Some ideas for family activities and excursions in and around Hedge End during the summer holidays

With the count-down to the end of term now on I’ve put together some ideas for activities and excursions during the six-week summer holiday, Monday 26 July to Friday 3 September.

Landlocked Eastleigh isn’t the first place you’d think of to be issuing invitations to discover your sea-legs – but Eastleigh Museum is doing just that with their All At Sea Challenge Trail! The trail will let you work your way up through the ranks, get ‘to know the ropes’, learn how to send coded messages and keep ‘everything ship shape’, with a small prize for every completed trail!

From Wednesday 28 July the trail will be open until Friday 3 September, 10.00am-4.30pm (although not on Museum event days which are 29 July, and 5, 11, 12, 19 and 26 August).

Children must be accompanied by an adult and there’s no charge for taking part.

Contact information and basic venue details for Eastleigh Museum and for all other venues featured can be found at the end of the article.

On Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 July families visiting Bursledon Windmill can try their hand at making a salt dough green man to celebrate summer, then take it home and bake and paint it. It’s billed as a fun family activity for all ages (no unaccompanied children) and there’s no cost for adults, with children £2.50.

There are two Dough Craft Green Man sessions, at 2.00-3.00pm and 3.00-4.00pm on each of the two days and if you want to take part you’ll need to book – call 023 8040 4999.

Mr Punch, Judy and the baby will be entertaining at Manor Farm weekly on Wednesdays from 28 July until 1 September, giving 20 minute shows starting at 11.00am, 12.15pm, 2.00pm and 3.15pm. There’s no extra charge for watching the Punch and Judy show, the cost is included in the normal farm admission price.

If you’re fascinated by the Titanic story why not visit Eastleigh Museum on Thursday 29 July between 10.00 am and 2.30pm (last admission) when they’re holding a Titanic: Secrets of the Deep Craft Day. ‘Family friendly’, there’s free entrance plus free materials, and you can try your hand at making a Heart of the Ocean necklace, a captain’s hat or creating a Titanic collage.

The following month, on Wednesday 11 August, you can also hear the stories of two characters involved in the sinking, at And the Band Played On. Mr Curry, manager of the White Star Company will be speaking on behalf of the shipping line, and 2nd class passenger Mrs Charlotte Collyer from Bishopstoke will be reliving the experience of being on the ship on that fateful night, 15 April 1912.

Performance times are 11.00am, 12.00pm, 2.00pm and 3.00pm and there’s no charge for this event.

The museum is also hosting a Titanic Honour and Glory exhibition during the summer, from Saturday 10 July until Saturday 11 September with belongings from passengers and crew members on display along with props from the famous 1997 Titanic film starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Festival of British Archaeology 2010 is being celebrated nationally from Saturday 17 July to Sunday 1st August, and right at the tail-end of this period Bursledon Windmill is hosting two Archaeology Roadshows on the Sunday, 10.00am-12.00pm, and 2.00-4.00pm.

The whole family can join in for free (no unaccompanied children) and learn about quern stones and millstones from the past and get to have a go with a rotary quern, do some drawing or write a story.

Bursledon Windmill is also inviting families to make and take home a ‘Green Man’ mask on Tuesday 3 or Wednesday 4 August, 2.00-3.00pm. Ticket price for children is £2.50 but adults get in free. The organisers advise that children must be accompanied by an adult – and also that spaces need to be booked (phone 023 8040 4999).

Oh, and what is a Green Man mask? It’s a mask made out of leaf rubbings.

If you’ve a rabbit or a similar-sized small animal and would like some tips on caring for your pet, visit Manor Farm for one of their weekly small pet-care sessions which start on Tuesday 3 August and continue until Tuesday 24 August, at 3.00pm. Normal farm admission charges apply – oh! and the farm says, ‘please do not bring your pet with you!’

Eastleigh Museum is holding A Big Friendly Craft Day – a family friendly and free craft day, inspired by Roald Dahl – on Thursday 5 August from 10.00am (last admission 2.30pm). It’s a free drop-in event, so there’s no need to book and materials are also provided free of charge.

On Friday 6 August, and weekly on Friday until 27 August you can take part in a guided ‘mini-beast’ safari at Manor Farm Country Park searching out bugs, beetles and butterflies. Places, which cost £3 per adult, £1 per child, are limited and so booking is essential and you can do this either in person at Manor Farm reception or call 01489 787055.

If you’d like a brightly coloured decoration for your garden, on 12 August it’s Flying Fish Craft Day at Eastleigh Museum, and on Thursday 19 August it’s Piggy Banks Craft Day when you can learn how to make a piggy bank from milk bottles and other old rubbish, and there’s a chance to turn coffee cups, old keys and ‘all sorts of bits and bobs’ into decorative items at the Bits and Bobs Wind Chimes Craft Day on Thursday 26 August.

The above three events at Eastleigh Museum all begin at 10.00am (last admission 2.30pm) – with admission and free materials, and as they’re all drop-in sessions there’s no need to book.

For activities and ideas for excursions a bit further afield, take a look at some ideas for family days out on the Family Days Out in Hampshire website.

If you’re running an event during the summer holidays and would like to let people in Hedge End know about it either add it as a comment on this story and I’ll update the article, or write your own story!

And if you have some ideas of your own for fun summer holiday activities that you’d like to share with Hedgeendpeople, please get writing!

Venue location, contact and opening details:

Eastleigh Museum, 25 High Street, Eastleigh SO50 5LF – telephone 0845 603 5635.

Open Tuesday to Friday 10.00am-5.00pm, Saturday 10.00am-4.00pm, admission free

Manor Farm Country Park, Pylands Lane, Bursledon, SO31 1BH – telephone 01489 787055

Farm open Sunday until 31 October daily 10.00am-5.00pm (last admission 4.00pm)

Prices: Adult £6, 60+ years £5, Child £4, Family £19 (2+2) or £22 (2+3), under 3 years free – season tickets available

Country park summer opening hours, May-August, 8.30am-8.30pm

Bursledon Windmill, Windmill Lane, Bursledon, SO31 8BG – telephone 0845 603 5635

Normal opening Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, 10.00am to 4.00pm

Cost – Adult £3, Child/concession £2, Family (2 adults and up to 4 children) £6, under 6 years free