The Observatory Science Centre — Attraction in Wealden

Travelled from Swanley, Kent to visit the centre from recommendation from a school colleague. Took us 1hr 20mins ish. Arrived at the centre, there were no queues to enter. The "car park" could do with some work - ie its the field out the front. Visited during October 22 half term. Greeted by a happy lady on the desk gave advice of what to do and then off to explore. We took 2 girls aged both nearly 8. They were both great with everything hands on, wanted to get in everything. Obviously it's a interactive site so lots of touch points - plenty of sanitising points dotted around. Heavily based on astronomy and everything space related - if this is your thing then you will be in your element. Lots of info. Our girls were not interested in reading etc -, too much for them to handle!

The interactive Science experiments were very engaging. My daughter's favourite was the tornado in the sound and light section. She also had fun trying to blow the ball through the hoop with the reverse hoover tube.

We attended the telescope tour in dome E at 2pm the member of staff- a young ish lad was engaging and knew his stuff! Kudos to him!

Oh yes let me mention the SMELL - lol. Think of 1900's Great Grannies house and that nostalgic smell that greets you when you walk in. The domes all smell like that due to the wooden cladding and them just being so old!

At 3pm we attended the live demonstration in the Geodesic Dome this guy was really good at what he does! He got the audience fully engaged. Needed volunteers to help with different bits of his demonstration. My daughter got chosen to go up and sit on the hover board / leaf blower. The rocket fuel experiment was a good start to the show!

The girls liked to explore the outside exhibits - seeing them more like a "park" than seeing the science side behind it.

Would we rave about it to someone else - probably not. If it was 20mins away maybe more inclined to but not for the travel time. We didn't use the cafe as took our own food + drink. Ladies toilets could do with a major revamp - 4 toilets for the whole site. Daughter 5/5 stars! Me not...

Well what can I say? What. A. Find! If like many you realise that physics is the mother/father/and absolute of all the sciences that explains the world around you, this place is a must visit, especially if you have children that are curious about the world. Though to be frank even if you're an adult rekindling your love for science.

Seriously, the trip here was so worth it, and it's fantastic value for money. The staff here are so passionate, friendly, and interested in their work. I had some wonderful chats between shows with some of the staff, and it is clear they want to be there and love sharing their passion and knowledge with you.

There are tonnes of interactive devices/experiments that you can interact and learn from. From optics, geology, to electrics, basic Newtonian physics and everything in between all the way to astronomy.

I thoroughly recommend the planetarium show and the science show, especially with children as it's very interactive and certainly with ours really got some great conversations going.

If the weather is good, there are a lot of interactive displays outside water-based so you can really "see" physics coming to life, as well as more kinetic related activities such as fulcrums, levers, centripetal forces, conservation of momentum and so on.

There's a lot of reading that can be done on the various displays, so that may be less interesting to younger children, but certainly helps to captivate the imagination.

It wasn't crowded, and the place was well run and organised with plenty of parking. The café is lovely, the toilets are clean, and the grounds are well looked after.

I will be...

So much to see and do here, from games and puzzles, the outdoor discovery Park to the serious business inside the Domes. They are truly awesome, all with a different tale to tell about their origins and current strengths. We camped for the weekend for easy access to the science festival and it did not disappoint. Honestly I enjoyed and soaked up fascinating info from the talks, considered if I was Mars ready; whether I should be worried about increasing dark matter or if there are too many satellites above our skies. Always thought provoking, hugely entertaining, the talks were still down to earth and the speakers keen to inspire and engage us. With the weather behaving there was some fantastic viewing from the Domes and all the other telescopes set up on the lawns. Highlights included Saturn and (4 of) its moons, the sun and all those solar flares, some globular clusters (underrated I think), a very blue Neptune, the Ring nebula (M57) stunning, a beautiful binary Albireo. Some people stayed up till 3am to catch Jupiter rising above the camping field but I was asleep by then. What enthusiasm from everyone we spoke to at the centre. All the staff were friendly, helpful, and those in the Domes intent on getting some good viewing for people. I could go on singing praises. Well worth going for the immersion this year and look forward next year already. We'll done Sandra...