautiful weather and stuck to the gardens. My favorite thing we saw were the Queen's Beasts, the topiary. They were immaculately maintained and I got some great photos. There is plenty to explore and lots of space if you wish to sit and bring your picnic. We decided to visit the Butterfly Jungle experience. It costs £4 for adults, which isn't very much, but the 'experience' is very small and although there were lots of butterflies, it's wasn't really even worth the £4, you could walk around the space in under a minute and if there are other people in there you get stuck and have to wait for them to move on or you miss seeing those butterflies! It was enjoyable to see them, but I wouldn't bother visiting that area again when I return. Equally the owl experience looked very short and sweet, you could see the Owls through the doorway before the pay point, and there were 4 owls in perches. You'd be done after a few minutes. I look forward to returning to visit the house and for a walk around the gardens and a slice of cake!

I have been to Hall Place numerous times with the family, there is a HUGH car park (free), there…read morewas no admission price into Hall's Place, instead donations were invited. The grounds are vast and truly beautiful especially in the spring & summer periods and perfect for families to take children with a picnic and just enjoy the outdoors. The House itself was interesting and well maintained, parts can be hired for functions. The house is rather unique, with some bits tudor, some bits much more recent, some interesting art and artifacts, and the history of the building was well explained. Hall Place is not just a pretty historic house. It is also an art gallery, a fantastic garden, and the borough museum that captures the Bexley's history from the Romans to the end of the twentieth century. The Jacobean house and its connections to all sorts of British and world events from the Doomsday Book, through to the reformation, Levent Trade,slavery, abolition, the East India Company, the great estates and the Irish road to independence. The formal gardens around the house were lovely. There is a little river with a bridge which is lovely and very scenic!. There is also a plant nursery as well!. The cafe around the grounds was perfect for a light snack. If you do want a meal there is a nice steak house next door (WHICH IS FIRST CLASS). A programme of events are available regularly throughout the year, (i.e Open Air Cinema, Farm Animals etc), Well worth a visit. Extremely, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I visited the Historic Dockyard in Chatham during the summer of 2008. Given that there was so much…read moreto see, it was worth the money. The huge car park outside, means it will be very unlikely that you will ever struggle to find a car parking space. There are three main attractions in the dockyard - the HMS Cavalier (a naval destroyer), HMS Ocelot (an submarine) and HMS Gannet (an old royal naval part steam/sale ship). If you want to tour the HMS Ocelot you may have to wait until there is a tour available as only limited numbers of people can safely fit aboard the submarine at any one time. The 80 acre site also offers a number of other exhibitions - Royal Naval Auxiliary Service Museum, the Royal Nation Lifeboat Association historic lifeboat collection and the Kent Police Museum. The site also houses the Museum of the Royal Dockyard, and the Ropery which still commercially makes rope today. An informative tour is available in the Ropery which is included in the admission price - if you volunteer you even get to help make bit of your own rope. You are booked on this tour when you purchase your tickets. If you are in the area, this is a pretty good attraction, although it doesn't really compare to the historic dockyard in portsmouth.

The historic dock at Chatham really is a fun packed day out which will take up your whole day…read more There are ships, nautical memorabilia, museum, fun thigns to do for the kids, tea rooms, food, gift shop etc so much to do and spread over an expansive lot of land in the docks. You will really enjoy this day out, especially kids, good disabled facilities and toilets. Top notch fun.

One of the things that I love about this regional museums in Britain and Europe is that there seems…read moreto be a lot more love (or money) invested into them, which is unlike the ones in Australia which is simply left to the locals to look after. Yeah, this pretty cool, and quite ordered as well. Mind you, there is also a large Charles Dickens section, namely because he came from around here.

Boring. Forced to…read moreattend by my family. Nothing but old stuff. It keeps telling me that my review is too short, no idea why so let me tell you a joke. What is green and goes up and down? Give up? A pea in a crashing aircraft .

This war memorial for soldiers who fought and fell in WW1 is a poignant reminder to us all that…read morelocal people fought for our freedom. The memorial is set in a picturesque flower garden next to the library and Dartford museum. A place to ponder ones thoughts of how lucky we are those young men (mostly) and women fought to save us from the enemy. Bless them all.

Erith Library is a moderate size and has been refurbished not too long ago so it looks nice and…read moremodernised, completely different to what you would expect looking at the old traditional building it is set in. There is a decent selection of fiction and non fiction to take away as well as DVDs (not normally latest titles) and audio books for the hard of sight which do cost to take out but are cheaper than most rental places. Computers are free to use for those who don't have Internet indoors but it does cost to print out. There are also photocopy facilities as you enter the library although the library does not always carry change to put into the copier. The library is normally very quiet and is an easy place in which to do work and concentrate. The centre piece of the library is the children's section which is bound to excite young minds and encourage them to read. If you're going to drive then parking is available outside the library but it is a pay and display on the street as the council look to rake in the money from the motorists. If you're on the bus then all buses which go to Erith stop right around the corner in Erith Town centre. The Library closes at 1pm each day for one hour for lunch and is closed Thursdays.

Did you know there was one? No exactly - that is the trouble with this museum - no one knows it…read moreexists - I only came across it by accident. They have exhibitions of Local interest changed at quarterly intervals in addition to the more traditional, longer term exhibitions like our Edwardian Kitchen Display, our model of the Great Harry, cases dedicated to Lessness Abbey, local archeology and local industries. Its not amazing but it kills a wet afternoon in erith. Sometimes they exhibitions can be cool you just have to catch it at the right time. The last time I went I was with the kids and they found it boring.