Weird and wacky places to visit with your children over the summer holidays

It takes all sorts to make a world – and this is certainly the case when it comes to the plethora of bizarre exhibitions dotted across the UK.

From pencils and lawnmowers to dog collars and cuckoo clocks, there is something to float almost any boat hidden amid the country’s eclectic museum collection.

Despite the crowds still continuing to flock to trusty favourites like the National History Museum or the Tate Modern, the industry – like many others – has taken quite a beating thanks to the Covid pandemic.

According to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, footfall to our once treasured museums and galleries had dropped by more than 50 per cent between January and March this year compared to the same period in 2019.

But all is not lost as many independent institutions continue to prop up the sector while the nation patiently awaits a complete return to normal.

Some of the quirkier establishments you may have never heard of, but as travel chaos continues to blight foreign trips and the cost of holidays soars (along with everything else), now might be the perfect time to try them out.

Derwent Pencil Museum

Kendal, Cumbria

Stationery enthusiasts need to pencil a visit to this place in the diary. Located in Keswick at the site of the original graphite mine and factory, the Derwent Pencil

Museum has been welcoming visitors to the home of pencil manufacture for more than 37 years and attracts over 80,000 visitors a year.

This summer, they’ve redesigned an exhibition of pencil manufacture and local history, exploring the pencil industry’s humble beginnings to modern day production.

Attractions include secret Second World War pencils with hidden maps, one of the largest colour pencils in the world measuring almost eight metres and the Queen’s diamond Jubilee pencil.

Admission: Adult: £4.95, Child: £3.95.

The Cuckooland Museum

Tabley, Cheshire

Regarded as the largest museum of its kind, the Cuckooland Museum boasts a collection of over 600 cuckoo clocks from the Black Forest region of Germany, and was established by clock restorer brothers Roman and Maz Piekarski.

The craft of Cuckoo clock-making has an intriguing history, with the first thought to date back to the 1700s to a clock master who loved the chiming of church bells.

The museum boasts a large collection of authentic Black Forest tools and machines so visitors get a unique insight into how the specialist clocks are made.

Admission: Guided tours only, £7.50 per person

House of Marbles

Newton Abbot, Devon

If you’ve ever worried if you’re losing your marbles this could be the place for you – as there are plenty.

Inside this museum is a collection of marbles from across the ages, including examples of early materials such as clay and stone, as well as the glass versions we’re now more familiar with.

The museum also features a range of sulphate figurines and several bespoke marble runs created by Swiss artisan Alex Schmid.

A much-loved game, marbles were originally created by glassmakers who would gather up the last of the glass they had been working with at the end of their working day and roll it up into balls to take home for their children to play with.

Admission: Free

The Dog Collar Museum

Leeds Castle, Maidstone

This collection of quirky canine accessories is admittedly one of the more niche exhibitions, but it’s certainly worth popping in while out for ‘walkies’.

More than 130 rare and valuable dog collars are on display at the castle, the oldest example being a Spanish iron herd mastiff’s collar dating back to the late 15th century which would have been worn for protection against wolves and bears.

The collection expanded rapidly in 1977 when Gertrude Hunt gave more than 60 dog collars to the Leeds Castle Foundation in memory of her husband, historian John Hunt.

Since then more have been purchased or donated, from 16th century German iron collars with fearsome spikes through to and more recent 20th century examples fashioned from tyres, beads and plastic.

Admission [to the whole castle and facilities including the museum plus fee readmission for a year]: Adults £32, children £24

Baked Bean Museum of Excellence

Port Talbot, South Wales

Almost all of us will have at least one tin of baked beans hidden somewhere in a kitchen cupboard, but eccentric Danny Wallace, also known as Captain Beany, is so passionate about the breakfast favourite, he has dedicated a whole room to them.

The museum was opened in January 2009, with more than 500 bean-themed items on display, from a bed warmer, baked bean pot lamp, to antique tins and ornaments.

The collection is in a private house so visits are by appointment only, but it has gained a five star rating on Tripadvisor, with one reviewer commenting their visit left them “feeling full of beans.”

Admission: By pre-arranged appointment only

The British Lawnmower Museum

Southport, Merseyside

From vintage lawnmowers to antique garden machinery, supplying parts, and valuing machines from all over the world, The British Lawnmower Museum has, by its own admission, become one of the world’s leading authorities on all things mowing.

The lawnmower was patented by Edwin Beard Budding in 1830, but originally designed to trim cloth.

At the time people thought he was mad to use it to cut grass, so he had to test the machine at night so no one could see him.

Admission: £3.00 Adults, £1.00 Children

Warley Museum

Halifax

Also, a tiny mention for the world’s smallest museum… The Warley Museum, Halifax, is located inside a disused phone booth.

The museum was converted in 2016 by the Warley Community Association and has staged a variety of miniature exhibitions ever since.

A world of wonder to feast your eyes upon

If you’re looking to travel a little further afield, there are also a myriad of mad museums across the world that offer an insight into quite literally anything and everything you never realised you needed to know more about.

If heartache is your thing for example, The Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb, Croatia, provides “a unique emotional journey around the world through hundreds of break-ups”.

Alternatively, the world’s only penis collection at The Icelandic Phallological Museum contains more than 300 penises and penile parts, with 215 of those belonging specifically to almost all the land and sea mammals that can be found in Iceland.

The collection includes 16 different types of whale, and even a human specimen, with the largest being the six-foot member of a sperm whale and the smallest belonging to a European mouse which requires a magnifying glass to see.

There’s also the Museum of Bad Art, Massachusetts [ed note: currently closed], which boasts a collection of more than 600 pieces of “art too bad to be ignored” and The World’s only Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum can be found in Tennessee, and boasts more than 20,000 sets.