Halloween Special - Canterbury

 What better way to spend Halloween but in a gothic city like Canterbury! Our arrival in Cantebrury was like none other with lots of free chocolates at the station. This set our moods in high spirits. As everything that we wanted to do was within the town centre, we had plenty of time to stroll around too.

We first headed to the Roman Museum and the history of of Canterbury under the Roman Empire. It was quite good with kid-friendly exhibits and activities. They had some great artefacts too. There's an entrance fee but it wasn't too much! The gift shop was very tiny though. Just by the museum was the Canterbury Cathedral which was breathtaking! They gad some works going on but you can still see most of the cathedral from the outside. We didn't go inside as we weren't too keen about it. 

The town centre had some very interesting shops such as the Harry Potter shop, Goth shop, American sweet shop and the Japanese shop.

Next on our stop was the Westgate Towers! The Westgate Towers was previously a prison.  It now hosts a restaurant, bar and 3 different escape rooms!  We pre-booked one of the escape room (crime and punishment) which was hosted in actual prison cells. You can still see names of  prisoners and other interesting engravings on the walls of the prison! Anyway, the escape room was fantastic! It was our first time doing an escape room and it was stressful but exhilarating! We were totally mentally drained by the end of the hour! We couldn't escape the room but we were quite close! I will highly recommend if you are heading to Canterbury. The towers also hosted halloween games which even my 12 year old really enjoyed with lots of treats at the end of each games. You can also go to the top of the Towers to see the view of the city and an amazing view of the Cathedral.

I desperately wanted to see the Abbey Ruin (which was free for us because of our English Heritage membership)  but couldn't make it on time before it closed so that will be for another time. We then walked to the old ruins of the Canterbury Castle.We couldn't go inside as it was dangerous but walked around the perimeter of the castle.

As it was getting darker, we pre-booked a chilling punting ride on the local river. The kids found it quite spooky. With spooky tales of Canterbury, dark waters and 1 scary person jumping on us unexpectedly, it was fantastic!  

Overall, we had a fabulous time in Canterbury. This is where, according to my youngest, he will settle when he's older!!

Matlock Bath

 As the leaves change colour and the air gets crisper, we ventured out to Matlock Bath. What a picturesque little village to welcome the arrival of autumn! We saw saw old mills and limestone cliffs  on our way. We booked everything online as it was cheaper and with NHS discount, it was reasonable.

As this was a day trip, we headed straight to our point of interest with was The Heights of Abraham. Please note that this is closed during the winter season.  The heights are named after a supposed resemblance to the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Heights of Abraham, in Quebec where James Wolfe , a British Army official who won over the French in Quebec, died in battle. The Heights are located on top of a hillside. The access to the hill was either through cable car or there's walking pathways. We used the cable car obviously. It was great! My eldest is scared of heights but she managed to suppress her fear. The cable car lasts about 5-10 minutes and stops for a few minutes in between for us to enjoy the view. The view is truly glorious. We went at the right season as we saw the different colour of the leaves from a height and it was beautiful.

Once we got to the top, we went to the 'bottom' of the heights to visit the first cavern, Rutland Cavern. The Heights have 2 caves. It was used for lead mining extensively. As we went during Halloween season, we had the Witch Grotto in the Rutland Cavern. Although it was a very short tour, the main chamber had been beautifully illuminated.

Then we slowly (and painfully) walked our way through to the top. On our way, we saw old disused mineshafts, 2 different play areas, the viewing point and scenic views. The climb was a bit steep, if you are using the stairs but there's plenty of places to rest. Once we got to the top of the hill, there's a tower where you can see the whole of Matlock Bath! Again, I can't recommend enough to visit Matlock Bath during Autumn. The scenery is indescribable.

Next, we went to the second cave, The Masson Cavern. This was a proper cave tour with an excellent tour guide who explained the history of the tour. We all love cave systems and this didn't disappoint. The tour lasted between 30-45minutes.  The main chamber had beautiful illuminations and you could also see some gems in the walls of the cave!

When we came out we headed to the fossil shop. As I birthed a future palaeontologist, this was a place of great excitement for him where we saw dinosaur fossils. Underneath the fossil shop was the museum which told us the history of Matlock Bath. What interested me was the literary connections, Matlock Bath had with authors like  Jane Austen and Mary Shelley!

The Heights has an excellent restaurant, 1 cafe and 3 average gifts shops. However, if you are into your gems, then the gift shop located in the Fossil Museum is for you.

Once we finished the Heights, we just walked around the town. We went to a nearby park to relax. There was also a waterfall nearby (Lumsdale Waterfall just on the border of the Peak District National Park) however, by the time we got there, it got dark and so couldn't actually see the waterfall. But we did see some ruins of mills which spooked us off a bit with the night setting in!

In Matlock Bath, there's also Gulliver's Kingdom, the mining museum and an aquarium. Not too far from the there is the Crich Tramway Village. We couldn't fit everything into our Day so we'll be returning to the Peak District soon!

PS: We have now been to Crich Tramway Village in the village of Whatstandwell which is literally surrounded by green and houses sporadically located! This would have been better for younger kids when they are  amazed by everything! My 13 and 10year old were more entertained in walking and playing in the woods rather than the play area and climbing on the different tramway. The tickets are valid for 1 year so you can visit as many times as possible. There’s also cafes and places to eat too. During school holidays, they are plenty of kids arts and crafts too! I loved climbing and experiencing the different trams even though it was the same route we used.