Get out and about this Easter holiday

Mar 12 2008 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

EASTER is on the way and time to enjoy some quality family time together. Here are some ideas on where to go this holiday:

*Come and discover the best place to celebrate Easter this year without breaking the bank. There is so much going on at the National Coal Mining Museum for England over the Easter break, you won’t know where to start!

The highlight of the Easter Weekend (March 21 to 24) will be to help the Easter Bunny and Spring fairies find their eggs with our brand new Easter Egg Trail. Children will need to solve riddles and then explore the museum, but the reward is a visit to the Easter Bunny in his Spring grotto to be presented with a sweet treat!

Pocket Panto will be performing their unique version of Aladdin on Thursday March 20 and Friday March 21 at 12.30pm and 2.30pm. The team performed at the Museum’s 2007 Miners’ Gala to a capacity crowd and with tickets retailing at just £2, this Easter’s performances are certain to eggstremely popular!

Throughout the Easter holidays (March 17 – April 4) there will be free family arts and crafts activities.

The Museum is also a great place to enjoy the outdoors (weather permitting). If you’ve still got energy to burn, let off some steam in the adventure playground?

Visitors can stroll up to Hope Pit, where there’s now even more to discover and a chance to get hands on with science.

There is also the underground tour with an ex-miner, hands-on exhibitions and a stable yard with retired pit ponies.

For a fun packed day for all the family look no further than the National Coal Mining Museum for England!

*Visit Longley Old Hall this Easter and delve into the past.

The murder of Robertus in 1341 did not stop the Norman family of del Wode from becoming the richest family in the Manor of Almondbury, and at one time their arms were in a window in the parish church.

In the early 1540s the hall passed by marriage to William Ramsden of Greetland and the family remained owners until 1976.

Over the years the Ramsdens’ purchased the Lordships of the Manors of Almondbury and Huddersfield and the large estates that went with them.

The descendants of the Ramsdens' (now named Pennington) live at Muncaster Castle in Cumbria and the family still owns the estate featured in the television series Monarch of the Glen.Medieval and 17th pottery came to light during the building of the knot garden, some items of which John Hudson of Mirfield has reproduced

Longley Old Hall will open for pre-booked guided tours over the bank holiday weekend from Friday to Monday March 21 to 24 – the cost is £6 per person.

Group visits are available throughout the year. In the autumn candles and open fires are lit to give a feeling of past times. From mid-November there are Tudor style Christmas decorations for a really special atmosphere. Groups may bring their own finger food and drink if they wish. The minimum number is 15, with a maximum of 25 in winter and rising to 50 in summer. The cost in £10 per person

For further details and to make reservations please call Christine or Robin Gallagher on 01484 430852. More information is on the web site at www.longleyoldhall.co.uk.

*Take a trip to the Kirklees Light Railway and enjoy a jam-packed weekend of Easter family fun from March 21 to 25. The ‘Easter Eggspress’ will take families to the special Easter egg hunt at Shelley where a whole host of activities will be taking place.

Children are invited to help the Easter Bunny find the eggs hidden around the adventure playground. Each child will receive one chocolate egg as a prize. Lucky children who find the golden eggs will receive an extra large Easter egg!

Throughout the day children can join in other Easter activities including donkey rides, bouncy castles, balloon modellers, egg and spoon races, miniature train rides, colouring competitions and much more eggciting fun to delight children and grown ups alike.

Half hourly trains will run throughout the day from 10am till 5pm. Prices are £7.50 for adults, £6.50 for concessions, £5.50 for children and under three’s go Free!

As the Easter Eggspress is a hugely poplar event, booking is recommended; please call 01484 86572 to book your place!

Don’t forget the Kirklees Light Railway is open every weekend and all school holidays including Easter half term (March 15 to April 6) with hourly trains running from 11am to 4pm. Visit www.kirkleeslightrailway.com for further details.

*Hollowgate Fisheries takeaway and fully licensed restaurant has been an award-winning feature of Holmfirth for over 20 years.

Awards won in the past have included Northern Fish & Chip Shop of the Year and being voted top in Lancashire and among the top three in the North East after beating off competition from shops in Cleveland, Yorkshire and Lancashire.

It also gained joint second place in a previous Battle of the Batter competition.

Hollowgate Fisheries is an integral part of Holmfirth and offers excellent quality fish and chips to take-away or eat-in, in clean comfortable surroundings. Children are welcome and kiddies boxes are available. Open from 11.30am all day, every day, the shop is in the centre of Holmfirth opposite the craft market in Hollowgate.

*Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway has something for all the family this Easter holiday.

Sure to be popular with visitors at half-term, the railway is also planning ahead for the Easter holidays when it will hold the next Thomas event.

Popular all year round, the Thomas events feature Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends including the Fat Controller.

The event will be held from Good Friday March 21 to Easter Monday March 24.

Make a date to catch up with Thomas at this popular Yorkshire event.

Whatever you do this Easter holiday, enjoy valuable time with all the family.

*Here’s an 'egg-cellent' way to spend your Easter. Planning anything egg-citing this Easter? Kids in danger of a chocolate overdose? Then why not get them out for some fun at Wentworth Castle Gardens in Barnsley, for the annual Easter Egg Hunt, (Good Friday to Easter Monday, 10am-5pm).

Intrepid 'eggs-plorers' of all ages are invited to play egg detectives and find clues located throughout the gardens. Egg hunters need to collect the clues in order to collect their free Easter treat to take home.

Children are also advised to watch out for the wonderful 'Wentworth Wabbitt', and the special golden eggs - find one and claim your very own Easter egg.

The Wentworth Castle estate stretches to over 500 acres and contains the incredible Stainborough Castle, which Thomas Wentworth built as an 18th century play house for his four children.

The Gardens and café are open daily, for more information please contact: 01226 776044 or www.wentworthcastle.org

*Nostell Priory is the National Trust property closest to Huddersfield. A Palladian Mansion set in 340 acres of rolling parkland on the outskirts of Wakefield, within easy reach of A1, M1 & M62, it is an architectural treasure house renowned for it’s collection of Chippendale.

Nostell Priory is also a popular venue for weddings, events and functions, providing a warm welcome to visitors of all ages and ensuring everyone has a good day out.

For 2008 the restoration of Druids Bridge has been completed and the new pleasure grounds lakeside walk is open, providing access to parts of the garden which have been unavailable to the public in recent years. A new interactive exhibition in the stable block shows how horses were cared for at Nostell in the 18th century and provides the opportunity to have a go at some of the jobs that had to be done.

The new children’s adventure playground should be up and running in the summer when our usual family entertainment programme is scheduled once again

So for a great day out, guaranteed to entertain all the family, come to Nostell Priory. Call 01924 863892 for more details

Nostell Priory Parkland is open dawn until dusk every day and the house is open Wednesday to Sunday 1pm to 4.30 pm from Saturday March 15 until Sunday November 2.

The Tea Rooms, shop and gardens are open Wednesday to Sunday between 11am and 5.30pm from March 15 until November 2 including every Bank Holiday Monday.

*Treat Yourselves to fantastic family entertainment at the Huddersfield LBT.

The Easter season offers something for everyone running through the holiday period from March 18 to 30.

Spies, running March 18 to 25– a bittersweet evocation of childhood with a gripping mystery at its heart. Currently featured on the A Level Curriculum, this is an excellent opportunity to see a great play from Theatre Alibi. Suitable for early teens+. ‘Theatre Alibi is one of Britain’s most inventive companies’, says The Guardian

The Crane, running March 25 and 26 is a funny and moving story told with the help of puppets and steam trains.

A visually beautiful and inspirational experience. Suitable for ages six and over.

Claymation, on March 29 – storytelling with clay where the audience participates!. Suitable for ages three to six.

Swansea City Opera present the enchanting opera Magic Flute for all the family on March 30.Performed in English.

Call Box Office for performance times and ticket prices 01484 430528.