On the way to Weymouth we were bombarded with so many signposts for the tank museum that we couldn’t avoid it anymore and decided to go.
The Tank Museum is located on a military base and as well as seeing tanks you can see soldiers on regular exercises. The Museum has an arena attached and on certain dates you can see tanks in action too. When we arrived in the middle of a hot day there were not many people around – a few tanks enthusiasts, a few families and the occasional military serviceman – all surprised to see group of females amongst them.
The museum is divided into four parts – the story of the tank which is the biggest part of the museum, the trench experience, the discovery centre and the battle of Afghanistan.
The first section we visited was the story of the tanks and at the entrance you have a tank gun aiming straight at you. After the initial shock you are overwhelmed with the number of tanks on display, right from the very first prototype to ones used in Iran and Iraq. The first thought is how did they get there? To move a tank from the other side of the world must be a very complicated affair. And it would take a long time to build an impressive collection like this.
The trench experience is dedicated to the beginnings of the tank and WWI. You can also see the first tank attack in history. The battleground of Afghanistan is told as the story of the Royal Armour Corps and their fighting since WWII. Also you can see the range of tanks used in battles across Afghanistan. The Discovery Centre is a more interactive section of the Museum, a place where you can experience the life of tank crews andsee how the tank developed though history.
My favourite tank was a larger than large tank with a long, thin main gun and a giant slogan in Russian – I checked my translation against the board and I can proudly declare that my Russian is not bad.
I am not keen on any guns but to see the machinery behinds the tanks and to learn they are a product of English inspiration and engineering a hundred years ago made the visit worthwhile. The price of tickets is high (£12.50 for adult and £7.50 for a child) but the whole experience was worth every penny. Now I am grateful for all the signposts!
For more information please visit the Tank Museum website. For more information about private day tours all around the world please check our website atwww.ReadyClickAndGo.com
About the author: Tara
The travel professional with years of experience in the travel industry – in guiding, reservations, operations, contracting, customer service and product development – and have travelled extensively in Asia and Eastern Europe not just on holiday but also for work, inspecting hotels, visiting attractions and seeing exactly what each destination has to offer. The only way I could do this properly was with my own guide, car and driver and this inspired me to create my own range of customised private day tours for other people to be able to explore in-depth and learn to love their destination as much as I do.
Website: www.readyclickandgo.com
Website: http://www.readyclickandgo.com
