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Castle Cornet (Guernsey)
by jrh2 Castle Cornet is an ancient fortress which watches over St Peter Port. It is a beautiful attraction which can be found within a five minute walk from town. In 1204 the Channel Islands needed to protect themselves from the French, so they built Castle Cornet. Despite this, some of the Castle dates back to the 13th century. ... After attack in 1338 the French took over Castle Cornet and seven years later the English managed to get it back. However in doing so they damaged some of the castle and had to rebuild it. In 1435 Gunners Towers was built which had the first canon to be used for defense. Later as canons became more readily available more were added to the castle meaning better defense could be used. In 1672 lightening hit the castle and destroyed some of the castle and killed a few of those living or working there. In 1947 H.M. King George VI gave Castle Cornet to the island as a gift. Now owned by the States of Guernsey it was turned into a visitors attraction and houses five museums. These are 'The Story of Castle Cornet', '201 Squadron (RAF) Museum', 'Maritime Museum (including maritime art gallery)', 'Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Museum' and the 'Royal Guernsey Militia Museum'. To enter the museum costs £9.50 for adults and £2 for children over 7 (under 7s are free). I thought this sounded expensive but when you have seen the size of Castle Cornet it doesn't seem so expensive, especially as it includes the entrance to five museums. It is advised you spend 3 hours looking around the Castle. This is a good amount of time as if I remember right we went around in around two and a half hours. If you visit in the final opening hour of the day (4pm - 5pm) you can 'Pop in for a Pound'. This is a bargain but you will not get a chance to see everything unless you run! The Story of Castle Cornet museum explains the history of Castle Cornet as I previously mentioned. Throughout this museum are illustrations by Brian Byron which really help to tell the story more clearly. The illustrations are very detailed and have nice bright colours, this attracts the children to them and makes them look a lot more effective. Some of these pictures show the castle being built by men which probably couldn't be shown any other way, therefore these pictures are vital as not to leave any thing out. They also have life size dislplays. My favourite is of some men sitting around a table as with the beds in the background and minimal decoration it looks very realistic for those times. To finish the musuem off are real objects and things like letters from the second world war which are interesting to look at, especially as they are real. The 201 Squadron Museum is all about the history of the 201 Squadron and its pilots. It is a smaller musuem than the rest but is very interesting. I'm sure lots of children would enjoy looking at the planes in more wonderful Brian Byron pictures but there are also some photos included in the displays. As in all of Castle Cornet each item or area has a small description next to it in clear and understandable sentences. As well as the pictures there are some lovely items to see like a crystal goblet which was given for the anniversary and an original Order of Service which happened at the town church. This museum was reopened in 2001 by the Queen after moving from elsewhere in the Castle, this makes it a newer museum than some. The Maritime museum is all about boats and Guernsey at sea. It includes more life like displays which show fantastic underwater clothes and a carpenters workshop which I presume was used to fix boats. One story of a boat was found only 300 meters away from the Castle itself. As part of this museum is an art gallery which has amazing boat models and boat and sea related paintings. These were brilliant to see and they are done by some excellent artists. This was not one of my favourite museums but it was still good to see. The Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Regimental Museum is about the first world war and its effect on islanders. This is one of my favourite museums as it is a lot more interactive than others. The museum has items from the war encased in glass like war medals, guns, uniforms etc. The best thing about this museum is that it allows you to listen to soldiers diaries. I really liked that part and i'm sure children would too. More life size displays show what soldiers would be doing during the war to save our island, and again look very realistic. There is also photos and illustrations throughout which help bring the story to life. This museum was only opened a few years ago by the Earl and Countess of Wessex and is very modern looking inside. The Royal Guernsey Militia Regimental Museum is very much like the previous museum and is about the men who defended Guernsey. It has a dislplay of medals, weapons, uniforms, trophies etc. which have all been presented well and kept in good condition. As I dont read all the description cards as I prefer to just to look at the objects, I don't see very much difference at all than the last museum. That is my problem for not reading though and im sure many others would disagree. Castle Cornet itself is a phenomenal castle which must have taken years to build. There are lots of steps and gate ways and walkways so it is not the best for taking push chairs or wheelchairs. There are many beautiful historical gardens which are kept as they would have been and something I personally wasn't expecting inside a castle. There are many canons and every day at noon the gun is fired and is very loud. The Castle Cornet Cafe is a great place for a bite to eat and has stunning views of Herm and Sark. The Castle has very little parking nearby so it is advised you park in town and walk but it is not that far. Sometimes during the holidays Castle Cornet has History in Action which has people dressed up acting and guiding people around. I have never been at this time but maybe I will soon. On Liberation day each year Castle Cornet has fireworks to end the night and it is a beautiful location to light up. Unfortunately I always watch them from closer to home as most of the island is in town on Liberation Day so unless you are there super early you probably wouldnt get too close anyway. Castle Cornet is probably one of the best tourists attractions on Guernsey. Even when you dont enter it still looks beautiful. As it is in the harbour it is always the last thing I see when leaving the island on boat and is the first thing when arriving and a great reminder of home. It may sound a little pricey but it is well worth the time and money. Read the complete review |
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Treblinka (Poland)
by dangaroo Treblinka was a Nazi ran extermination camp in WW2, death trains would run from Umschlagplatz in the Jewish ghetto (today Muranow) directly into the camp. The majority of Warsaw's and North Eastern Poland's Jewish population were slaughtered there. 4,000 to 7,000 people arrived daily and were mostly immediately sent to the gas chambers ... if they hadn't already died of suffocation in the cramped trains. Approximately 1 million people were killed there, with 90% dying in the first 2 hours. Perhaps the grossest tale of all is that men would be killed first with women and children made to wait until last nearby, they would hear the shrieks and were well aware of what awaited them, causing involuntary defecation. Unlike in Auschwitz, where Zyklon B was used, Treblinka used carbon monoxide which did not always kill victims, particularly pregnant women who would start to revive, only to be shot or worse yet, burned alive.Undoubtedly moving, this is not a cheerful destination but history buffs, Jewish and Poles will certainly find the visit interesting. Getting there Treblinka is located just off the road between Malkinia Gorna and Sokolow Podlaski, recently connected by a newly built bridge. As a tourist, you may be able to find an organised tour from Warsaw or Lublin, though none come to mind. There is one public bus a day from the Polish capital, which is recommendable. Coming by car, it's not signposted as well as you might expect. We tootled around for some time and thought we had gone too far, having driven through the village of Treblinka where the roads were being dug up. Then, in the corner of my eye, I spotted a black sign for Treblinka. Drive over the railway line and a big car park among trees awaits. Serene, it looks like a lay-by on a German motorway and initially there's no evidence of its cruel history. The Site Buy your ticket from the booth selling guides, then walk down the path into an opening among the trees, on the right you have symbolic slabs of concrete that mark the place where the railway line would have brought people to the extermination camp. After following this for some time, you will encounter a wide opening on the left, marked by a large memorial statue. Small symbolic grave stones with candles next to them, individually represent towns and villages from where people were rounded up. Despite only being place names, they really are quite moving and the true extent of the murder that took place in these now peaceful grounds, only just begins to set in. There are several displays demonstrating what it used to look like and the acts that took place. There is also a simulation of the cremation pits that were used. Most of the killing was done in this part, Extermination Camp II. From this section to the Extermination Camp I, gravel pits and flattened land where the Nazi quarters once stood is a couple of kilometers walk through the forest. We were one of the only tourists there at the time, I was shocked to see that cars were allowed to drive through the grounds like a safari park but a lot of the people affected by Treblinka are now rather old and not necessarily the most mobile. It wasn't like there was a steady stream of cars, we encountered three or four at the most. Surprisingly, it's a bit of a hotspot for animals, we came across several hares during our walk. After following a path that meandered through the woods, we came upon a large embankment, we climbed up to the top, from where you could see the scarred landscape below where men had been put to work, mostly Poles in the early days of the camp, when 10,000-20,000 of them died through malnutrition and exhaustion. It was a hot August day, the sun beat down and the thought of hard graft on an empty stomach to the point of death is really very frightening. I found this part to be the most graphic of all, nearby there are clearings with plaques explaining which building would have been there. It's not as easy to imagine the SS officers enjoying a good time, gambling with stolen money and gorging themselves while death lingered nearby. It was said that the stench of death, could be easily smelled 5km away. Most of the killing was done in Extermination Camp II Read the complete review |
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Fort Grey Shipwreck Museum (Guernsey)
by jrh2 Fort Grey is a Martello tower on the West coast of Guernsey. It is not known as Fort Grey though, most of Guernsey know it as the "cup and saucer" as this is what it looks like. The Fort was built in 1804 to protect Guernsey from France during the Napoleonic War. It was built to a larger size than other coastal ... towers on the island so the gunfire could be more effective. In 1976 the Fort was restored and opened as the Shipwreck Museum, as it is now. The Fort is on a small island just off Rocquaine Bay and has a raised pathway for access. It is surrounded by rocks, sand and sea. The path is cobble stones which makes it look a very pretty path but is very bumpy for those in a push chair. Inside the Shipwreck Museum is filled with Shipwreck stories. There are two floors of artifacts and descriptions of their history. The museum is very small but it is as expected as it wasn't built to be a museum. The building is round on the inside, just as it looks from outside. This makes it a lovely unique building. The first floor is up winding stairs so it is not accessible for push chairs and wheel chairs. This is a shame but there isn't the room for a lift. When I have gone with children they have walked but you can't always do that for wheel chair users. The indoors has a nautical theme as it is a shipwreck museum. There are some items encased in glass cabinets and others theatre not. It is safe for children to go around without them touching everything, as they love to do. The descriptions tell stories about light houses, ships and boats, rescues at sea and more all of which have a link with Guernsey. Outside are some larger things to see like the cannon used in the fort which is as it used to be,except it no longer works and a large anchor. This area outside is grass and has a beautiful view of the sea and beaches below. There is an entrance fee into the museum but their is an information board outside if you don't want to go in. The cost is around £3 or £4 when I went and children can enter for free. This saves some money. The fort has a small gift shop with some nice souvenirs. These include Guernsey tea towels, pens, notebooks and other smaller items. These are good prices. There is a car park opposite and a bus stop right outside but it is right at the end of the island and nowhere near town. This means it is an half an hour drive from the capital, the longest drive you will have on the island. Unfortunately it is not accessible for push chairs or wheelchairs. I remember coming here with primary school and I really enjoyed looking around and reading the interesting historical stories. The favorite thing for my class was seeing the cannon outside (thankfully it no longer works!). Last year whist I was at college we had a trip to Southampton to see some places we don't have over here. To show the students in Southampton what Guernsey was like we made a PowerPoint of different tourists attractions on the island. In partners we each took photos of us at one visitors attraction. My partner and I were at the cup and saucer. We found that although it wasa long way from college it made up for that fact by the fantastic views and objects on show. We didn't have as much ttime as others in our class because of the travel time but we saw some excellent objects and a fantastic fort. When we showed our presentation the students were interested that we called it a cup and saucer. It is an eye catching building whether on your way past or inside for a visit. A lovely place to visit, especially for tourists. Read the complete review |
Museum International |
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