We visited Bicton Park Botanical Gardens just before the New Year.
We were very lucky because the Christmas decorations were still up so we got a belated feel of all the festive cheer before it got taken down.
The first place we visited was the shop to see the unique things they had on display. We really loved seeing the shiny festive gifts, sweets, and even some more unusual buys.
We took a little walk outside where we spotted some chickens wandering around having some food. Do you know what chickens eat? Take a look in the video and see if you can guess what these chickens were pecking around for.
We really wanted to get onto the woodlands railway train that goes around the estate so we played in the play barn just next to the train station. It was Ano’s first time on a train this small and she absolutely loved it! It went slowly enough that we didn’t miss a thing while it was still very enjoyable because there were lots of things to spot.
We picked up one of the task charts to see if we could spot everything we rode past. Luckily all the places were numbered so even when we missed the place we still spotted the number. That was lots of fun to do!
Sadly Vongai couldn’t come because she was asleep in her pram and it’s not possible to get a pram onto the train.
After we came back from the train ride we went to the Countryside Museum before we headed off to our yummy lunch!
At the Countryside Museum we saw loads of things!
One of the first things we saw was the proud sign of R A Lister and Co Ltd of Dursley in Gloucestershire. This was a company that sold agricultural machinery and was founded in 1867. It has a long history and deep connection with Dursley. One of their greatest collaborative endeavours was that of “The Alexandra Cream Separator” which was highly successful.
Mom was the first to spot the farmers trap. She was sure this was the exact design she had seen growing up in Zimbabwe. They were probably still there in the rural areas at least. She says she had ridden on these a few times when she was younger. Have you ever seen a farmers trap in real life? Where do you live?
The other thing that fascinated us was the turnip seed sower from around 1925
It only got more interesting when we saw the different sized tractors from over the years. The biggest was the Bristol Tractor from 1952 but that was still not much bigger than some quad bikes nowadays. The Ransomes Tractor from 1944 was the most complicated looking one but also still very small. All the tractors looked so tiny when we remembered the 90hp tractors we have seen in Aberdeenshire.
The rural kitchen model they have in the Countryside Museum was also especially sobering because it reminded us just how much we take for granted. And it also made us really glad for central heating because it looked like a lot of living was done in that kitchen. So mom guessed that the rest of the house was probably pretty cold in winter.
The Countryside Museum at Bicton also has the most fantastic collection of Mamod working steam models. They are wonderfully preserved in a special room inside glass cabinets and they looked fantastic! A real collector’s dream come true.
There were also other things in the museum that we found interesting. Among them were
- stirrup pumps
- scythes
- apple cider press
- manual lever hay press
- a portable steam engine!
- a millers wagon
- model boats
- the smith’s station
- all the different tools used in farming, forestry and gardening and were made by Messrs Morris and Son at Dunsford near Exeter. We could only guess what a very few of them did but the rest were so fantastic we couldn’t have even begun to guess!
We really had a great time at Bicton Park Botanical Gardens and can’t wait to visit it again next time we’re in Devon.
Bicton Park Botanical Gardens and Woodlands Railway | Bicton Countryside Museum 2019
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