And just like that, Christmas is here! Our tree is And just like that, Christmas is here! Our tree is up, the Santa hats are out and the first doors on our advent calendars are open.

I love this time of year. It is my favourite. And it’s one of the few times still full of magic even as an adult. I’m going to be soaking up every minute of joy the next few weeks bring and I hope December is full of moments of joy for you too.

Happy December! 🎄
AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell and there’s so much to entertain the whole family whilst you do your Christmas shopping! 

Visit The Lexicon Glow Room for a magical light experience that will dazzle you with 20,000 LEDs. It feels like the room goes on forever! Then, take a dip in the Light Pool, a magical ball pool with golden balls to be found and prizes to be won!

If that wasn’t all, have a photo in the giant Christmas bauble ‘sparkling selfie station’ and follow the Twinkle Trail, spotting baubles in shop windows to collect the clues and enter to win fabulous prizes this Christmas. Plus, share your sparkling selfie station pictures, tagging #thelexiconbracknell or email them to marketing@thelexiconbracknell.com and you will automatically be entered in a competition for the chance to win a restaurant gift card too. 

There are also special performances from local choirs, bands and singers and even the chance to meet Bluey, Hey Duggee and Chase from Paw Patrol! You can be sure that a trip to The Lexicon will have something for everyone over the festive season this year. We loved our visit to The Lexicon last weekend and know we’ll be back again before Christmas!

Find out more on @thelexiconbracknell website.

#TheLexiconBracknell #Merry&Bright
AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! We had our first Glow Marwell experience tonight - and we loved it. It may even be the best light trail we have been to.

We spent well over two hours at @marwellzoo, enjoying the light installations, indulging in the food stalls and cafe, toasting marshmallows and even meeting Father Christmas! 

Glow Marwell was such a nice way to kick off the festive season - and it’s on all the way through December! If you’re looking for a really nice festive activity the whole family can enjoy, this could definitely be it!
AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparent AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparents this year? @famileo_uk is a wonderful gift, giving the recipient a personalised gazette of family news regularly throughout the year - and it costs from just £5.99 a month. 

Multiple family members can use the same subscription, all posting messages to be added to one gazette - and sharing the cost of the subscription too! It’s great for parents, siblings and children to all share their news with grandparents each week, fortnight or month. 

We’ve been sending my dad Family gazettes for a while now and he absolutely loves them. It means we tell him all the little things that are happening and not just the big news you remember to mention in phone calls. The children get to upload their own messages to their grandad and it’s definitely made them feel closer, building a stronger relationship despite living far apart.

Find out more about Family over on the blog - link in bio - and buy a subscription for your nearest and dearest this Christmas. It’s a gift they will definitely love to receive.
Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing the Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing these updates every week but I like having somewhere to put all these photos!

They’re now three months old, super loving and happy, making biscuits and purring constantly.

They stay in ‘their’ room overnight but explore the house during the day, getting more confident as time passes. They even got to the point of relaxing on the sofa with us last night.

Fred & George are now very much part of our family and I can’t imagine them not being there now - even at 7am when they’re miaowing at the door for breakfast!
AD | Stuck for screen-free entertainment that your AD | Stuck for screen-free entertainment that your kids will love? Claim your FREE Banjo Robinson activity pack today!
 
Reading for pleasure is a key indicator of a child’s future success, but if your child doesn’t love to read, what can you do? We know it’s not always easy keeping kids entertained and away from screens, so we’ve partnered with the award-winning @banjorobinson to gift you a FREE activity pack, worth £9.99.

Here’s a little look at the Banjo Robinson subscription - Troy loves it! Travelling to world with Banjo is so much fun! You can read our full review over on the blog and claim your free activity pack too - link in profile.
A whole week of Fred & George. We weren’t meant A whole week of Fred & George.

We weren’t meant to get more cats just yet but sometimes the universe sends you things when you don’t expect them.

These little guys needed a home and a family to love them. And we had a home and a lot of love to give. We still miss Leia but this pair are definitely helping make me feel whole again.

They are both used to us now, and love us. They’re less nervous, give us cuddles and let us pick them up. They’re still living in our spare room but starting to explore the rest of the house under supervision. 

They play fight constant. Love toys, especially a crinkly feather thing on a string attached to a stick, and love being up high. They are an awesome pair and we are so glad to have them.

Thank you @millbrook_rspca @rspca_official for trusting us with ‘Lonestar and Starfish’. We could not love them more. 

#catsofinstagram #catstagram #catsofig #catsofinsta #catlovers #adoptdontshop #rspcarescuecat #kittensofinstagram #kittens_of_instagram
[AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing abo [AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing about our half term break at @pottersresort and it’s over on the blog if you want to go have a read.

I wanted to put some of my favourite photos on the grid too as the kids did so many fun activities - they had THE best time. 

Giant swing, segways, climbing, archery, laser clays… there was so much to do that we couldn’t fit it all in - we need another trip!
And there ends our October half term - well, apart And there ends our October half term - well, apart from Troy who has a bonus week off!

This half term has been pretty lovely. Troy had his school residential the first weekend and then we had a really lovely few days in Norfolk before heading home and picking up two new members of our family - Fred and George. 11 week old rescue kittens who have pretty much stolen our hearts.

It’s been so nice to have a chunk of quality time with this pair and now I’m looking forward to the Christmas holidays. These two are the best company and I really do live for the school holidays. 

How has your half term been?
  • Reviews
  • Recipes
    • Slow Cooker Fudge Recipes
    • Christmas Recipes
    • Easter Recipes
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • All Recipes
  • Travel
  • Blog
  • About
  • Featured In…
  • Work With Me/Contact
  • Reviews
  • Recipes
  • Travel

What the Redhead said

The Future's Bright, The Future's Ginger

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • As Featured In…
  • Work with Me

Days Out, Days Out and Attractions/Events, Reviews · August 26, 2021

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

Disclosure: We were invited on this day out for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.

We first heard about the Churchill War Rooms, randomly, when we visited the London Transport Museum a couple of years ago and walked through the underground where people had lived during the war. When we were invited to the War Rooms on a trip to London last week we couldn’t wait to visit.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

What are the Churchill War Rooms?

The Churchill War Rooms were the underground nerve centre where the British government directed the Second World War. It’s also home to the award-winning Churchill Museum and high on the list of must-see attractions in London. If you enjoy learning more about history then you’ll appreciate a visit to the War Rooms.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

Is a guided tour available?

When you first enter the Churchill War Rooms you are offered audio guides and they have a special child friendly one available too. This helped to keep the children engaged throughout and was really interesting for the adults – with their adults versions – too.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

The audio tour is included in the ticket price and works by typing in numbers and pressing play as you see them dotted around the site. There are also boards to read which is always my preference on educational days out as I can take in the information in my own time.

What can you see at Churchill War Rooms?

There is so much to see in the Churchill War Rooms. From the first room – The Cabinet Room – where Churchill famously said “This is the room from which I will direct the war.”. You can stand inches away from the room where some of the most important decisions about the course of the war were made.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

As soon as we walked from the entrance to the huge windows of The Cabinet Room I felt quite sombre. The War Rooms are such an important place, and they saw so much during the war, but it’s always quite sobering to think about what our ancestors went through back then.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

I was so glad to step foot in the War Rooms, to walk the same footsteps as Churchill and to learn more about Britain’s part in World War II. So much of the Churchill War Rooms is familiar from the Darkest Hour movie too, with a lot of it featuring in the film.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

In the War Rooms you get to walk through the top-secret rooms and corridors that were once only accessible to those with the highest security clearance in the country. From the main door to the Cabinet Room to the map room where you can see the maps just as they were left when the war ended.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

A big part of the War Rooms is seeing what day to day life was like back then. You got to see the kitchen where Churchill’s food would have been made as well as his bedroom, his wife’s bedroom and other senior official’s living quarters. There is also a glimpse to another floor further underground where less official staff lived – and where they had to stoop to walk through the space.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

One part of the Churchill War Rooms we loved was the Transatlantic Telephone Room which was disguised as a private toilet. The room was used to house a secure radio-telephone link between the Prime Minister of Britain and the President of the United States and you could just imagine Winston Churchill sitting in this tiny room making some of the most important phone calls of his life.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

So much thought has gone into the War Rooms to preserve as much of the space as possible, making it a real trip back in time. But there are also sound effects and audio recordings played at various parts and you can even hear some of Churchill’s most famous speeches.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

It was really interesting to find out more about Churchill, and what he was like as a Prime Minister. We found out how much he valued a quiet working environment and saw photos of his time in the War Rooms – including a colour photograph that was a real wow moment, as you never see photos from back then in colour. It’s as if history was made in black and white.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

What is in the Churchill Museum?

The Churchill Museum is included in your ticket to the Churchill War Rooms. It is split into five chapters, War Leader, Cold War Statesman, Young Churchill, Maverick Politician and the Wilderness Years. Each one works through a time in Churchill’s life and we learnt so much from the museum and its exhibits.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

In the museum you can see so much about Churchill’s life, his time as Prime Minister and his family. There are letters to read that were sent between Churchill and his wife, Clementine and you can learn more about the woman behind the Prime Minister.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

You can see the original Number 10 Downing Street door that Churchill first walked through as Prime Minister on 10 May 1940 as well as so many interactive exhibits that children will love to play with. A highlight of these is the 15 metre long, electronic, interactive table which is a living biography of Sir Winston Churchill’s life.

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms

We really enjoyed our trip to the Churchill War Rooms and spent over an hour there moving from exhibit to exhibit and room to room in our own time. If we hadn’t had the kids with us we would definitely have spent longer and a suggested trip is around two hours.

You can find out more about the Churchill War Rooms over on their website and I made a little Reel of our visit over on Instagram too.

You can see a video of our trip to Churchill War Rooms over on Instagram here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Donna – What the Redhead Said (@genuineplacebo84)

A Visit to the Churchill War Rooms
Churchill War Rooms

In: Days Out, Days Out and Attractions/Events, Reviews

You’ll Also Love

Folly Farm Review
Chocolate Lovers Afternoon Tea at Whittlebury Park Hotel & Spa
Seeing Dolphins in Mauritius with Adrien’s Dream

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Next Post >

The Lavender Fields – Selborne, Hampshire

About Me
Hi everyone! I'm Donna. Mummy. Blogger. Social Media Manager. Traveller. Lover of stars, rainbows and gin. Firm believer that tea and cake can fix most things.

Sign up for Emails

looking for something?

  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
  • Featured In…
  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 What the Redhead said · Theme by 17th Avenue