Travel the world at Quarry Bank

Travel the world during the summer holidays at Quarry Bank

If families are hoping to travel round the world this summer, they need look no further than Quarry Bank. Visitors to the National Trust attraction in Styal are invited to set off on an adventure that will take them as far as India and the Gulf of Mexico.

Inspired by stories of people from Quarry Bank’s past, the ‘Journeys of the Imagination’ interactive trail has reimagined six journeys made to and from Quarry Bank by the children who worked in the cotton mill and the wealthy mill owning Greg family.  In a series of installations across the gardens and mill meadow, visitors can run away and sleep under the stars with apprentice William Tittensor, who tried to escape working life in the mill up to 12 times, or head off in a carriage to Spain and Portugal with Robert Hyde Greg, the second owner of Quarry Bank.

During the summer holidays there’ll be even more for families to try their hand at. They can meet Elizabeth Mary Greg, who was known as Bessie and travelled round the world in the late nineteenth century. Inspired by her love of photography, families can have a go at making their own nineteenth century camera and find out all about this state of the art Victorian technology.

From there the adventures head to the Americas where visitors can meet Edward Hyde Greg, the third owner of the mill and an eccentric character with a passion for pineapples. On his travels, Edward had an encounter with an alligator and families can make their own origami alligator head or get stuck into a game called ‘mosquito mania’.

Suzanne Bowling, Visitor Programmes Officer says, ‘Quarry Bank has an extraordinary cast of characters hidden within the archives. ‘Journeys of the Imagination’ introduces our visitors to some of their stories and brings them to life in a fun and creative way. We believe in giving everyone an amazing experience every time they visit Quarry Bank, and the summer holiday activities allow visitors of all ages to journey into the past and their own imagination.’

Towards the end of the summer holidays visitors can swap the heat of the Americas for the calm of the canals, and join nine year old Rebekah Steevens on her journey to working in the mill at Quarry Bank. Lots of people migrated from the agricultural south to the industrial north for work in the early nineteenth century, including the Steevens family. Visitors can meet Rebekah and make their very own boat out of apples as well as origami roses.

Each of the characters’ stories in the trail has been reimagined by award-winning children’s author Berlie Doherty. Berlie’s stories are available from the Quarry Bank shops in a ‘Journeys of the Imagination’ book, which has been illustrated by Emma Baldwin, a member of the Quarry Bank team and an artist. The trail and summer holiday activities have been made possible thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.

Summer holiday activities run from Monday 23 July to Friday 31 August on weekdays, excluding Bank Holiday Monday. All activities are included in the Quarry Bank admission price. Full details can be found on the Quarry Bank website at: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/quarry-bank