Escaping the Madness of Easter Saturday at Hack Green....

After spending so much time stuck in the car yesterday we decided that today we would go on our planned day out today instead of Easter Sunday and Monday. We figured that most people would be doing their shopping today (Saturday) for supplies for the rest of the bank holiday weekend, and a lot of people would be out on the road on Monday with it being Bank Holiday, so we thought it may be sensible and a better option to do our Sunday and Monday planned events today instead.

We opted for the Secret Hack Green Bunker as they had a re-enactment weekend which we thought would be fun followed by the Anderton Boat Lift which is on the way back.

Both great places, the secret bunker is full of surprises, although I did feel uncomfortable whilst we where there, I probably would have enjoyed it more without all the German and Russian re-enactors knocking around, all those Russians and Germans in Uniform where a little off putting to say the least.

Hack Green is a genuine military site - you can find all about it here on the Wikipedia - a fascinating place with a fascinating history or check out there web page

Anyway the kids enjoyed running around from room to room and I was happy to run around and get finished in there...But it was a good place, one we may re-visit one day when we cover the war it is packed with historical artefacts, overall a pretty interesting place to go......

 

I was overcharged which I only realised when we where headed back to the car, I should have noticed when we where entering, well I actually did and had that fleeting thought of that seemed a bit expensive, but it didn't register at the time.. It was only when I worked it out when I got home that she had charged me twice for an adult, it should have been £20.50 but ended up a whopping £30 + £3.50 for the brochure, £33.00.. 

A bit late to do anything about it when you have left, but all in all, I would check what they charge you if you ever go......



****UPDATED****

I emailed the company and voiced my opinion on the price situation and in actual fact they had charged me correctly, it was me that got it wrong and had not seen the extra charge for the re-enactment day which to be fair was worth it.

There was a lot going on and looking back over the photos the place is pretty amazing, so amazing that I decided to create a video in homage to our day there.

The issues where mine that day, partly due to being tired and partly due to walking into something that I had not expected, the atmosphere was tense with those Russian Speaking re-enactors, who where pretty much true to character and thinking back did a pretty good job.

They even had the exciting little details covered like the Passports that where checked randomly by the very stern hard to understand Russian Officers putting the fear of god into you and the bunker cat and Spy mouse that where randomly spotted around the place.

Overall I would say the place is great and worth visiting and there where some very nice people there, some could tell you anything you wanted to know about the cold war, you will have to watch the video to get feel of the place but if you do get a chance to go, make sure you are prepared and know what you are in for if you choose the annual re-enactment day....Be on the look out for the Spy mice too..... It is one of those places that stays with you for a few days, giving you lots of food for thought.

Once we had finished there we headed over to the boat lift, which was really lovely, we went on the boat ride up and back down the river and headed over for the  boat lift which unfortunately had broken down, but at least we where in the right place and warm and dry on the boat as it was tipping down with rain. 

 

We sat on the boat for quite a while, but the kids got to 'have a go of the wheel', whilst they where trying to fix the gate so that we could go up in the boat lift, but sadly it would be quite a while longer before it was fixed, so they gave us all a refund and gave us a complimentary coffee, the refund was £20 so that more than made up for the overcharge at the previous place.

Even though we never managed to get up the boat lift, the river cruise was nice and we where given a thorough talk about the history of the construction and use of the boat lift, all the staff there where really lovely, polite, smiley and really welcoming.

Although the kids where obviously upset about not going up in the lift  as they had looked forwards to it all day, they soon cheered up once we headed for the complimentary coffee and ice cream...

And all without one traffic jam in sight, it only took us an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the Hack Green Bunker and forty minutes to get home from the Boat lift........