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Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum

Bracken Hall Museum
Established	1987
Location	Glen Road, Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire, England BD17 5EA
Type	Natural history museum, Children's museum, Archaeology museum
Public transit access	Shipley Glen Tramway or bus from Bradford Interchange
Website	www.bradfordmuseums.org

Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum is a natural history education centre and children's museum on the edge of Baildon Moor, close to Shipley Glen in West Yorkshire. See website for opening hours and facilities. When closed to the public, the museum caters for school groups. When open to the public, entry is free of charge.

Education areas

Front garden

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  Front garden with Shipley in the distance.
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  Bird feeders.
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  Green alkanet, herb Robert and creeping buttercup.
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  Pentaglottis sempervirens; Geranium robertianum; Ranunculus repens.

Reception and entrance room

Due to the vigorously interactive nature of children, and the transient nature of wildlife, some of the following displays will be regularly replaced with other items of interest.

Video microscope: In the Entrance room next to Reception is a six foot high, interactive video microscope. You place a dish of natural objects (for example houseflies) on the lighted tray at the bottom, and move it around until it shows in the video screen at the top. The tray is at child-height to enable youngsters to take part. On the screen a housefly might look bigger than your hand, so that its details may be observed easily.

Fishtanks and wormery: Along the back wall is a gallery of fishtanks, containing (depending on availability) animals such as tadpoles, bullheads, goldfish and water fleas. In the far corner of the back wall is a wormery. These have proved so popular with young children that some nurseries have set them up for the toddlers.

Honeycomb and remains of wasp nest: On the wall opposite Reception there used to be an indoor beehive with an observation panel for the children, but it was dismantled due to colony collapse disorder. It has been replaced with information boards about bees, and a honeycomb for the children to handle. There is also an information board about wasps, and the remains of a wasp nest so that the children can compare the papery and waxy textures of the nests.

Computer nature guide and ID-by-touch box: This computer program, available for children to use, assists animal and bird identification, and also permits the children to learn about wildlife outside the UK. This computer is situated halfway along the wall opposite Reception. Behind the wall next to the computer is an identification-by-touch display of natural objects: the children put their hands in the holes, feel the items, and guess what they are. The answers are at Reception.

Interactive animal ID displays:

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  Large interactive video microscope.
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  Wormery.
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  Honeycomb from beehive, for children to handle.
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  Wasp nest (remains of), for children to handle.
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  Computer Nature guide, interactive for children.
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  Put hands in holes to identify natural objects by touch.
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  Interactive wildlife pop-up board for young children.
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  Interactive wildlife identification display for children.
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  Garden birds in safety glass, fixed low down for children.
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  Close up of the mounted tawny owl.

Local archaeology and history room

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  Archaeology and local history displays.
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  Archaeology and local history displays.
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  Prehistoric and medieval artefacts display.
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  The Heygate stone with cup and ring marks.
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  Cast of Heygate stone, showing cup and ring overlaps.
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  Interactive quern-stone display.
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  Interactive quern-stone display.
• Calamites fossil (huge type of horsetail).
  Calamites fossil (huge type of horsetail).
• Gastrioceras fossil (ammonoid: coiled-shell swimming animal).
  Gastrioceras fossil (ammonoid: coiled-shell swimming animal).
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  Geological samples, for visitors to handle.
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  Headphones with recordings of Shipley Glen and Baildon Moor local history.

Front door lobby

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  Quiz forms for children, relating to a display of numbered Nature pictures.

Gallery and activity room

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  Gallery and children's activity room.
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  Display of past and present botanizing.
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  19th century brass optical microscope.
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  Nature tableau, including mounted weasel with shrew, mounted jay and model of fly agaric.

Back garden

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  Animal hutch in back yard.
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  Minibeast trapdoor, for children to observe slug, woodlouse, millipede, snail etc.
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  Transparent immature slug, possibly great grey slug, Limax maximus, under minibeast trapdoor.
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  Slug under minibeast trapdoor, possibly an immature netted slug or Deroceras reticulatum.
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  Backyard view of hutch and shed with bat-boxes.
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  Facsimile cup and ring stone
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  Herb Robert and Welsh poppy growing in a bath
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  Wellington boots drying on a bench
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  Safety cage around entrance to indoor hive (now dismantled)
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  Disused beehives

Pond area

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  Wildlife pond for children, with flag leaves.
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  Pond-dipping.
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  Green alkanet (pentaglottis sempervirens)
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  Closeup of green alkanet (pentaglottis sempervirens)
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  Yellow flag in pond
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  Tadpoles in pond (1)
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  Tadpoles in pond (2)

Baildon Moor and Shipley Glen

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  Baildon Moor and parking, opposite Bracken Hall.
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  Shipley Glen, near Bracken Hall.

External links

• Bracken Hall Museum website