35) Take in five cultural experiences

New cultural experiences of course - I'd hate to sound as if I've never had a cultural experience before, and this is someone who's organised two classical music concerts!!!

I'll be revisiting this a few times as I update my cultural experiences but here's the first:

Pitstone Green Museum
This may not be too well known and to be honest I only learnt about it last summer when we were house hunting and saw signs come out around the time of bank holidays.

Pitstone is a small village between Tring and Leighton Buzzard, and probably not very well known, more so for the cement works that were closed back in the 1990s. 

The Museum is run by volunteers in the grounds of an old farm dating back to the 19th Century. As a result it tends to open on bank holidays and certain Sundays in the summer months only, which, being a largely outdoor museum, seems a sensible approach. 

We decided to head for the first time for their first opening in 2013 which was on Easter bank holiday Monday. It was quite a cold day, and as a result not many people attended and some things weren't running but it meant we could wander happily between the various displays and rooms.

For my son who loves vehicles, it was great to see some vintage vehicles on display. A number of old tractors could be viewed or sat on and when we returned later in the summer after our daughter had been born, he and my husband took the tractor ride to Pitstone Windmill. Much excitement to ride the tractor!!!

But there is so much more. Using the outbuildings of the old farm, there is an old Victorian kitchen, a 1940s kitchen and memorabilia, a plumbers shop, a blacksmiths, many steam powered tools, a carpenters, and lots of various craft things to try your hand at. Many people with old vehicles bring theirs along too to view and Joshie loved seeing 'Sarge' an old army jeep on his first visit.


The jewel in the crown is the cockpit of the Lancaster bomber which we got a chance to look inside and see the simulator where the guide pressed various buttons to hear it 'start up'. This was within a further WWII room with lots of communication devices as well as other rooms which seemed to display computers from our school days - am I old or were they collectors items? 

It's really inexpensive - £6 for adults and £2 for children and on a nice day there's room to sit out with the family on the grass and take as long as you like enjoying the different rooms. For us, it's a mere stroll down the road which makes it even more attractive and we'll be determined to get more people to enjoy our special little museum in 2014. 

Joshie enjoying the tractor!