I love local museums. My husband loves local museums. They are always the kind of place where you find things you will not find anywhere else because they are always about that one place. This particular review of Carmarthenshire Museum happened because we drove past the sign for it on the way to go and visit a railway. I googled it once we’re in the car park, realised it was free and decided that we would pop in there and have a look. After all if it’s free and it’s rubbish you can just go home!
Pretty much as soon as we pulled up in the car park though I knew it wasn’t going to be a rubbish local Museum. It was going to be a small, but a pretty cool local museum!
Events
When we visited the Carmarthenshire Museum to do this review it was the May half term and they had a trail going on. It was £2 per child and she said that there was a reward at the end. So my first question was what’s the prize so I knew if I wanted to get just one for Smallest Child or if I was buying one for everybody. Turns out it was a box of chocolate coins so I decided to get one for everybody. I don’t normally include in a review about the one-off events, but the reason I’m telling you about the one the trail at the Carmarthenshire Museum is because it was actually really really good and quite different from the normal trail you get.
So they had to go on a treasure hunt, hence the chocolate coins, and they had to collect five physical items. They had to do different activities to actually collect these items in a little bag. One of them include solving a clue and then going to a different part of the museum to then find the final treasure. I think it was just so interactive and I really liked it. It’s very impressive.
Very weird mummies
One of the main exhibition areas has got a bit all about WWII. There is a kitchen area that’s got some stuff that I swear my Nanny had in her kitchen. But there is also this mannequin that is possibly the freakiest looking mannequin I’ve ever seen.
When you’re in Wales you don’t expect to be learning about Egyptians, but actually there was loads of Egyptian stuff as well which I found interesting. I do like the Egyptians, but it was little bit weird to see it here. This is what I mean about small local museums. Where else are you going to get? Welsh spoons, Welsh dressers, mummies and weird looking 1940’s mannequins?
The downstairs exhibitions
One thing that did surprise me is that although they mention mining, they don’t make a big deal out of it. I thought that it would have featured a lot more heavily. There is one corridor that talks about the local pits but it really doesn’t cover it that much. There are there is one room that is just full of dairy cheese and milking equipment and some of it is quite frankly cruel and I don’t even want to think about how some of the contraptions worked.
The gardens
We were never going to be in the Carmarthenshire Museum for ages and ages. It’s just not that big, so I decided to make the most of the fact that it wasn’t raining and go for a walk around the gardens. We didn’t really know where we were going. We just followed a random path and actually it was a nice little walk to go through a little meadowy area. We saw a woodpecker, there’s a little lake that you walk past and a little woodland bit. It was really quite nice. Lovely little stroll that added to the day.
This review of Carmarthenshire Museum is based on our experiences at the time of our visit. Things can change over time, including the facilities available. If you have any specific requirements such as access it’s always best to check with the site directly before visiting. If anything I’ve said in this review is no longer accurate then please do let me know. Thank you.
Our Carmarthenshire Museum review
Honestly think the Cararthenshire Museum is kind of off the tourist track a little bit and that’s a real shame. Most of the people that I heard talking in the museum were Welsh. Most people seem to be locals rather than tourists. So it’s a real shame that more people aren’t going there because it is a very cool museum. I’m not sure it’s somewhere that you would go to again and again and again, just because of the size of it, and I imagine that they don’t have huge amounts of rotation. But I have actually already recommended this Museum to the guy that we met on Mwnt beach. It’s a nice way to kill a couple of hours for free if you’re in the Carmarthenshire area.
Admission cost
Free. Check their opening hours and any events on their website.
Parking / How to get there
Parking – Free car park
Address – Abergwili, Carmarthenshire, SA31 2JG
Toilets
On-site
Food
Cafe on-site. Picnics allowed.
What else is there to do nearby?
This this review of the Carmarthenshire Museum came about after we visited the Gwili Railway and had time on our hands. You can read all of my other reviews of places in Wales here and you can see my guide to places that we visited during half term in South West Wales
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Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
You’ll find the essential information you need to know before your visit that can be surprisingly hard to find out. Where do I park? How much will it cost me to get in? Are there any discounts available? Are there loos? Can I take a picnic or get food? My aim is to be your go-to guide for all your free and cheap family days out across Bucks, Beds, Oxon, Herts & slightly beyond. I really hope you find the reviews helpful. If there’s anywhere that you’d recommend please get in touch contact@freetimewiththekids.com or get in touch via Facebook
