Taunton Day

We explored the town of Taunton on Thursday with an old friend of Stacey's, Adam, and his children.

After meeting at their house, we walked to the Museum of Somerset, a brilliant place to spent a few hours.

Here, Violet and Harry are checking out an old almshouse, with a docent inside explaining how life was lived in the 1500s.

Inside the museum were exhibits on the county from ancient times, up to the present day.

Children could complete a worksheet, looking for items and writing about them. Here's Cora's entry into the guestbook.

















A special exhibit on the Somerset Light Infantry, the unit Stace's grandfather served with. Uniforms from the First World War and the Zulu conflict were on display.

Stace and I had last visited the museum years ago, but hardly recognized it as it's gone through a full redo over the past few years.

 One room of the castle, which dates from the 12th Century, featured famous quotations about Somerset and its people. One such quote was in the ceiling rotunda, visible by looking into the mirror shown here.









In this room, children (or adults) could write down their own thoughts, or words of wisdom. Violet took hers from the book of Proverbs: "a harsh word stirs up anger."










We picked up lunch after leaving the museum, and enjoyed it at a nearby park. Harry is Cora's age, and Molly is two years older, so it was nice for the girls to have playmates for the day.

Then, before it was time for us to head home, Adam treated the kids to ice cream.

Why the big smile, Cora? Oh, yes, because you have TWO scoops!

We all had a very nice day together, and Stacey really enjoyed catching up with his boyhood/football friend. Thanks to Adam for most of these photos...