Forge Mill Needle Museum — Attraction in Redditch

Having checked the opening times on Google, and expecting the Museum to be open between 11am and 4pm as posted, we (myself, my partner and his mother) arrived at 11.30am, only to find the museum closed until 1pm. We went and did a bit of shopping and got back at about 12.30pm. As this was still early, we had a picnic in the car. At 12.45pm as the gates were now unlocked and we could see people wandering around, we decided to take a look. As over two hours had passed since we left home, we looked to see if the amenities were open. Although we were standing next to the disabled toilet, we asked if the normal access toilets were around the other side of the building. The woman opening the site was very brusque and told us that they wouldn't be open as it wasn't 1pm yet. I mentioned that I had checked the opening hours on Google and advised that someone maybe ought to look at them to correct them, only to be told, again quite brusquely, that the hours were on the website and I should have looked there. As I don't appreciate being spoken to in such a manner, we decided that we wouldn't bother to wait until she decided that she would allow us in and went elsewhere instead. We had visited the museum earlier in the year and as we had enjoyed it on that occasion, had thought it would be a good way to spend a couple of hours, especially as on our earlier visit we had been told that they lack visitors especially at the weekend. To be honest, I'm not surprised if this is the welcome they get. It would not have hurt the woman to say something like, I'm sorry we don't open until 1pm so the toilets might not be open, give me a couple of minutes and I'll open them for you. For all she knew one or more of us might have had a condition that would have made a toilet trip quite necessary. Her manner though was not very customer friendly, and she lost the custom of three people. Whether we try again next year...

I know a needle museum isn't for everyone but as an avid textile crafter i was really looking forward to this place, only to be very disappointed. The museum itself seems very disjointed; there's no flow to the exhibits, and the way you are directed to start you come into the middle/end of the process. More disappointingly the tapestry display was completely covered over by a Star Wars memorabillia exhibit. Star wars has no connection to the mill, they've simply rented the space out to a collector. He seemed very knowledgable in the franchise but it wasn't what we were there for. He actually did more of a tour guide job for the museum than any of the people who actually work there! However upon stepping into the next building to see the forge (through a door that said 'enter this way') we got yelled at by a very rude member of staff to say we shouldn't be in there. The waterwheel that ran the mill was covered over with a tarp, and there was ugly herris fencing blocking off another building without explanation. The 'cafe' is in fact a mobile coffee trailer/wagon. Nice cake etc. The grounds seemed to be a public park used more by young families for the playground which made sense as it was free to park and it seemed like it was free to enter the playpark. This would explain why we only managed to get the last space in the car park but were the only visitors in the museum. This place needs a good makeover, someone to come in and make the exhibits coherent and so you can actually learn. I can imagine many a schoolchild being bored out of their minds on school trips here. And i'm still none the wiser how they sharpen needles, however saw 3 different exhibits on how to punch the eye in a needle. Halfway...

Tucked away from the main road, this historic complex comprises of the Forge Mill, the Bordesley abbey ruins and a children's play area. The Forge Mill is a significant part, but also representative of Redditch's industrial history, in fact, I believe that this should be a world heritage site, given the importance in the 17th -19th centuries producing high quality needles - so essential to the production process, and progression in the early Industrial era. I was amazed at the number of individual processes required to produce such a seemingly simple product. Really interesting walk around this industrial history site. At the back of the visitors center there is a small children's playground. Bordesley ruins are disappointing, and really need on site explanations of this ruined...