The Heights of Abraham, Matlock

Another day in the holidays and another day trip for the Princes. We didn't want to travel quite as far as Blackpool this time but we wanted something interesting to do and after a little research we decided on The Heights of Abraham in Matlock. It is only about 25 miles away from us so it sounded perfect.


The view atop The Heights of Abraham, Matlock
The amazing view on top of Masson hill.


The Heights of Abraham consists of a hilltop park on top of Masson hill which is accessed by a gondola cable car. It has been open to the public since Victorian times and has caverns to explore. You can go on a tour of Great Masson Cavern and learn all about what life was like for miners hundreds of years ago. My boys and I learned that it was far healthier being a miner or a child rather than the wife of a miner. The wives at the time only lived into their 20's because of their exposure to the lead that was being mined. It was their job to lift the lead from the mine, clean it and get it ready for smelting. The miners would live into their 60's, each of them having 4 or 5 wives in their lifetime!


Masson Cavern, Matlock


The tour was really interesting and seeing inside the caves and imagining what it must've been like was quite scary actually. At one point the tour guide turned off all the lights and everything went very dark, he then lit up a candle (electric but still) as he tried to show us how much light they had to work with. It was so dark that BP (who's nearly 10) gripped my hand so tight he stopped the blood getting to my fingers.



After the tour the boys spent some time in the park climbing and playing in the trucks. Just as we were about to leave we heard an announcement about a Punch & Judy show about to start. Instead of leaving we bought some ice-creams and sat down to watch the show. The ice-cream was the best I've had in a long time and there was a great selection; BP had toffee, LP had cookie and cream, the hubby had mint and I had run & raisin. Mine was my favourite (I tried them all!) but they were all very yummy. The boys laughed their socks off at the Punch & Judy show and, if I'm honest, it was entertaining for me too.

A family ticket (2 Adults + 2 children) costs £42.00 and additional children cost £7.00, this gives you access to all the tours, playgrounds and shops including the 'Fossil Factory' which any dinosaur fan will love. The Punch & Judy show will be at The Heights of Abraham until 31st August; a definite must. There is also a restaurant but we didn't eat there so I don't know what the food was like.

All in all a great day out that didn't take up the whole day.

Fossil Factory, The Heights of Abraham, Matlock
A statue near the Fossil Factory