The story of steam trains, engineering genius and God’s Wonderful Railway, all under one roof!
Isambard Kingdom Brunel built his Swindon Works to repair locomotives back in the 1840s. Today, it’s been beautifully restored and turned into STEAM, the Museum of the Great Western Railway.
Pupils will learn about the lives of ordinary men and women during the railway revolution, as well as having a chance to climb aboard famous locomotives, change the signals and have a go at being an engine driver.
Swindon
The Museum of Computing
The first museum of its kind in the UK will take you back to the earliest days of computers!
Exhibits include a wide range of vintage handheld video games and continue through time to the museum’s Robots Revolution exhibition, which presents state-of-the-art technology.
Sole-access school visits are welcome Mondays to Thursdays and the museum offers a variety of adaptable educational activities, which are suitable for up to 8 pupils, so you’ll need to split larger groups and alternate.
Swindon
The Swindon and Cricklade railway
An authentic taste of life in the pre-electronic age, with locomotives, carriages and wagons!
Another wonderful museum run by volunteers, this atmospheric railway of yesteryear offers school visits when the railway is closed to the public, so you and your pupils will have exclusive access!
A four-mile round trip on a vintage train is the highlight of the day, but there’s a lot to see and learn here. Children can even go behind the scenes at the loco shed to see engines being restored.
