family fun

Dennis looking down a fretboard to make sure it's straight.

Ukulele Dennis at the Waterloo Ukulele Fun Festival

ByJulia

In August 2017, the Liver Hotel in Waterloo, Liverpool, put on the Waterloo Ukulele Fun Festival – or ‘WUFF’, to go by its rather fun acronym.

The Liver is a family-friendly pub with a really great garden of decent size. It used to be a bowling green, but in recent times it’s been converted to a proper pub garden. It now comes complete with children’s play equipment and wonderfully oversized table umbrellas to shelter you in even the wettest weather.

The festival was, unsurprisingly, a day of ukulele-based music. It featured acts from individual musicians to ukulele orchestras, packing out the small stage and spilling out onto the grass. There were a few other attractions, such as henna tattoos, face painting and raffles. The place was packed and it was an utterly fun day.

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Looking across the Great Bath from the walkway around the top. There are lots of visitors at both upper and lower levels

Visiting the Roman Baths: the good and the bad

ByJulia

The Roman Baths is the jewel in the crown of the city of Bath. Built on geothermal underground springs, the baths are filled with water that comes out of the ground at 46°C,

The Celts were the first people to build shrine at the site, which they dedicated to the goddess Sulis.

When the Romans invaded Britain in the first century AD under the Emperor Claudius, they renamed the settlement Aquae Sulis, identifying Sulis with the Roman goddess Minerva, and built their own temple and baths complex at the springs.

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A boy sitting on top of a rocky outcrop, sitting side on to the camera. In the distance a wind farm can be seen out at sea

A New Year’s Day walk on West Kirby beach

ByJulia

New Year’s Day can be a bit of a non-day for many. For those who aren’t sleeping off a long night or nursing a severe hangover, going out for a walk somewhere can be a great way to blow away the cobwebs and pass some time.

As we were staying at a friend’s house over on the Wirral this New Year, we decided to go for a walk at Red Rocks on West Kirby beach.

Like much of the coast around the region, the beach is flat, sandy and has a large tidal range. West Kirby Beach looks out at the north coast of Wales and Hilbre Island. This stretch of beach has some amazing rocks which are great fun for the children to clamber around on.

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A reflection of the colourful Christmas tree on the wet pavement

The Christmas lights and delights of Liverpool

ByJulia

Town centres can be hell in the run up to Christmas for even the most hardened of adventurers. Bad weather, more shoppers than you can shake a stick at and every one on every corner trying to wrench your wallet open.

If you’re not actually shopping, however, it can be really fun to have a wander and see the sights.

This year, Liverpool city centre has gone all-out with German-style markets (fashionable at the moment, I believe), large Christmas trees, a fairground and other such delights. I took my two girls into town late on Saturday afternoon for some Christmassy fun.

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The actress lifting her crown off her head
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‘The Little Mermaid’: a retelling for the Being Human Festival

ByJulia

My girls and I love a good trip out to a museum, and our most recent trip to the Walker Art Gallery didn’t disappoint.

As part of the Being Human festival – a festival dedicated to spreading the humanities love – the Walker had a mermaid-themed day.

Having two young girls who are fans of Disney’s (slightly sanitised version of) The Little Mermaid, I thought they’d enjoy the Liverpool Players’ retelling of the classic fairytale.

The performance didn’t disappoint.

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The Liver Building lit up by fireworks

River of Light, Liverpool 2016

ByJulia

The River of Light was Liverpool’s contribution to the UK’s annual Guy Fawkes Night for 2016. A joint venture between the Liverpool and Wirral councils, it saw celebrations on both sides of the Mersey, culminating in a floating firework display in the middle of the river.

Determined not to come home with any more unplanned pets this year (following last year, when we went to a local display and ended up with two goldfish), I decided to take my two girls into town to see the River of Light.

It’s been a few years since the city’s main firework display was on in the centre of town – it’s been out at Sefton Park for a while, which is a great venue, but not so easy to get to as the city centre for many parts of Liverpool – so I was excited to see what the evening had to offer.

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