What's on for families in 1066 Country this autumn?

From lantern-lit ghost tours and spooky museum hunts to outdoor laser battles, fungi walks and predator fishing, 1066 Country is packed with creative ideas for entertaining your family this autumn. 

Let’s start with every parent’s favourite: the free stuff. Running throughout half term week is the excellent Hastings Storytelling Festival, which this year is a blend of online and socially-distanced events. (Note some events are for adults only – but kids will love Dan the Hat and the Children’s Book Carnival.) 

In more free news, Where’s Wally is back at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery for a Spooky Museum Search. The Fishermen's Museum on Hastings seafront, Bexhill Museum and Battle Museum have all also reopened, though on reduced hours so please check ahead. Combine your educational trip with burning off some steam at Battle Recreation Ground’s wooden adventure castle, or the zip wire, tree house and sandpit at Egerton Park in Bexhill, and you’re still none the poorer. 

Head to Bedgebury Pinetum (you’ll have to pay for parking but entry is free) and follow the Gruffalo trail, or seek out the adventure play trail hidden in the trees.  And psst here's a reminder to book now if you want to see the Bedgebury Christmas lights!  

Or get your twitch on and pay a visit to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and its network of birdwatching hides. And of course there’s this huge selection of spectacular walks and cycle rides, too. 

For your big half-term day(s) out, check out Shriek Week at Drusillas Adventure Park, which is currently adorned with hundreds of pumpkins and skeletons, or head to Spooky Battle Abbey and follow the trail to solve a host of creepy clues. Knockhatch Adventure Park has a scary maze, a ghost hunt, and even a visit from the Ghostbusters planned! Find more half-term ideas here.  

 

For the serious ghost hunters, there are two Pevensey Ghost Walks if you dare venture out on Halloween night itself. Battle Abbey will also be running a series of evening Ghost Tours for ages 16+ only, between 28 and 31 October. Then on 7 November the famously haunted Michelham Priory  will be spinning blood-curdling ghost stories late into the evening – only for the strong hearted! 

If grisly crime is more your thing than ghoulish ghosts, who you gonna call?......The True Crime Museum, of course. True to form they have a Hunt for the Halloween Hacker and two Crime Walks of Hastings coming up.  Find out more Halloween ideas here.

 

All a bit grim? Let’s head back into the light and the fresh air. 

During half term Bewl Water's Laser Challenge will be open every day (and at weekends thereafter). So if you fancy arming your offspring and letting them loose in the forest, now’s your chance. You can also try your hand at Predator Fishing, from November to January. If that’s a bit fast-paced, how about a fungi walk, every other Tuesday throughout autumn at The Original Hut Company near Bodiam.  

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