Retro Ulsterbus and Vintage Travel Advertising Spotted at the Ulster Transport Museum

I think everyone in this neck of the woods has been to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra, just outside Holywood, but for non-NI-natives and tourists it's well worth visiting. We went along today especially to see the Flight part, but dandered through the other galleries we had seen before because the giant locomotives and engines are always impressive.

There are half a dozen galleries, including the absolutely HUGE train hanger. As well as the actual trains there is a wealth of reading exhibits and model dotted around each pavilion. 

New since our last visit are the massive five or six story high photos at either end of the train hanger.  One end shows a vintage station (I forgot to check which, if it was Central or Great Victoria Street) with signs for trains for Bangor, and interestingly Castlewellan.

The end below shows Portrush Train Station in its heyday.

We had a cuppa in the cute tea rooms, then walked down to the flight part of the museum.

They had a mini version of the tearoom down there in the separate building for planes, carts and cars.

The flight part is quite small, and hasn't really been updated in years and years. If you are Aviation mad like Smix it may be worth a trip from Belfast, but honestly if you only like planes be aware it's a very small part of the museum. 

The YouTube daredevil pranker idiots of the 1920s

Whilst Smix loved the aircraft section, I loved all the vintage photos of Northern Ireland, and the old fashioned advertising. 

Bonus snaps-

1. facts about the world's worst poet who was from Larne. Sounds about right. 

2. the derp-iest looking plane ever. Smix was able to tell me all about it. It's used to Transport bits of planes to different parts of the world. I think if I ever saw this at the airport I would die laughing.

Weekend Adventure Featuring 'Brick Wonders', a Lego Exhibition in Derry

I love a good adventure and in the past 24 hours Smix & I have lapped Northern Ireland & chanced a last minute random hotel booking. 

Smix always goes to his dad's house on a Saturday, and I'm always complaining about the fact I now miss out of Saturdays with my him, but what can you do?  

This weekend his dad needed to swap contact to Sunday, so I thought to myself, I better make the most of having Smix all day Saturday, or else I can't exactly complain when I don't have him. 

So I chanced LateRooms.com but there was nothing under £50. The chain hotels like Travelodge wouldn't give you a £40 rate this close to the date of stay, but somehow I ended up on Booking.com and found a hotel in Newtonstewart (?! I know) that had a 'budget family room' for £30 for the night. 

It was closer to Derry, where we were heading first thing Saturday morning, than Bangor is, plus it's the novelty too, as much as any practicality. So we drove down round the bottom of Lough Neagh, stopped in Omagh for a picnic for the room, and crossed our fingers tightly that we weren't headed to a dump.

We arrived at the Castle Inn, Newtownstewart, where you park out the back of the hotel, in a gravelly dump type setting, and someone spotted us and came out to greet us. We went straight to the room and I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a cupboard, it wasn't creepy & dull, everything was nice & fresh, if a little old fashioned in taste, and best of all? Working free wifi! 

Kitsch artwork! 

He asked me could I pay then and there, and I did, as it made no difference to me, but I realised in the morning why. I had to pay him through the off license register, and in the morning when we tried to hand out key in, the offies wasn't open, so there was no 'reception' as such. So we left our key in the room, as there wasn't much else we could do. 

The actual castle ruins join onto the Castle Inn

All in all a surprisingly great stay for a measly £30. Most hotels you pay £70 each person at least, so if you fancy a wee getaway surely Google the Castle Inn or go via Booking.com

Now, the Lego exhibition. You'll find it being hosted in the Nerve Centre in Derry/Londonderry. It runs until the 2nd of May and is open Tues & Wed 11am-6pm, Thurs & Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 10am-6pm, Sunday 12pm-6pm. Child ticket costs £4, adult £5.

Gallery one

Niagra Falls

Using LEGO® bricks, artist Warren Elsmore creates stunning scenes with easy-to-follow instructions. While many of the original seven ancient wonders have crumbled away, here we see them in their full glory. Brick Wonders also takes a look at new wonders of the world; treasures from the past millennium that remain standing today.

Pyramids (exhibits very hard to photograph!) 

Gallery two

The exhibit has over 70 builds, but realistically unless you read every single description, your excited child will have you through the attraction very quickly. There are ways to get the value of your ticket price however. As you arrive ask for the quiz sheet, this will slow your progress round the gallery as your child has to search for the answers, plus they'll get some ancient history learning in there without even noticing! They'll be keen to take part when they are told you can win prizes for doing the quiz. 

Old London Bridge

Detail

Huge airport display

Hoover dam

Secondly, opposite the gallery is a huge building room. Three sections divided by child age and buckets of Duplo and Lego. There are challenges for the best build, which will be displayed on the walls. This week the build category was animals. If you've a build addict they could spend a good hour or two there playing. Handy if Mum wants to go shop the department stores or centres close by, while the kids and dad play Lego.

Lastly they will also be showing Lego themed DVDs like Star Wars Lego etc. Again you can ask the attendant when that will be happening. In the build room there are screens showing Lego stop motion while you build, including the builds of some of the pieces you have just seen, or stop motion sketches using the same settings. 

My final opinion- considering the price and distance from Bangor/Belfast to Derry, I would say yes, by all means come up, but don't make Brick Wonders your one sole reason for the day out, as it'll take an hour or two, half a day at most (if you sit building for ages). We drove onto Portrush to get some rides on Barry's as part of our adventure weekend trip. So if you plan on a day out like that then you won't be disappointed. If you drive 90 mins from Belfast JUST for the Lego you might be a bit annoyed. 

If you do visit, let me know how you get on. I'm @rudedoodle on Twitter, and you can see my snap from today on Snapchat where I am rudedoodle too. 

Another Day Trip Destination: Kilbroney Park Narnia Trail

Two weeks ago I shared with you the new family forest trail at Slieve-Gullion . My friend Karen tipped us off about a similar destination, The-Narnia-Trail at Kilbroney Forest Park. We hadn't been to Kilbroney before, but we had driven past the entrance to it several times whilst staying down in that direction. It's situated right outside Rostrevor, near Warrenpoint, which means if you are Bangor or Belfast based, like us, it is a bit of a hike, but given that it's summer you can take a day and maybe fit in Slieve Gullion too. We were staying not too far away, in Teepee Valley one night and Hanna's Close the next, but I shall tell you about them shortly.

Kilbroney Park has a large carpark which is free. The set up is a bit like Carnfunnock in that there's a good sized, free play park, and a multi-level restaurant/cafe. Plenty of free to use toilets too, and by the looks of things mountain bike trails and rentals. The day we were there there was a guy doing horse drawn carriage rides, I think it was about £3 an adult, £1 a child.

As for the Narnia Trail itself, it's great. I love any sort of sculpture walk, so these trails are right up my street. It's worth asking directions, as there are signs all over the place, but to actually get to the trail from the carpark you have to go down through the building and then down to your left, past where the outdoor gym equipment is. 

The trail then begins with a giant wardrobe, of course, and it's well signposted throughout. It's a lot shorter in length than the Giant's Lair walk; I'd say the Narnia one is only 1/4 mile in a small loop. You do go off road so to speak, down through wooded areas & over lawns. It's definitely worth a day trip however, with the added bonus of one of the citadels looking a little like Elsa's castle! 

Free Kids' Activites All Summer With Ikea Belfast

Stuck for something to entertain? Ikea Belfast (& most likely your own local Ikea too if you don't hail from Northern Ireland)  are putting on lots of activities to keep young ones busy. Climbing walls, £1 lunches and lots of products designed for playing at home too. 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/store/belfast/storeInfo

Picnic plates, cups and napkins

bake from the box

really nostalgic, old school kit

I REALLY like this sand box kit. You can pretend to serve up sand ice creams! 

Clambering the Bishop's Trail at Downhill Demesne

This week we are staying on the North Coast. This means trips to Barry's amusements, ice cream for breakfast in Morelli's famous ice cream emporium, and lots of outdoor exploration. 

Michael and I headed out past Castlerock to the National Trust property, Downhill Demesne. As well as the massive ruins, you can visit Mussenden Temple on the cliffs, as seen in Game of Thrones. 

The property has two entrances and car parks. The closest one to Castlerock has beautiful gardens to walk through, and a newly built wood trail for kids to climb and explore. 

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/downhill-demesne-and-hezlett-house/

The further car park entrance is closer to the ruins and Mussenden Temple, if you are short on time you might want to park there to take in the property. If you're on a Game of Thrones locations your this would be a quicker way of seeing the temple.

Summer in Newcastle, County Down

Continuing on our week in The Mournes, here's what you can see & do in Newcastle, the main seaside town at the base of the mountains.

It's always been a fun, family destination with twee, little shops with fancy dress & jokes to buy. There's a new bead shop where you can pick & choose from hundreds of designs and make your own necklace, bracelet or brooch.

Doll's house accessories in Bon Bon's

There are a handful of amusement arcades with video game machines, two penny drop gambling games and a few rides too.

Down in between the buildings we found an outdoor funfair with five rides including small chairaplanes and a waltzer.

These boats are £2 a go.  

For food there's a KFC, Subway, Country Fried Chicken, Mauds Cafe and dozens of ice cream parlours.  There's even a machine that makes candy floss outside Bon Bon's shop.

So whether you're staying at The Mourne Lodge, Dan White's Cottage or Hanna's Close, or just down for the day, Newcastle is a nice little nostalgic seaside stop off.

Expensive, but cool, American import sweets available from Ben & Jerry's icecream shop.

Visit The Fairy Village at the Giant's Lair, Slieve Gullion

Just outside Newry is Slieve Gullion Forest Park. The carpark is free and they've a giant playpark, also all free. There's a cafe and ice cream vans or you can bring your own picnic.  

What we had visited for however is the new sculpture walk, complete with magical fairy village. I would have gone wild for this sort of place as a child. The walk is around a mile through the forest, and again it's totally free. It's definitely work the drive down if you're from near Belfast like us. 

Eddie Rockets, Dundalk Shopping & The Armagh Planetarium

So I shared with you our lovely accommodation at Dan White's, but what did we get up to during our stay? The next few days I'll share with you what you can do down in the Kingdom of Mourne & surrounding area. Of course there are the outdoor pursuits like mountain hikes, biking trails etc. but if you've young children there are plenty of family activities too.  

Here is a good day's worth of fun should you have rainy weather during your stay. Newry is about a half hour drive from Dan White's and the drive comprises the Mourne Coastal Route which is outstandingly beautiful. You pass through picturesque towns like Warrenpoint where you can stop for fish & chips or an icecream.

Reaching Newry & following the signs to Dublin will bring you to The Quays and Buttercrane, the city's main shopping centres which are side by side. Both centres parking is paid, but it's about a pound for an hour, so it's not terribly steep. 

The Quays has Eddie Rockets, the first of the 1950s' themed restaurant chain to open North of the border. We hit it up for breakfast AND dinner. Their milkshakes are famously amazing, and I highly recommend the bacon and cheese fries. 

The Quays has stores like Topshop, Lush, H&M and Debenhams. Crossing over to Buttercrane you'll find Mark & Spencer and an absolutely massive Primark. Buttercrane also has some kids' fun going on during the summer months, plus an igloo where you can get your photo taken with Elsa from Frozen for £6. 

Leaving Newry & following the motorway to Dublin will lead you over the border to Dundalk, about a further half an hour drive. For those who aren't from Northern Ireland and might be planning a visit, crossing the border is simple. There's no passport check or anything, in fact you only know you've crossed over when the road signage changes from miles to kilometres.

Keep an eye on your phone network too. It may be worth switch off data unless your contract allows roaming, as your phone will switch to an Irish carrier even around Newry. 

Our destination in Dundalk was Marshes, their huge shopping mall. I didn't have a sat nav or map, I just winged it, and found it easily enough. Again you pay for parking, €1 an hour or so. The highlight of Marshes for us was Tiger, which I mentioned before. A really cool home ware store. You'll also find a huge Dunnes, a big Primark (called Penney's in the south) and lots more fashion stores. 

We left Dundalk to cross the border again and head toward Armagh. A good tip here is to NOT follow the signs to Armagh you see round Dundalk town. We followed that route and it was a twisty country road that took about an hour. I think you'd be quicker to fly up the motorway to Newry again & through to Armagh that way, on roads where you can do 70 mph rather than twisting through tiny towns doing 45 mph most of the way. Michael got really car sick that route too.

But eventually we got to Armagh & the planetarium. It's free to come in and walk about the displays, but you must be over age six to enter the dome shows. They run on the hour and we arrived in time to catch the 2pm show. Each programme runs for about 35 minutes, so we ended up staying and watching the 3pm & 4pm shows too, making rockets in the crafting room in between.

The shows cost around £5 per person & are well worth catching. We had a lot of fun that afternoon, and have decided we will call back again when we are down again in a few weeks' time.