Cotswolds

Cotswolds
Cotswolds

Lake District

Lake District
Lake District

Ireland

Ireland
Ireland

Scenes | The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra

I'm not sure if folk parks are a 'thing' outside of Ireland or what their equivalent is in the rest of the world (I remember going to something similar in Ballarat in Victoria, Australia - Sovereign Hill, anyone?) but we have a couple of them in Northern Ireland. Basically they're what I would describe as outdoor living history museums full of old buildings- banks, farms houses, cottages, printing presses, you name it, all dating from a certain period in local history that you can wander around and experience how the people of the time would have lived. The parks also often have employees in period dress  in the various houses demonstrating different skills and trades from the time, such as basket weaving or spinning wool.

One of these parks, The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum isn't too far from me but I hadn't been in years and years, not since I was little. However, my family and I decided to do something a little different yesterday afternoon and pay a visit.
This museum actually has two parts, as the name suggests, there's the folk park and then there's the transport museum which houses various old cars, trains and buses from the past 100 years or so up to the present day. There's also a Titanic exhibition as well. However, we were a little tight for time yesterday so we only made it around the folk park and even then there was still a lot of things we didn't get to see! You'd definitely need to allow yourself the full day if you were ever thinking of visiting. I think they recommend you allow 1-2 hours for the village part of the folk part, 2-3 hours for the rural part and then another couple of hours to get around the transport part of the museum.

I realised as I was uploading that I didn't take many photos of the interiors of the different houses. I guess I didn't want to overload you with pictures and I wasn't sure if it would interest anyone but I did take a few photos just so you could get a bit of a feel for the place!

I'd definitely recommend a visit to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum if you're ever in the area!

12 comments

  1. This seems really cool! I love your photos, especially the one of the typewriter! I'm sure there are a handful in mainland Britain. I've been to one where it was all world war 2 themed and it had a sweet shop that you could watch old fashioned sweets being made! I can't remember what it's called but if I do I'll let you know!
    Lauren // OhHay Blogs!
    xxx

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    1. Thank you!! Oh ok cool! I wasn't sure so I googled but nothing really came up, they must call it something different in the rest of the UK! That sounds so sweet :) xxx

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  2. Oh we have those here (in Wisconsin). At least one, I remember going to one with people dressed as if they were actually living during the 1800's! Not sure if that's quite the same! :)
    This was a lovely post and your pictures are great!
    xx
    Kenzie
    Behindhazeleyes06.blogspot.com

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    1. Yeah that's pretty similar to what this is! I'd be interested to see what that would be like on the other side of the world :) xx

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  3. Beautiful, beautiful photos! You've captured a lovely day out so perfectly and you should be really proud!

    Owl Girl | A London lifestyle blog

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    1. Aww thanks so much, Candy! That's very encouraging :) I wasn't sure this was one of my better posts! xx

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  4. I've been to Soverign Hill a number of times and love it (I'm Australian). Absolutely love your photos, they really capture the magic of this place, hopefully I can go one day!

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    1. Thank you so much! Yeah I really loved Sovereign Hill when we went there, it was so cool to see, especially because it's all about the gold rush! :) xx

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  5. Looks like a neat place to visit! Yes, we have historical places pretty similar to that here in Iowa, but they do look slightly different. :)

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    1. Ah I see, it must be quite a common thing then :) x

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  6. I first heard about this kind of thing through another blogger (Van, her blog is Snow In Tromso) who is based in Norway. She calls them 'open air museums' which I think is a nice name. I really like the idea of these museums, but I have never had the chance to go to one myself.

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    1. Yeah that's basically what they are. That's cool that they have them in Norway! I'm sure that would be really interesting to visit! You should check and see if there are any near to you, apparently they're actually quite a common thing :) x

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