May 2022 Part Two - Returning to the past at Amberley Working Museum

 Somewhere I had visited as a child was Amberley Working Museum, and it was somewhere I wanted to return to as an adult. I remember as a child being on an open top double decker bus, with a conductor giving me a brightly coloured paper ticket. Sad isn't it, I must have been a boring kid to find that particular bit so fascinating when there was a whole museum to explore!

There are all kinds of little museum rooms with artefacts in them, celebrating the history of working people and what they would have used to live and work with. Kinda scary how before modern inhalers we would just use a ceramic vase with boiling water in it. Imagine having an asthma attack and having to wait for the water to boil! I also loved this sign, but as it doesn't state that bloggers who are three years behind are forbidden, then I guess I'm able to wander in!

This maybe the greatest invention ever, two pots that fit the same hob. Why is this not a thing? Would make life so much easier, I would use less gas and cook just as much as before. Who can I speak to about buying these?

This may not look like much, but it really offended me. Not the truck itself, just the idea that a toy which I played with as a kid was now in a museum. Am I really that old? Am I really that old that toys I played with as a child are in a museum? A museum that has my childhood toys in it? I cannot fathom it, I cannot believe I am old enough for this to happen! I am 31 and I am offended! Where is the manager, I need to complain!

Once I'd calmed myself down with an ice-cream, we continued on, there was this fun more cose maker, where you could type in a message and have it converted to morse code, as well as a visit to the bus shed, where there were plenty of vintage old busses to look at, and to laugh at the sign stating devil's dyke. I bet she's good fun!

There's also a little railway too which you can ride on, as well as old busses that take you around the museum. This is a picture of the railway, because I stood for ages waiting for the train to come past, and just as it was about to, James distracted me thinking he could see a heron. By the time I had worked out that the bit of plastic in a tree was not a heron, the train had gone past. So please enjoy this picture of the railway without the train on it!

Anyway, Amberley Working Museum is based in West Sussex, and an adult ticket price is £20, but everything is included in that, the bus and train rides, as well as entry to all the little museum buildings. I thought for how much there was there, it was very good value, and there really was something for everyone to do & see.

We still had a bit of afternoon left, so we drove down to Arundel to the lake near the wetfowl centre to feed some feathered friends. There is no greater joy in life than feeding birds. Trust me, I can be a bit hedonistic! But it's true, especially with ducks. They are so trusting and friendly, they will swarm around you, eat out of your hands and will even sit beside you and chat with you. There is nothing on earth that gives you a better feeling. I first noticed it when I was a child and feeding my grandparents chickens, they would eat out of your hands, and I would sit for hours with them.

There was even a special visitor to the lake, an Oriental duck, you can see him just at the back of the first picture. He didn't come too close, observing us for a while and eating anything that was left over from the other ducks, but we admired him from a distance, with his beautiful plumage and cheeky look about him!

The lake is lovely, there's a little cafe selling teas & ice creams by the main entrance gate, as well as little paddle boats for hire. I'm not so keen on being in the water like that, so we gave that a miss. But it was glorious to walk around the lake.

This pigeon had no fear, landing right into James's hand for some birdseed!

This picture of the lake is my favourite. I'm not sure why, it's not especially exciting. But I just love the trees, the changes in textures, hues of colour, differences in growth. Very interesting, but I couldn't stop and stare for too long, there were ducks that needed feeding!