A Family Afternoon at The Hold | Suffolk Archives Review
We were gifted our visit for the purpose of this review however all opinions are my own
Having Suffolk days out as a family, is a big part of our summer holiday agenda. With the long six weeks stretching out, even before they had begun, I was already busy looking into booking all the usual suspects to fill up our calendar. So, when Suffolk Archives got in touch last month and invited us to visit their new facilities in Ipswich, I jumped at the chance to try something new and take the children over to Ipswich marina for the first time.
I must confess, I hadn’t heard of Suffolk Archives or The Hold (where they are based) before – so as I’m always keen to discover and share new things to do with children in the East, we arranged a big family day out there, with my dad, step mum and nieces too. It turns out it’s a real hidden gem to visit for adults and children alike. In fact I’d even go as far as to describe it as a calm family day out (which is definitely a rarely used word with my children!) Essentially if you are after a more chilled, but still interactive and engaging day, this was our experience of our afternoon at The Hold in Ipswich…
Our Family Visit to the Hold in Ipswich
Suffolk Archives is now housed in The Hold in Ipswich, a new purpose built heritage centre, set back from the pretty marina on the edge of the University of Suffolk’s campus. On arrival by train, we took the short walk from the station, beside the Ipswich waterfront. Where as well as enjoying seeing all the street art and boats moored along the way, the children also enjoyed spotting the giant owls on The Big Hoot Trail.
First up when you arrive – the building itself is a bit of a quirky Tardis. Outside its pretty standard, yet open the doors and you step inside a cleverly designed, modern space. Light and open with clever pops of colour and engaging art and installations at every turn. Certainly not the image I had assumed before arriving, of an archive centre housing Suffolk’s history. That’s not to say it doesn’t stand true to Suffolk heritage, it does, but it’s done in a way that captures our county in a modern and engaging way for all ages to enjoy.
Moving onto the buildings purpose, in their own words The Hold is “Home to 900 years of Suffolk’s history captured through thousands of documents. We are open for everyone to discover the past through our nationally and internationally significant collections”
After the train journey and walk it was great to start our visit by refuelling with lunch in the café. Again it’s a light and airy modern space, where we all enjoyed a lovely meal. The menu was simple lunch classics done well: freshly made sandwiches and jacket potatoes, with lots of choice. The pizza paninis were a big hit with our group especially, filing up the kids ready for an afternoon of exploring.
The primary reason for our visit was to see the Marvellous and Mischievous: Literature’s Young Rebels Exhibition. Set back in its own dedicated room, we all thoroughly enjoyed the interactive experience – being given the opportunity to become absorbed in a wealth of children’s literature classics from the past and present at a relaxed pace. Alongside this, the children (and us adults!) had lots of fun with the dressing up, book area and also contributing to the writing and book cover displays.
What’s on at The Hold this Autumn
Another exhibition coming up that sounds interesting for a range of ages is Picture Books For All “This exhibition explores the visual history of Ipswich printers W.S. Cowell Ltd who were key in the launch of Puffin Picture Books. The exhibition charts the local and international importance of W.S. Cowell through a visually rich selection of books, prints, original artwork brought together for the first time.” You can find out more about this exhibition open 21st October 2022 – 8th January 2023 over on The Hold exhibition pages – Picture Books for All at The Hold
We were then lucky enough to spend some time in The John Blatchly Local Studies Library. Here the visiting public have the opportunity to looking through the huge wealth of Suffolk history books and records on show, as well as carrying out their own local research if they wish. You can use the free access available to online genealogical sources on the library computers, with visitors able to use both online resources Find My Past and Ancestry for free to carry out research on their family and property history. We had the opportunity to try this and in just the short amount of time we were there, were able to discover records and and facts we didn’t know about our home and local family members. There is lots more helpful info about their research facilities over on Getting Started with Research.
While on our visit, we were also given a tour of all the different behind the scenes areas of the new facility. What struck me most was just how much there is going on for all ages, with such a variety of events on offer. From evening adult story time to escape rooms and children’s school holiday sessions, when you find out the detail, they all sound well thought out events with a twist – not the traditional offerings you may expect. You can find out all about the different events coming up over on The Hold Events Page.
If you are feeling a bit over all the noise and busyness build-up that can often accompany a full on family summer, I would highly recommend the The Hold in Suffolk as the perfect tonic this Autumn.
