In June 2009 HWTMA received a request from a Hampshire Children’s Centre to organise a fun day out for their Dads’ Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club is for fathers and their children of various ages. They meet regularly at the weekends for a breakfast club and from time to time take part in diverse activities around Hampshire.

The event was held at Manor Farm Country Park, Hampshire on a sunny Saturday in June. On their way to the venue the group’s coach unfortunately broke down, but as keen as they all were, the Dads took their children and walked the last bit to meet staff from HWTMA.

After a brief introduction we all went for a walk through countryside and ancient woodland towards the Hamble River, stopping in the woods to learn about old and new boats and how it is possible to recognise the difference between trees……..even if you are blindfolded! The path continued down to the river where we talked about the destiny of Grace Dieu an early 15th century ship, the remains of which lie in the mud of the River Hamble. We discussed how ships look when archaeologists finds them under water. Then all the children had to create miniature versions of their own dream ship. With some clay and pictures for inspiration we ended up with a fine fleet of Viking ships, cogs, coracles and even some cannonballs! Pack lunches were devoured and then it was time to visit the farm.

Everybody went off by themselves at the farm but by coincidence the whole gang met up in the Victorian school building where some of the children dressed up and others played with Victorian toys. The fathers remembered their own school days and the HWTMA staff entertained children by keeping the skipping rope going. Later in the afternoon we all had the opportunity to meet some of the smaller animals up close. The friendly staff at the farm passed around the bunnies and chicks so that everyone could touch, hold and feel real living animals. That was the last event of a long, sunny and fun day after which the dads and children got back on their coach, which hopefully took them all the way home without breaking down!

Before leaving, we asked all children and dads to let us know what they thought of the day. We didn’t want to put them off with forms to fill in, so used an informal, anonymous and quite fun method of giving them each a ‘voting token’ (casino gaming chip) and asking them to post it into the appropriate pot, to indicate their response to the day. The ‘voting’ pots were labeled: I did not have fun todayI think this day was OKI had a lot of fun today There was one vote in the I think this day was OK pot and the rest of the votes were in the I had a lot of fun today pot. There was a lovely friendly atmosphere with the group. Dads and children interacted brilliantly, the dads seemed to particularly enjoy helping the children build their model boats. On hearing that it was time to leave, one eight year old boy exclaimed: “But we’ve only been here for an hour!” (when in fact they’d been there for five hours!).

If you would like further information, please contact us at:
Tel: 02380 237300 or in the first instance
email; amanda.bowens@hwtma.org.uk