Given the choice between car or rail for a day out, I could guarantee the Beans will choose rail every time. They love it when an adventure starts and ends at the train station because it’s exciting.
Our most recent rail adventure was courtesy of Greater Anglia trains from Cambridge to Mountfitchet Castle; a reconstructed medieval motte, Bailey Castle and Norman Village. Did you know Greater Anglia have brought back their Kids travel for £2 offer so make the most of it!
A chance to learn
Now that the Beans are all in school they understand procedures much more so rather than me taking charge at the train station, I took the opportunity to explain to them what to do when travelling by train. We started at the entrance by looking for our train on the departures board to see which platform we needed to head to.
On the platform, the Beans excitedly waited for the train to arrive and asked what the screens were for. I asked if they remembered what time our train was due to depart and explained that they needed to wait for the screen to show our train had arrived before boarding.
As if to test us, our train switched platforms just 5 minutes before departure and luckily Lillie heard the announcement so we were able to move to the new platform in time.
Time to relax
Once seated on the train we were able to get the pads and pens out which I had packed so we could play games to pass the time. The Beans currently love playing Hangman, a popular game at school to help with their spelling. Remembering that Albie is only 6 years old, there was no chance in the world that we would have guessed ‘Giraffe’ with just 4 letters – turns out Albie spells it ‘draf’ bless him.
Mountfitchet Castle
As our train pulled into Stansted Mountfitchet Station the boys excitedly spotted castle sitting on the hill at the side of the tracks.
Just a two-minute walk found us at the entrance to Mountfitchet Castle on a beautiful sunny day.
Despite looking at the website before we set off, nothing could have prepared us for the sight before us. Stepping through the entrance you feel like you have taken a huge leap back in time.
Life in a Norman village
The Norman Village inside Mountfitchet Castle is made up of more than 18 buildings housing the kitchen with bread oven, Church, community house, blacksmith, Surgeon, brewhouse, potter’s hut and kiln, stables, Bakers, gaol and stores. In a separate area, you will discover the Grand Hall, falconer and herb garden.
Each area of the Norman village is set up to look how it would have done all those years ago with mannequins dressed appropriately, lots of educational plaques and interactive audios to explain how things would have been.
House on the Hill Toy Museum
Entrance to Mountfitchet Castle costs £12 for adults, £10 for children and £11.50 for Senior Citizens. This also includes entrance to the House on the Hill Toy Museum which is a massive blast from the past. You’ll find yourself saying “oh my, I had one of those” about a thousand times over.
Upstairs the Museum also has The Haunted Manor but we didn’t venture up there with the children.
What did we think to Mountfitchet Castle?
It was a unanimous decision from all five of us that Mountfitchet Castle is a brilliant day out, we all learnt so much and enjoyed trying our hand at some of the more interactive elements of this open-air museum. It is without doubt, somewhere that we will come back to time and time again as the children grow.
Facilities
The Visitor Centre is home to a good size cafeteria and souvenir shop with very reasonably priced items. Outside there is a large picnic area where you are welcome to eat your own food and there is a block of toilets and hand-washing facilities.
To see all photos from our day out, head over to my Facebook page and grab a cuppa.
Homeward Bound
We planned our stay at Mountfitchet Castle around the train times. Knowing that we were only a two-minute walk from the train station meant that we could leave at a moments notice and not miss any part of our day. In the car park next to the Castle and the train station is a small supermarket where we were able to buy ourselves a few snacks for the journey home. After our busy day, we were all feeling very tired so we enjoyed just chilling out together, talking about all the amazing things we had seen and learnt.
DISCLAIMER: Our day out was complimentary courtesy of Greater Anglia trains and Mountfitchet Castle in exchange for our honest account. Greater Anglia welcome all feedback, could you spare a moment to complete this survey to help them improve their services. All words, images and opinions are my own and may not be copied without my permission. I have not been instructed what to write.
Oo I love the look of the Norman Village! It’s such a great way to immerse children and adults in history 🙂
It’s the perfect learning environment, you just can’t help but be drawn into it and want to know more.
I would love to go to the Norman village. It looks so amazing.
It’s a fantastic day out, we will definitely be going back in the future.
I love places like this and so do our three little people. They are so immersive and really let the imaginations run wild. We have a similar thing near us, but it vikings as we are in Sweden, and they loved it there
They are fantastic for children, aren’t they? Although I have to say I loved learning all about it myself too. Simon and I just kept saying what a great place it would be for a school trip too.
I didn’t know this place even existed so thanks! I would maybe go the next time we stay in Cambridge for a couple of days.
Oh yes, definitely bookmark it for your next visit. You’ll have a brilliant time I am sure of it. We have also been to Norwich from Cambridge on the train which is a great day out too x
This looks like a fab day out! Mine loves train journeys too – and even better when your destination is just opposite the station ? The Norman village has got me excited!! I really want to go.
I know, the fact that it was right next to the station made it even more perfect. Such an easy day out.
I love travelling by train (we don’t have a car anyway). That castle and the village look amazing!
Train travel was always something special for me as a child as it usually meant we were going to visit my Aunt. If you get a chance to visit then you really should, it’s fantastic.
We didn’t know the £2 kids offer is back, thanks for that, we can start getting on trains again. What a lovely way to spend a day as a family.
It’s such a bargain, isn’t it? I love an excuse to get out and about exploring with the kids x
This is really interesting. Mountfichet isn’t far from where I live, and I keep meaning to go. But a friend told me not to bother, so I didn’t … but looking at your photos I don’t know what she was going on about – it looks really good!!!
Oh no that’s a shame, honestly Tracey we had such a good day and really enjoyed it x
It sounds like a great family day out. You had a lovely weather for it too!
We had beautiful weather, it certainly made for more fun and great photos x