For the children
The exhibition features a large activity area where children of all ages can learn while they play. Featuring an imaginary vegetable garden, a giant board game and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s laundry, where children can pretend to iron and hang out clothes.
Natalie Patel, head of Collections and Exhibitions at River and Rowing Museum states ‘We deliberately curated an exhibition that would appeal to both children and adults. While the artefacts and artworks on display are such a rare privilege to see all together, the complementary activities will be hugely entertaining to children of all ages’
And that’s true – I speak from personal experience. Sibella (3) enjoys nothing more than a good spring clean. My little cleaning fanatic was engaged for at least 20 minutes ‘harvesting’ radishes and lettuces, filling diminutive wheelbarrows with nourishing (wooden!) produce and sweeping the ‘garden’ area with children size brushes.
Her big brother Raphael (6), a budding ‘thesp’, delighted in the Potter-themed dressing up area. He couldn’t decide on his favourite though – it was as an impossible decision between Peter himself and the cunning and wily Mr Todd. I suspect a second visit will help him decide.
And then just when excitement levels reach fever-pitch you can retire to the central little cinema room where they can chill out and calm down on oversize bean bags with an episode of the latest BBC version of the Tales of Peter Rabbit….phew!
The exhibition ties in with the recent inscription of the Lake District as an UNESCO World Heritage site. The Lake District is designated as a cultural landscape of which the literature, art and conservation work of Beatrix Potter is a key part.
If this sounds like your cup of chamomile tea, the exhibition is open daily from 10am-5pm, with last admission at 4pm. Admission is £3.50 for children and adults aged 3 and up. And to top it all off, downstairs in Rheged’s state of the art cinema, you can watch the new movie from Sony Pictures, which is screened daily. Visitors can save money with a combined ticket for the exhibition and the film.