Built in 1824, The Workhouse is the best-preserved example of the hundreds of workhouses built across the country. Up to 158 inmates at a time, from 62 parishes, entered this building as a last resort.
United Kingdon: Newark – Newark Air Museum
The Newark Air Museum is located at Winthorpe Showground a former World War II Royal Airforce training base. It has a great collection of Cold War aircraft and other artefacts. I was drawn here by the Vulcan bomber, one of my all-time favourite military aircraft.
There are many aircraft on static display outside of the hangers. There was a Canberra, another one of my favourite aircraft, as well as the Vulcan. So, exciting!
In the next section, there was another model of the Canberra, a rather impressive Avro Shackleton, a long-range prop surveillance aircraft from the late 1940s which stayed in service until the 1990s. There were also a couple of Cold War US fighter planes – the Sabre and Super Sabre. I remember making balsa wood versions of these planes when I was at school some 50 years ago – showing my age here.
From the outside displays, I popped into hanger 1. Inside are around 30 aircraft – mostly fixed wing, but there were also some helicopters. The most exciting aircraft for me were the Sea Hawk, Sea Venom and the Saab Draken. I just love the Saab aircraft – sadly the company is no longer in existence.
After leaving hanger 1, I headed across to hanger 2, passing along the way a few more aircraft on outside display, including a couple of Russian MiGs – a MiG23 and MiG27.
Inside hanger 2 there are 18 aircraft on exhibit, including several in the white and red livery of the RAF, signifying they were used for training purposes. Just inside the door, there were a couple of exhibits that I found interesting. The first of these were various uniforms of the RAF, the second was a display of air-launched weapons. I was pleased to see they had a Brimstone, fire-and-forget, missile – a programme on which I worked when I was at GEC-Marconi in the late 1990s. Among the aircraft on display inside was a Saab Viggen (you could climb up and look inside the cockpit), and a Sea Harrier – something else I had worked on many moons ago.
The final area I went to check out was another outside display – which included another Canberra, a Buccaneer, a Jaguar and a Lightning (another favourite of mine).
Planning your visit
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Getting to Newark Air Museum
Car
The museum is easy to find from the A1, A46, A17, A1133 roads and the Newark bypass, with ample free on-site car and coach parking. For people travelling from the A1 and A46 routes we recommend that you follow the A46 signs north towards Lincoln and then take the right turn off the dual carriageway at the A1133 / Drove Lane roundabout – following the brown and white air museum signs. N.B. Please do not rely on Sat Nav postcode directions to find the museum and do not follow the “Newark Attraction” signs off the main roads.
Train
The museum is located approximately 2.5 miles from the Newark Castle Station and approximately 1.75 miles from the Newark Northgate Station, but there is no bus service that calls at the museum. Local taxi details can be obtained by contacting the museum. Please be aware that if you try to walk to the museum you do have to cross several major roads
Bus
The South Newark Notts Bus on Demand goes to the neighbouring Newark Showground and we are just a short walk away along Drove Lane. Soon, Newark All-Rounder tickets will be available to purchase on these buses, but unfortunately not on their App. Their webpage will be updated in due course to reflect this. With the Newark All-Rounder you can get around with different bus operators using one ticket. Zone areas covered by the ticket include: Newark town centre, Kelham, Farndon, Coddington.
The best time to visit Nottinghamshire
The best time
The ideal time to visit Nottingham would be between May and September. During these months, the city experiences average high temperatures ranging from 15.5°C (59.9°F) up to 20.5°C (68.9°F), offering a comfortably warm climate for explorers. The daylight hours are longer, with an average of 15.8 hours per day in May, climbing to 16.8 hours in June, so visitors can squeeze in plenty of sightseeing. Furthermore, rainfalls between these months range from 14mm (0.55″) to 27mm (1.06″) providing occasional showers that break the monotony of continuous warmth.
The worst time
Between January and February are generally less appealing times to visit Nottingham. These months witness cooler temperatures, with average lows falling between 1.3°C (34.3°F) to 1.8°C (35.2°F). The daylight hours are shorter, with January having the least daylight at 8.2 hours. Moreover, these months see a relative increase in wind speeds. January sees the highest wind speed at around 18.3km/h (11.4mph) making the cold feel even colder.
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