National Museum of Rural Life — Attraction in Scotland

This is without a shadow of a doubt a great and brilliant museum to visit and is a very enjoyable and enthralling day out. The museum charters all about the rural life of people in Scotland and mainly covers about Farming and also other aspects of Rural Life on how people lived in the rural areas of Scotland through time and in addition to this there is a farm you can wander inside and see some farm animals and also countryside to wander around and enjoy some walks. The museum itself has a series of galleries to see and these are The Picture Gallery, The Study Store, The People Gallery, The Land Gallery. The Tools Gallery, The Science Gallery, Tractor Store, Horticultural Store and Blacksmith Workshop and Garden Detectives and all of these galleries are very well laid out with the right amount of information and not overloaded with it to keep you interested, brilliantly displayed and are extremely informative with a series of interesting artefacts and rural related items to see to give you a full idea of what rural life was like for people in Scotland, the struggles they had and how they farmed the landscape and the machinery they used. The Picture Gallery shows some brilliant Animal Portraits that show some incredibly fantastic detail on them of livestock and other farm related animals and The Study Store houses some very intriguing items through glass walls ranging from peat spades & wagons to Blacksmith tools and off all which look in remarkable condition considering their age and shows the great job the museum has done in preserving them. The Land Gallery details the story of how Scotland's Land has changed and been managed by people through the 18th and 20th Centuries and there is an interesting replica of an 18th Century Plough to see in this gallery. The People Gallery details life for people in Rural Communities in 18th and 20th Centuries and also talks about how Country Life was shaped by Family, War, Leisure, War and Scottish Clearances. The Tools Gallery discusses the tools used to farm the land, technology used in transforming the countryside and trades that emerged in relation to farming and you can see The oldest surviving threshing mill in the world which is from Orkney and in brilliant condition along with scythes, tractors and a Combine Harvester. The Science Gallery talks about how science was used to enable a boost food production and how the land was able to produce more food in the present than in the past. There is the tractor Store where you see an array of tractors from yesteryear, which are in fantastic condition and also the Horticultural Store where you can see some interesting Horticultural related items and the Blacksmith Shop where you can learn about the Blacksmith trade and how they make items, which is interesting. There is a Georgian Farmhouse located half a mile away from the museum where you can walk inside the Farmhouse and see a series of rooms giving a full idea of how a Farmer and his family lived and also see farm animals such as Clydesdale Horses, Highland Cattle, Tamworth Pigs and Sheep and there is also a Tractor and Trailer ride to enjoy. There is also some outstanding countryside to see and you can enjoy some really good walks including The Willow Sculpture Trail. There is a cafe and gift shop selling food, drink and souvenirs at reasonable prices. Overall this is an enthralling and really good place to visit, which makes for a very refreshing and brilliant day out. Well worth a visit whilst in...

Staff were amazing,friendly,helpful and knowledgeable…iam a wheelchair user ,,,manual wheelchair I had a helper with me to push the disabled parking is on slight slope and relatively far from door so I did need the help i could not have done this on my own in manual chair but I have been weakened by illness a stronger person may have been ok and a power chair would do it easily ,.museum entry is flat although going into museum across bridge is bumpy it made me laugh but if you have pain this could be very uncomfortable however it’s very short and once in it’s great access through out the museum everything is ramped you won’t miss out! Very interesting displays with easy to absorb amounts of info …the cafe was lovely I had a really nice toastie and they had the best collection of cakes I’ve ever seen ! Shop had lots of nice things . We also went to the farm ,kindly we were allowed to take the car up as the tractor trailer which is wheelchair accessible had flat tyre …the farm was slightly more challenging as there was a steep slope but the staff were so willing to help we did it! Access to the animals was good with ramps at door entry to calfing shed ,stable etc saying hello to the calf’s was the highlight for me because I grew up around cattle…there was also So sheep and lambs. Pigs and piglets and poultry we met a wee black farm cat who was rather sweet ground floor of farmhouse is accessible and there is slide show of upstairs it was good but to me was just like visiting my granny’s old house ! A great day …I rarely visit somewhere where I feel my wheelchair didn’t matter but today was a day I don’t feel it was a problem and for that...

Plus points- well laid out, interesting and accessible museum. The farm is excellent for young children to see some agricultural activities and animals up close. The staff are helpful and friendly. Ticket lasts 1 year. Good parking and facilities. Restaurant has some nice bakery products and food is decent quality.

Areas for improvement - not many interactive activities for children, other than the small and somewhat dated wildlife room. Children will get quickly bored looking at (no touching) old machinery and models enclosed behind glass. The activity room in the old farm house has nothing in it other than a few prop dress-up items.

Playpark should be much better. Whenever I've visited, the play park has been too muddy for toddlers to play in because it does not have a suitable surface. The grass around it is left to grow too long. At least they are strict about not allowing dogs in it.

Restaurant is not set-up well for families. It quickly becomes overwhelmed with long queues at peak times and when I asked for a dairy free option for my daughter (who is sick from dairy) I was offered a 'gluten free' sandwich (that had dairy in it)! I was then told there was nothing dairy free available.

If these relatively simple things could be improved, I would be...