Boys' Day Out

It's always hard to get my Dad a present, Christmas or birthday. For the last few years we've been buying him CD's and videos but he doesn't even open them.
So, what do you get the Dad for Christmas who has everything?
A day out at a Tank Museum, that's what.
On Thursday after Christmas, Dean, Dad and I went to the country's largest collection of battle tanks. About 40 miles away, in the small village of Bovington, is the training base for the British Army's tank battalions and the Bovington Tank Museum.

As a boy my Dad used to visit this museum. When Dean and I were boys, Dad used to take us. For many years now we've all been wanting to go back. The museum has been extensively renovated and now charges admittance; it was once free to get in years ago. It houses tanks from all major wars from many different countries, many of them still running, "The First World War Experience" is complete with trenches, and a section on "The Story of the Tank," which explains why and how tanks were developed and how they have evolved into today's modern battle machines.

As we walked the exhibits and read all the information, we were told about a 1990's British tank, the Chieftain, that was opened up, and we were allowed to get inside it. I sat in the loaders position, Dean in the Gunner and Dad in the commander seat. It was very cramped and must have been incredibly noisy. We were told that in the event of a nuclear attack, the crew would have to stay inside the tank, in their positions, for four days.

In all, we spent five hours learning and exploring hundreds of tanks throughout history.
It was a great day out for all of us.

To top it off we had fish and chips on the way home.