Illona Kell

It is a really interesting place to learn about the history of WW2. The tour begins with a short audio visual display, cleverly done with lights and shadows, which sets the scene for the creation of the shelters. Once that is over, you venture into the tunners. There are areas detailing the history of the area during WW2 and other interesting bits of history. There are various areas to see, including the wardens room, sleeping areas, toilets, sick bay, kitchen area, and a reconstructed Anderson shelter. There is an accompanying audio tour that gives extra information at various points, as well as real testimonies of experiences. Finally, there's a shop with wartime themed items. I noticed a sign for guided tours that happen on some evenings where you get to see extra parts of the tunnels not usually accessible to the public (age 16+ for this tour). We spent around 45 minutes here as a family, but could have easily spent double the time if we didn't have a toddler with us.

We spent a full day here enjoying the Easter activities. The kids enjoyed doing the trail and making the Easter bonnets. They particularly enjoyed being able to bottle feed the lambs and going for a ride on the barrel ride (this cost extra). I'd say we probably spent more time in the play areas than with the animals because a lot of them were sleeping or not hungry (not a complaint, it happens). The play areas were great and it was a bonus to have a mini train to ride as many times as they liked. The petting area was good and it was very clear which animals you could feed any why. The kids loved being able to stroke the guinea pigs and it was reassuring to see that the guinea pigs could retreat when they'd had enough of being stroked, and also that the sessions were kept short so that they could have a rest.

We ate in the cafe, which was nowhere near big enough for the amount of people visiting. The tables were so close together that it was impossible to get round because there was no space for pushchairs. It was probably a 25 minute queue to order (and we got in before the lunch rush), but once we'd ordered the food came pretty fast. There was also only one set of toilets right by the entrance, which wasn't enough for the size of the place or number of people.