Never let it be said that I don’t *sniff* totally heart you guys. I’ve spent weeks – WEEKS! – researching the best of what’s on in Oxfordshire, Bucks and beyond over May half term week for your delectation. If you have kids, you can now relax – it’s totally covered on Muddy. If you’re unencumbered by small people, more power to you, and there’s plenty of child-free stuff to do too. Have fun, and if you think I’ve missed anything amazing off, let me know!
ON ALL WEEK
Deep breath. Are you ready?
Waddesdon Manor has the fantastic Plant it, Grow it, Eat it! ( 11-3pm, Sat 23 – Sat 30 May, £2 per pot and normal admission), where kids can create a personalised plant pot, plant a giant pumpkin seed and take it home to grow. Staying outside, it’s Gnometastic at Waterperry Gardens (from 23 May – 1 June) – 9 gnomes to find, no booking required, the perfect excuse to get kids running around an exquisite garden. Over at National Trust-owned Hughendon Manor near High Wycombe, kids can learn how to build and fly a kite, then set it soaring in the parkland (23 – 31 May) or if that’s a bit prosaic for your little brutes, how about scaling Hughenden’s rock climbing wall? (25-29 May)?
Love the sound of Bright Sparks @ Bletchley Park, different activities each day from craft and spy workshops for all ages, children’s guided tours, trails, quizzes and handling collections. Over at the MK Museum, loving the sound of daily science demos with Professor Beamish (a real character apparently), magical lantern shows, playing with old toys, attending a class in the Victorian schoolroom, kids making their own hot-buttered toast, plus there’s a cafe on site (2 adults, 2 kids £22, 11am-4.30pm each day during half term). There are events and workshops daily for kids at Magnificent May Half Term The Story Museum in central Oxford, or what about daily Coin Trails (£2 per trail) at Upton House near Banbury. Upton is fabulous, so don’t be put off by the modesty of the event, I think it will be fun.
More you say?! The brilliant Longridge Activity Centre near Marlow (above) is open all week (25-29 May) for holiday activity days, where kids can try 4-5 different outdoor sports (kayaking, zorbing, dragon boating, climbing etc) in gorgeous surroundings while you watch Jeremy Kyle re-runs on telly. The Oxford Fringe Festival (Fri 22 May – 7 June) is built on the model of Edinburgh and Brighton, offering everything from stand up to soul, puppetry to Shakespeare at venues all over the city.
Exhibitions worth checking out include the brilliant Magna Carta 800 at the Bodleian in Oxford (free!), 100 Drawings at The Ashmolean in Oxford, and for theatrical kids there’s Creation Theatre‘s well-regarded Put on a Play in a Week holiday workshops in Headington, Oxford for 6-8 year olds and 9-12 year olds.
For little ones, there are sheep shearing and wool spinning shows at Odds Farm Park (23-29 May), and it’s time to get veg and fruit-picking – Rectory Farm, Medley Manor Farm (Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun), Banbury Self-Pick, Copas Farms (Iver and Cookham) are all open for PYO.
More adult-friendlly is Sculpture in the Vineyard at Bothy Vineyard (23 May – 7 June) – see some art and buy some booze (I mean, come on, does it get better than that?). And if it all gets too much? Stoke Park has a special Revitalising Spa Retreat package running for £145 per person, incuding 2 x 55min treatmnts, 2 course spa lunch, full use of facilities and a gift to take home. Suddenly half term seems a lot more bearable.
ALL WEEK – FURTHER AFIELD
Slightly out of catchment, it’s definitely worth checking out Against Captain’s Orders, A Journey into the Unchartered at the National Maritime Museum in London (runs until 31 Aug), a ground-breaking show in association with Punchdrunk for 6-12 year olds as families join the crew of HMSAdventure, don a lifejacket and step into the heart of the action. At Warwick Castle, dig out your wellies and corset for some Medievel Glamping – two days left at the time of writing on 22 or 31 May! Or maybe just go for the day to see the return of the Horrible Histories Medieval Mayhem, rocking up from 23 – 31 May.
Up in Stratford the RSC are treading the boards with a new production of The Merchant of Venice while in London it’s the last week to catch And it’s the last week to catch Roald Dahl’s The Twits at The Royal Court Theatre (London SW1, ends 31 May).
Or how about catching a production of Peter Pan, in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (above now running until 14 June)? A bit of a schlep but if you can make it, Bethnall Green’s Museum of Childhood is a fantastic space and this half term is running events all week celebrating 150 years of Alice in Wonderland with lots of activities and workshops. Also worth checking out, the interactive trail and family game Story Scramble at The Tower of London (23-25 May; 29-31 May), putting back together 1000 years of history.
And it’s the last week to Adventures in Wonderland at Waterloo Vaults – a multisensory event for kids 5+ by theatre company Les Enfants Terribles creating the strange world of Alice underground. There’s also an adults version featuring live bands, performances and a bar. Rack em up!
Finally, ‘Full of Spice’ Summer Festival at Kew Gardens is worth a gander (opens 23 May until 6 Sept) with performances, workshops, folk art weekends, all part of the usual admission tickets. Kew also has one of the few UK tourist cafes I’ve been to that offers really excellent food!
DAY BY DAY LISTINGS
THURS 21 MAY:
KIDS:
For those 12+, the return of Shared Experience at The Oxford Playhouse for Mermaid, (above), a re-imagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s tale of love, loss and desire, given 5 stars by The Times. If you’re in Oxford, take your kids to the Museum of the History of Science on Broad St (until 5pm), a fantastic free museum choc-ful of brilliant scientific inventions going back centuries, then head down George Street to brand new Thai eaterie Thaikun if they’re feeling brave (if not, GBK is across the road!).
ADULTS: Wayne Marshall plays From Bach to Gershwin as part of the SJE International Piano Series 2015 – his programme of jazz improvisations at Church of St John the Evangelist, Iffley Road, Oxord. In London at Somerset House, it’s London’s first international photography fair (until 24 May, daily 12-19pm) with galleries exhibiting throughout Somerset house. For music fans the Tom Green Septet rocks up at the award-winning Spinjazz in Oxford. Winner of the 2013 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition, Tom Green is a trombonist, composer and arranger described as “a new rising star in the British jazz scene” by Jazz FM.
FRI 22 MAY
KIDS:
A sweet opportunity for your little ones to become Nature Tots, Didcot with nature play, games, stories and crafts on a nature reserve. Booking essential and dress for the weather! (9.30-11.3oam). Waddesdon Manor has a stunning new ‘candelebra’ installation on the front lawn – well worth kids seeing at dusk when it lights up, plus there’s Meet the Aviary Keeper (2.30pm, also on Weds & Thurs) where a member of the Aviary team talks about its work, and Waddesdon’s archive Windmill Hill is open 2-4pm on Fridays with its stunning art collections and modern architecture.
ADULTS: Tried the Pitt Rivers after-hours nights yet? Now’s your chance! Be taken around this quirky Oxford museum by an expert guide after the daily crowds have gone (5.30-7pm). In Didcot, fresh from a West End run of The Trials of Oscar Wilde, European Arts present The Picture of Dorian Grey at Cornerstone Arts. Should be good. The Witney Music Festival kicks off today, (until 31st) if live music floats your boat.
SAT 23RD MAY
KIDS:
At Whipsnade, kids TV character Tree Fu Tom (until 25 May) launches the zoo’s new butterfly house. Just over the border in Reading, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra presents Magic and Mystery. Noisy Kids – Classical Music Alive in Reading, including music from Harry Potter and Pirate of the Caribbean. Over in Langley Park, the Great Big Tree Climbing Company teaching kids 7+ to enter a tree’s canopy using ropes, knots and karabiners, whilst being securely attached in a harness and taking zip wire back down! Planning to visit Warwick Castle? Today you get to see the first new live Horrible Histories stage show, plus a new immersive audio visual Time Tower amongst the regular turrets, falcon display and trebuget displays. Over at Waddesdon Manor the fantastic Plant it, Grow it, Eat it! ( 11-3pm, Sat 23 – Sat 30 May, £2 per pot and normal admission), where kids can create a personalised plant pot, plant a giant pumpkin seed and take it home to grow.
ADULTS:
Blenheim Palace’s first Food Festival starts today (until 25 May) with three days of cookery demos, stalls, workshops and a dedicated kids area too, plus hay-baled picnic area. The Reduced Shakespeare Company reaches The Mill Arts Centre today its touring The Complete Works of Comedy. One for Terry Pratchett mega-fans, Oxford’s Story Museum presents Discworld Weekend, a celebration of Pratchett’s phenomenally successful Discworld novels with special events including films and games, readings and talks.
No me neither but there are fans you know. More my bag – I’m being serious here! – is the reenactment of Elizabeth I’s royal party descending on Oxford for the day in 1566. As St Mary’s University Church says itself, ‘Dancing! Music! Queen Bess and the Earl of Leicester! Poems! Debates! A Tudor sermon! And a new play, ‘Palamon and Arcite’, where everything goes wrong. It’s free, and everyone is welcome (as are costumes).’ And don’t forget Sculpture in the Vineyard at Bothy Vineyard (above) – your kids can bomb around the vines while you check out the art and eye up a cheeky bottle or two.
SUN 24 MAY
KIDS:
It’s Cushion Concert time at the Jaqueline du Pre building in St Hilda’s Oxford, introducing kids to the big daddy of instruments, the double bass (10am/11am for under 5s; 12pm over 5s). In Buckingham today, the Great Big Tree Climbing Company teaching kids 7+ to enter a tree’s canopy using ropes, knots and karabiners, whilst being securely attached in a harness and taking zip wire back down… Meanwhile, in Henley, My Pet Monster and Me is on at Kenton Theatre. The Guardian think it’s ‘excellent’ but make up your own mind! (3-7 years).
ADULTS:
Muddy best bar winners Claytons Marlow have a Café del Marlow all day party today (1pm-2am) with house music and BBQ. Not quite the Ibizan sunsets I remember but I dare say the hangover will be just the same. For classic car fans (female Muddys, wake up!), there’s the Knebworth Festival of Transport at Knebworth House (today and tomorrow 25 May), chocca with classic cars and bikes, kit cars, sport and custom cars.
MON 25 MAY
KIDS: The fabulous 14th century moated Boarstall Tower gatehouse (NT, above) is open today (11am-5pm) and also Wednesday (2-5pm) with guided tours available. Set in pretty gardens for the kids to bomb around in and with a rare 17th century Duck Decoy to boot. In lovely Black Park in Wexham there are Stories by the Campfire (£5 each, 3-4.30pm) with marshmallows and hot drinks provided. The brilliant Longridge Activity Camp for kids opens all this week for Holiday Activity Days – kids can try 4 activites for £40 or 5 for £50 with lunch thrown in so it’s amazing value (8.45am to 4pm/5.30pm). My kids did this last year and LOVED it.
ADULTS: Head off to Peterley Manor Farm and stock up in the Farm Shop and nursery and then scoff a cake in the yurt (9am – 4pm). Muddy Awards finalist for Best Family Attraction Cogges farm is a venue for The Witney Music Festival today, with live music in the Wheat Barn and cider and beer available from the bar
TUES 26 MAY
KIDS:
Little people can learn all about Bursting Blooms at Westonbirt Arboretum (10.30am – pm, today until Thurs 28), with a familly trail and crafts at the learning centre. Over at Henley’s River and Rowing Museum, 4-7 year olds can create giant Pebble Pets (above, £8.50, 10.30am – 12.30pm). Sweeeeeet! If you book online for Oxford Castle Unlocked from today until 31 May, it’s a bargain ‘Kids for a Quid’, or go one better at the Pitt Rivers (tis free) and let them rummage around for bits and bobs to create their own Museum Masterpieces. The brilliant Longridge Activity Camp for kids opens all this week for Holiday Activity Days – kids can try 4 activities for £40 or 5 for £50 with lunch thrown in so it’s amazing value (8.45am to 4pm/5.30pm). My kids did this last year and loved it.
ADULTS:
In the mood for a laugh? Comedian Reginald D Hunter comes to the Wycombe Swan tonight performing The Man Who Attempted To Do As Much As Such as part of his UK tour. Over at Oxford Playhouse, the brilliant Richard Alston dance company returns with a mixed programme, including Associate Choreographer Martin Lawrance’s latest piece, Burning, with Liszt’s Dante Sonata, played live on stage.
WEDS 27 MAY
KIDS:
A fab event at Black Park, it’s very first Lakeside Fair (12pm-4pm) with fairground rides, circus workshops, magic shows, crazy golf, petting farm, crafts, balloon modelling plus a BBQ and icecream. Best of all it’s free! Budding act-ors will love Play in Three Days at Pegasus Theatre in Oxford (until 29 May). Alternatively they can Meet the Mummies at The Ashmolean (1-4pm, until 29 May), making a mini-mummy and pyramid or head outdoors at the River & Rowing Museum in Henley to discover mini beasts (7-11 years, £8.50) and do crafty stuff. Also at the River & Rowing for older kids (11-15 years) there’s Graphic Art: Super Heroes (10.30am-12.30pm, £8.50) where they can learn graphic techniques to create action-packed, expressive drawings inspired by the Museum’s Arthur Rackham exhibition.
There’s a fab sounding Wildlife Photography Workshop for Children (10am-3pm) at Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre, nr Didcot where kids can bring a digital camera, get photographic advise and then practice in the nature reserve. Best photo wins a prize! Into London and in the Southbank Centre Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs (pictured) bring their jubilant Edinburgh Fringe production to the stage for kids 4+ (2pm today, 11am and 2pm tomorrow).
ADULTS: If you’re planning to go to Kew Gardens this half term (with or without kids), time it to stay on until early evening, as there are cocktails from 6.30 – 9pm to celebrate its Full of Spice summer theme. You can also book rickshaw rides around the garden, listen to live music or sit on spice inflatables around the gardens. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra plays quintessentially Czech classics at the Wycombe Swan tonight – Smetana, Dvorak and Rimsky-Korsakov conducted by Eduardo Portal. Should be good. The fabulous 14th century moated Boarstall Tower gatehouse (NT, above) is open today (2-5pm) with guided tours available.
THURS 28 MAY
KIDS:
Cornerstone is a funky little theatre and How the Koala Leant to Hug is a sweet-sounding family musical, written especially for parents to enjoy with their children. Ages 3 +. The brilliant Longridge Activity Camp nr Marlow for kids continues all this week with its Holiday Activity Days – kids can try 4 activites for £40 or 5 for £50 with lunch thrown in so it’s amazing value (8.45am to 4pm/5.30pm). My kids did this last year and loved it.
ADULTS:
It’s Thursday. You’ve had enough of being sensible for the week. Time to head to TVC my friend, Oxford’s coolest roof bar by a country mile for nibs and cocktails.
FRIDAY 29 MAY
KIDS:
Hello Gifford’s Circus! The best show in the Cotswolds rocks up in Stadhampton from today until 1 June. Incredible to see whether you have kids or not. Over at MK Gallery, there’s a free Collaborate Family Workshop (10-12pm or 2-4pm) for kids 7+ and their families making paper fans (I think it’s a lot better than I’ve made it sound!). Staying with paper but flying into London, The Little Angel Theatre is putting on The Paper Dolls, based on the book by Julia Donaldson (until 28 June) with a crafty day attached. It’s the last day for Longridge Activity Camp nr Marlow with its Holiday Activity Days – kids can try 4 activites for £40 or 5 for £50 with lunch thrown in so it’s amazing value (8.45am to 4pm/5.30pm) and kids love it.
ADULTS:
Oh I say! Stoke Park‘s grass courts (home of The Boodles tennis tournament no less!) open today if you want to make like a pro on the pristine turf. With a show called Bromance the Barely Methodical Troupe deserve to be wearing some very skimpy outfits… I mean, all the success they get! At Oxford Playhouse, tonight and tomorrow (30 May). Sticking with dance, Birmingham Royal Ballet pirouhettes into the Wycombe Swan tonight and tomorrow, with three programmes in one night, plus some faves from Swan Lake etc. Just across the border into Herts, Duende pop up restaurant pops up at Aldbury Memorial Hall.
SATURDAY 30 MAY
KIDS:
Have dogs, will go walkies! The Big Doggie Do in Willen Lake, Milton Keynes is a familly fun day for owners and pets with a dog show, charity stalls, dog training and a whole load of canine-related action. Slightly out of catchment, William Morris’s stunning Cotswold home is holding a family Bookbinding Workshop (ages 3-83 apparently – so what happens if you’re 84?!) where visitors can create your own miniature folding book, inspired by the Kelmscott Manor gardens and Morris’s designs. More crafty stuff at Green Dragon Rare Breeds eco farm in North Bucks, where local crafters exhibit along with wildlife artists and photographers, jewellers and recycled furniture alongside animals to feed and a messy play barn for kids.
For young science fans, Science Oxford presents ‘Musical Science’ in the Oxford Castle Quarter – all about good vibrations. Two morning groups for 5-7 year olds and a 2-3pm session for 7-11 year olds. If that sounds a bit serious, how about Comedy Club for Kids at Pegasus Theatre, Oxford (2pm)? Just a grown-up comedy club but without the rude bits and with better quality heckles! In London it’s the last day to catch Adventures in Wonderland at Waterloo Vaults, a multi-sensory fun for children aged 5 and up. Theatre company Les Enfants Terribles create the entire bonkers world of Alice over several rooms underground. It’s the second day for Gifford’s Circus in Stadhampton today – well worth seeing.
ADULTS:
Curlers in place, red lippy applied, it’s a 1940s Weekend at Upton House (above, Sat 30 & Sun 31). so if you like vintage free time, this is for you. Find your poshest friends and head down to the Hellfire Polo Tournament at West Wycombe Polo Club today and tomorrow. Winner will be the one who talks to the person with the most multiple name barrels! Into London and it’s the last night to catch the acclaimed Alice’s Adventures Underground at Waterloo Vaults with interactive performances, live music and a 2am bar. Also it’s the last night to catch Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Wycombe Swan dancing with three programmes in one night, plus some faves from Swan Lake etc.
SUNDAY 31 MAY
Aren’t you all totally exhausted?! Go on, stay at home for a day! But if you insist…
KIDS:
Try the Motus Dance Festival in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes with performers ranging from local school children to pros and the usual festival extras. Peterley Manor Farm‘s Wild Strawberry Cafe is open today for breakfast, lunch and cakes. 9am-4pm if you fancy using the farm shop while your kids nosh up. Plus it’s the last chance in the hols to see Gifford’s Circus’ new show Moon Songs in Stadhampton.
ADULTS: Sustainable and ethical Duck Pond Market arrives at Black Park today – it’s a regular ‘touring’ market that looks like it has some proper credentials. The website is a month out of date, but I’ve checked and it’s definitely on today!