insideKENT Magazine Issue 40 - July 2015 | Page 88
DAYSOUT
quex park
Nestled in the Birchington countryside, Quex Park invites you to get lost in a
world of adventure, nature and excitement.
The 250-acre country park is both an oasis of
calm and a thrilling place to explore. The family
home of the adventurous Powell-Cotton family,
today it boasts a wide range of attractions to
entertain visitors from far and wide, including
luscious gardens, a fascinating museum, farm
shop, children’s indoor and outdoor play areas,
craft village, garden nursery, boutique café and
giant maize maze.
Here are just some of things to see and do at
Quex Park this summer…
Gates open at 4.30pm and close at 10pm. T
ickets
are £25 for adults, and £12.50 for children (under
5s go free). Groups of 10 or more will receive a
reduction of £2 per ticket. Call 01843 842168 to
book or email [email protected].
This summer’s evening prom and picnic event
includes a programme of popular and classical
music in the lush grounds of the Quex mansion.
Relax to the sounds of the The Kent Concert
Orchestra featuring soprano Margaret Threadgold,
The Thanet Big Sing Community Choir and Muziki
Steel Pans Group.
Guests are welcome to bring their own picnic,
tables, chairs or rugs, and refreshments will also
be available from resident boutique café Mama
Feelgoods and licensed bars. A BBQ can also
be pre-ordered.
The latest addition to the Powell-Cotton Museum
is the bright and breezy Gallery Six, which opened
in 2014 with the aim of increasing access to and
awareness of the museum’s unique collection.
Explore The Powell-Cotton Museum
Undoubtedly one of the UK’s most fascinating
visitor attractions, the Powell-Cotton Museum
was dubbed as a place where ‘the past meets
present to change the future’ by the President of
the Born Free Foundation.
Attend The Summer Prom
Don your finest garden party outfit and dust off
your picnic basket and parasol for an unforgettable
evening in Quex Gardens on Sunday 5th July.
Make Music at Gallery Six
Quex House’s beautiful façade would impress
most visitors alone, but behind its doors lies one
of the most impressive natural history dioramas
in Europe that whisks visitors back to an age of
explorers and adventurers.
The museum was established in 1896 by Percy
Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton to house his natural
history specimens and cultural objects collected
on expeditions to Asia and Africa, including the
huge dioramas of exotic animals mounted against
backdrops of their natural habitats. These displays
are unique to the UK and continue to support
the study and understanding of the zoological,
cultural and ecological diversity of Africa and
the Indian sub-continent. Further galleries contain
Asian weaponry, a range of ceramics, jade
and ivory.
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The space has been designed to continue the
park’s aspiration that anyone can be a researcher,
and allows visitors of all ages to touch and
examine artefacts to learn more about them.
Along with preserved specimens, snake skins,
and traditional games, there are also musical
instruments for people to play on. Daily workshops
throughout August (Tues to Fri) allow visitors to
learn more about these instruments and to create
their own, from thumb pianos to xylophones.
Visit www.quexpark.co.uk for full details of
opening times, attractions and events.