Two amazing days out in Weston-super-Mare

Enjoy two amazing days out near Weston-super-Mare in Somerset with the Great Savings Guide

The Helicopter Museum

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I’ve never understood how aircraft actually stay in the air? It doesn’t matter how many times it’s explained to me - I hear the words, they just won’t compute. But on a recent visit to the Helicopter Museum, just 10 minutes from Weston-super-Mare, one display’s explanation offered a glimmer of hope.

Built on a former working airfield, the Helicopter Museum not only has the largest collection of rotary aircraft in the World, it also contains many rare and famous examples. Those that know their chops will be excited to stand beneath a Westland Whirlwind HCC Mk.12, a G-LYNX / ZB500, or indeed a MIL Mi-8PS ‘Hip’ - otherwise known as the helicopter used by the Royal family (once piloted by King Charles himself), the actual craft that broke (and still holds) the World speed record, and a Russian helicopter borrowed from the museum by Marvel to feature in its superhero film Black Widow.

Opposite the large car park (plenty of room for motorhomes), housed in the old pilot’s block and control tower, a museum within a museum recounts the history of what was once one of the busiest airports in the country. Young visitors have the opportunity to dress up here in period costumes and play pilot on a WW2 flight simulator. There’s even a helicopter shaped climbing frame to dangle from.

Back inside the main hangars (very useful on bad weather days) there are over 80 aircraft to explore. When I say the museum is crammed nose to tail with them, I’m not just speaking figuratively.

Engineering buffs will like that many of the vehicles have their engines on display - either in situ or fully removed and arranged next to their hosts. Rather uniquely, the museum encourages visitors to watch restoration work being undertaken, and chat to the volunteers carrying it out, in the conservation hangar (Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days for this apparently).

For those, like me, who don’t know an armature from a legature, there are many other aspects of the museum to immerse yourselves in. There’s the palpable history of being next to a huge Russian gunship, or a veteran chopper from the Vietnam War. I found myself being particularly fascinated by the East German utility craft whose cabin detaches like Thunderbird 2. You can marvel at the confusion of controls in a cockpit, inspect the VVIP interior of the official ‘Queen’s Flight’ or sit inside one of the only commercial ‘airliner’ style multi-passenger helicopters and imagine arriving in vintage style yourself.

Not all the models on display are huge vehicles either. There are numerous small and entertainingly curious craft, such as the autogyro akin to James Bond’s ‘Little Nellie’, or the prototype human transport drone, and even a DIY kit-copter, powered by just a motorbike engine. I defy you not to smile at the sight of a fully operational ‘Budgie the Little Helicopter’ kiddie ride (50p a go) peeping out from between his much larger, and more serious looking, relations.

Airfix aficionados will enjoy the cabinets full of scale models that bank around the museum’s cafe and shop areas. Just looking at them brought back the smell of Poly Cement and memories of sticking my fingers together.

The museum holds regular ‘open cockpit’ days, where visitors can sit in several of the beasts. Or, for the most authentic experience, you can pre-book a short helicopter flight (weather dependent), taking off from the museum’s own helipad. Check the website for dates and details of both.

Which brings me back to that display panel on powered flight. “Something something air travelling faster over the top of a blade than under it, something something downward pressure equals lift?” I’m forgetting already, but the important thing is it made sense at the time. And who needs to understand physics to appreciate that helicopters are just cool.

Members save £2 on admission with the Great Savings Guide, find out more here.

• The Helicopter Museum, Locking Moor Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS24 8PP
• Open Wed-Sun 10.00am-5.30pm

Stay at: Hurn Lane, Cheddar Club Campsites

Bishop’s Palace and Gardens

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“Why do Bishops live in palaces?” asked my wife, upon hearing my next destination. As is often the case, I didn’t know the correct answer. So, as is also often the case, I made one up. I was reminded of this as I approached the Bishop’s Palace in Wells, and resolved to discover just how far off the mark I’d been.

Wells, in Somerset, often cited as England’s smallest city (though the City of London might have something to say about that) feels more like a historically handsome and walkable market town, characterised by it’s weave of medieval streets, cobbled market square and imposing Gothic Cathedral.

Adjacent to the Cathedral grounds, and approached from the market through a stone archway, is the Bishop’s Palace - a grand moated edifice that has served as home to the Bishops of Bath and Wells for over 800 years. The moat itself is home to a patrol of mute swans, who’ve learned to save their voices by ringing a bell whenever peckish.

Crossing the drawbridge and passing beneath the 14th century stone gatehouse, you’re presented with a choice between heading straight into what some say is the most impressive Bishop’s Palace still in use, or exploring it’s 14 acres of gardens (that’s about 233 times the size of an average garden, to you and me). I’d lucked out with the weather, arriving on a beautiful spring morning, so opted for gardens first.

Head Gardener James Cross and his team have spent the last 20 years restoring and developing what is now a Royal Horticultural Society partner garden with a Grade 2 listing (no, I didn’t know gardens could be listed either). Where once the gardens were only open to the public in certain months, planting has been encouraged to create interest for visitors at any time of year. The rampart banks alone have been planted with 20,000 tulips, to create a wall of colour in spring, and alternate areas designed to peak as seasons progress. A traditional parterre has been revived, with an impressive portcullis inspired knot garden, surrounded by a border of bright perennials.

Ducking beneath a weeping willow to cross the moat again, I passed into the outer gardens. The main draw here are two of the once sacred springs that give the town it’s name, and in whose mirror-still waters you can admire the neighbouring Cathedral’s reflection.

Young visitors will enjoy the Dragon’s Lair play area, with it’s interactive (in the truest sense, no digital screens here) water pump, and a giant wooden dragon to stomp over. The child in me was especially pleased to see a low hanging and wide spreading tree that just begged to be climbed on - and no sign saying not to.

Becalmed by a stop in the Quiet Garden, where visitors are encouraged to turn off their phones and enjoy a moment of tranquil mindfulness surrounded by nature, I ventured back inside the Palace proper to enjoy being nosey at how Bishops live.

Successive incumbents have left their mark on the house - a porch here, a chapel there, demolishing bits of the Great Hall to create a ‘more picturesque ruin’ - and various rooms within have been laid out to portray specific periods in the building’s life. Small discoveries give colour to these rooms, such as why the undercroft isn’t underground, or that the carved wood panelling in the Victorian banquet room is in fact made from papier mâché. The recreation of Bishop Wynne Willson’s 1920’s study, complete with pipe rack, old newspapers, and a wireless playing contemporary tunes was particularly successful in whisking me back in time.

Other rooms are dedicated to displaying the house’s collection of historical items, such as the Bishop’s cope worn to the last five Royal Coronations, and a much copied original Glastonbury Chair. There are dressing up rails for young and old alike (you'll rock that Bishop’s mitre, trust me), and a dining room piano that explicitly invites visitors to play.

For the ecclesiastically curious, the Bishop’s Chapel, used for centuries by the household for private prayer, is a quiet wonder. Look for a pagan Green Man in the medieval carvings, or bask in the light of the tall windows, coloured by stained glass rescued from abandoned French churches.

All faiths, or none, are welcome to join a short service there at midday everyday.

If you hear your grumbling stomach echo around the chapel, the bright and modern Bishop’s Table cafe, serving delicious looking locally sourced and home-made fare, sits within the ramparts with views across the croquet lawn and Palace.

It was while sitting there that I again pondered my lie. I’d guessed that Bishops historically lived in palaces to reflect their status as among the most powerful people in the land. I was close, but not correct.

The internet tells me that palaces differ from mere mansions in that they’re also used for official state business rather than just being majestic homes.

If you remember one thing, make it that small, but important, definition. Because, while enjoying your visit to the Palace, someone’s bound to ask the same question - and it can be you, my friend, that takes the win.

• Open 9.30am-5.30pm daily (summer) 10am-4pm daily (winter). There’s no parking at the Palace, but several town centre carparks are a short walk away.
• Dogs (on leads) are allowed in the gardens, but only service animals are permitted inside the Palace proper.

Members save up to 50% on admission with the Great Savings Guide, find out more here

Stay at: Hurn Lane, Cheddar, Longleat Club Campsites

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