Befriendees love having one off trips out of Bristol over the summer.

Use Journey Planner to plan specific public transport journeys.

Here are some ideas for local beaches:

Berrow and Brean, or Burnham-on-Sea (29 miles from Bristol)

get there: via the M5 (j22) or A38 and follow signs, or by train to Highbridge and Burnham (usually every hour or so, but check times and how you get to Brean from Burnham!)

ffi: www.burnham-on-sea.com

Beach: lots to do including boating. It’s great at high tide here, but be careful with the mudflats at low tide. Swimming is best avoided on Burnham’s South Beach because the currents are very strong.

Nearby: lighthouse on wooden stilts, pier with pavillion and amusement arcade, Apex Park Wildlife centre, 19th century shipwreck, Brean Down, Alstone Wildlife Park, Brean Down Tropical Bird Garden, Brean Leisure Park.

Clevedon (14 miles from Bristol)

get there: M4 (j20)

ffi: www.clevedon.gov.uk

Beach: quaint seaside (more retired people than kids with spades). Small and pebbly beaches but with rock pool opportunities. There’s a pier.

Weston-Super-Mare (22 miles from Bristol)

get there: M5 (j21) then A370 westwards and follow signs, or A368. Trains every half hour or so from Temple Meads.

ffi: www.weston-super-mare.com

Beach: mini Blackpool with donkey rides and all. The pier should be reopening this summer (Points West will keep us updated!).

Nearby: SeaQuarium, North Somerset Museum, Helicopter Museum, Weston Wheel (like the London Eye). You can take boat trips to Steep Holm (nature reserve island) from Knightstone Harbour.

Portishead (10 miles from Bristol)

get there: go over the Suspension Bridge and take the A369. Take the 357/358/359 bus from central Bristol (they seem to leave around every half hour and take about 45 minutes).

Beach: It’s a fairly sandy beach and the closest to Bristol. Just by the beach there’s an open air swimming pool and a boating lake.

To find out more about local beaches see: the beach guide website.

Parents should cover volunteer and child costs so consult parents about any big day trip plans (Time2Share has no activity budget this year).

Some of this information came from a recent edition of Venue.

Mostly copied from http://www.venue.co.uk/dayso/dayso_events.html:

July

July 16-24: Bristol Brouhaha Comedy Festival Tobacco Factory & Hen and Chicken, Bristol. www.tobaccofactory.com
July 17: Boogie for Brizzle Bristol Zoo. www.bristolzoo.org.uk
July 18-Sept 5: David Hockney: Six Tales from the Brothers Grimm RWA, Bristol. www.rwa.org.uk
July 19: 40th Anniversary Celebrations of return of Brunel’s ss Great Britain to Bristol. www.ssgreatbritain.org
July 22-25: Trowbridge Pump Festival Trowbridge, Wilts. www.trowbridgefestival.co.uk
July 23-Aug 7: Bath International Guitar Festival www.igf.org.uk
July 24-25: Berkeley Skirmish Berkeley Castle, Glos. www.berkeleyskirmish.com
July 29: Romeo & Juliet open-air performance, Bristol Zoo. www.bristolzoo.org.uk
July 30-Aug 1: Bristol Harbour Festival Bristol harbourside. www.bristol-city.gov.uk/harbourfestival

AUGUST

Aug 1st Islamic Cultural Fayre. 12-6pm. Eastville Park. www.bmcs.org.uk

Aug 7-8: Dalek Invasion Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, Somerset. www.fleetairarm.com
Aug 12-15: Bristol International Balloon Fiesta Ashton Court Estate, Bristol. www.bristolfiesta.co.uk
Aug 16-22: Pride Bristol gay festival. Parade in Castle Park, Bristol, Aug 21.
Aug 18: Priddy Sheep Fair Priddy, Somerset. www.priddysheepfair.co.uk
Aug 23-30: Festival of the Tree Westonbirt Arboretum, nr Tetbury, Glos. www.forestry.gov.uk/westonbirt
Aug 29: World Bog-Snorkelling Championship Llanwyrtyd Wells, Powys. www.green-events.co.uk
Aug 30: Bank Holiday

 SEPTEMBER

Sept 3-5: Didmarton Bluegrass Festival Kemble Airfield, nr Cirencester. www.didmarton-bluegrass.co.uk
Sept 4-5: Bristol International Festival of Kites and Air Creations Ashton Court Estate, Bristol. www.kite-festival.org.uk
Sept 5: Bristol Half Marathon Bristol City Centre. www.bristolhalfmarathon.com
Sept 9-12: Heritage Open Days 2009 various venues, all over UK. www.heritageopendays.org
Sept 11: Bristol Doors Open Day www.bristoldoorsopenday.org
Sept 11-12: Swindon Railway Festival STEAM, Swindon. www.swindon.gov.uk/steam
Sept 16 (TBC): Opening of new Brunel Institute, ss Great Britain, Bristol. www.ssgreatbritain.org
Sept 17-26: Jane Austen Festival various venues, Bath. www.janeausten.co.uk

Sept 17-18: Igfest (interesting games festival) www.igfest.org/
Sept 24-26: Bristol Festival Harbourside, Bristol. www.thebristolfestival.org
Sept 24-Oct 3: Bath Festival of Children’s Literature 2010 various venues, Bath. www.bathfestivals.org.uk
Sept 25-26: Silverline Power Tool Drag Racing Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, Somerset. www.fleetairarm.com
Sept 25-26: Bristol Do Portland Sq, Bristol. www.thebristoldo.com

Should help you plan the summer! 

OCTOBER

Oct 2-3: Great Western LEGO Show STEAM, Swindon. www.swindon.gov.uk/steam
Oct 6: Dairy Show Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet. www.bathandwest.com
Oct 15-17: Bristol Cajun & Zydeco Festival bristolcajunfestival.com
Oct 16-23: Bath Bach Festival, various venues, Bath. www.chantry-singers.org.uk
Oct 23-31: Halloween Festival, Bristol Zoo. www.bristolzoo.org.uk
Oct 29-Nov 7: Bath Film Festival bathfilmfestival.org.uk

The SS Great Britain have taken the initiative to get in touch with us to update their disabled access details.

Carers go free with a disabled child / adult.  Young people aged 16 and under pay £5.95 and under 4s are free.  We have asked about concessions for disabled people which currently they do not offer (the discount is for the carer). 

They have specially narrow wheelchairs on site to allow access through cabins etc and a lift cleverly built in to the funnel!  It might make a good day activity for befrienders and befriendees. 

Deaf & hard of hearing visitors:

• British Sign Language (BSL)hand-held interactive video tours. Please ask at the Ticket Office. Pre-booking advised Choice of BSL video tour foradults or children 

Blind & partially sighted visitors

• Please ask at the Ticket Office for audio companion tours for blind and partially sighted visitors, and for the tactile model of the ss Great Britain. Pre-booking advised Guide and assistance dogs are welcome. A sighted assistant is recommended for your visit

Events

There are also lots of events on (the ticket for the SS Great Britain in annual, so you can keep going back to do activities there). Click here to see what’s on at the moment.

For example, in May you can:

May 16, 17 & 23
Dream boats
Create giant paper boats for the launch

May 23 to 31
Mr Brunel visits
Meet Britain’s greatest engineer (except May 26)

May 25
Dream boats launch spectacular 6.15pm & 9pm (night glow)
Watch the stunning paper boats take to the harbour

May 29 & 30
Sinbad’s sea chests
Transform card, paint, glitter, and feathers, into art

In June:

June 21
Father’s Day treat
Dads enjoy a FREE beer 

In the Summer Holidays:

July 25 to September 2

Sinbad the Ship’s Cat trail Explore the ship, with Sinbad

Mr Brunel visits (except Mondays & Aug 27)

August 1 & 2 Bristol Harbour Festival 

Join the fun with an authentic steam fairground carousel, plus Victorian games

August 1, 8, 15 & 29 Sticky ships

Make stunning collages, with an artist

August 22 & 23

Crimean troopship

Take cover! Soldier re-enactors from the Crimean War. Victorian surgeon Seek out medical advice from the ship’s doctor. Leech included! 

Venue details:

Brunel’s ss Great Britain, Great Western Dockyard, Bristol BS1 6TY

Opening times:

Open daily, from 10am, except Dec 24 and 25, and Jan 11, 2010. Closing times: 4.00pm (Jan, Nov & Dec), 4.30pm (Feb & March), 5.30pm (April 1 to Oct 23), 4.30pm (Oct 24 to Oct 31). Last ticket sales one hour before closing

General office, and bookings: 0117 926 0680

I’ve just received an email about this offer from Hollywood Bowl:

Bowl for 1p per game!
Book online in Bristol: Avonmeads this half term and get games starting between 9am-9.30am for a spine-tingling 1p per game. How’s that for a Halloween bone-us?

This offer is only available for online bookings and Half Term dates differ by bowl, so please check our website for details.

This is a good venue for a busy or curious child. It is also indoors so perfect for wet weekends. Volunteers can get into Explore free, but you need to phone to book ahead (say you’re a carer with Time2Share and show your Time2Share ID at the door). The child you’re with can get an education rate (which is £4.45 for Explore).

Explore-At-Bristol is one of the UK’s leading science and discovery centres providing an immersive hands-on learning environment for pre-school, school and college groups. Our programme of curriculum linked workshops, events and resources is designed to fully support a visit to our attractions.

At-Bristol’s mission is making science accessible to all.