Life as a SEN mum

If you’ve been here long enough, you’ll know by now that we visit Bolsover a fair bit. It’s our closest English Heritage Property, and it has so much to offer for all ages all year round.

We have visited Bolsover during October half term in the past and it always follows a similar concept, but with different theming. This year it was back to what English Heritage is all about… history. This year was a more generalised history theme, but we’ve visited in past years when the Halloween trail has been specific to each property, as well as a Beano themed trail a few years back.

What’s on

During the day you’ll find a family friendly trail to complete. Pick up your trail sheet on entry and make your way around the grounds to answer various questions. This year the trail booklet also included various other activities for kids such as word jumbles and dot to dots, as well as some Halloween themed jokes and an additional trail where you had to find various symbols and work out which was missing.

There was also a range of sessions in the exhibition space and stables. Kids were able to try their hand at sword fighting and take part in the telling of a spooky story. This is definitely more for the kids as it is done to be able to get them all involved. But beware there will be insistence on all the audience taking part at times.

If you’re looking for something a little more spooky and you’re over 18, you can visit the castle after dark for one of their annual ghost tours. I’ve never done one as finding someone to have the kids can obviously prove difficult. But my mum did one this year and said she highly recommends. Most of the evening was taken up as a pretty traditional ghost walk, around the site with stories of sightings etc. At the end of the evening is then the chance to stay a bit longer and take part in activities using EMF readers etc to try to detect paranormal activity for yourself.

Overview

Obviously the Halloween period has now passed, so I can’t tell you to go and visit this year, although the castle does remain open throughout the year so definitely worth a visit regardless. But if you’re local, or wanting to venture out a little further to explore somewhere new, then definitely add Bolsover to your list for next spooky season. If you have a look through some of my other reviews, you’ll see that there is plenty on offer alongside the seasonal activities, and in all honesty it’s a lovely place to just walk around and take in the stunning scenery.