attractions & museums


Bristol and Barcelona aquariums join forces


ToM WaLkER


Bristol Aquarium has announced that it is to be twinned with one of Europe’s largest aquariums as part of a new initiative. Te Harbourside wildlife attraction has


announced plans to set up a twinning deal with Spain’s Barcelona Aquarium. As part of the new agreement, the Bristol


and Barcelona attractions will work closely together on a variety of captive breeding programmes and aquarium staff from both sites will make regular visits to share infor- mation and new ideas.


First museums cash pot confirmed ToM WaLkER


More than £8m of funding has been made available for museums and galleries to bid for by the government, as part of its new strategy to match philanthropic donations. The DCMS/Wolf son


Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, financed equally by the government and the Wolfson Foundation, has been set up to improve displays, increase access and enhance public spaces. Culture minister Ed Vaizey


Te DCMS has matched a £4m contribution from the Wolfson Fund


said: “It is often the major, one-off philanthropic donations that make the headlines, but the myriad of grants and improvements that the fund supports are just as vital to museums and galleries.” Te Fund was originally set up in 1990 and


ran for five years, distributing £19m to more than 200 projects across England. Awards


Visitors will be enabled to view the warship’s hull


New vision of Mary Rose Museum unveiled


pETE hayMaN


An image of how the new Mary Rose Museum will look when it opens in autumn 2012 has been unveiled by the Mary Rose Trust and architects Pringle Brandon. Located at Portsmouth Historic


Dockyard, the new attraction will feature a walkway that will enable visitors to view the hull of Henry VIII’s former flagship. Work on the preservation of the ship’s


structure will enter its final stage later this year, when the sprays used to conserve the Mary Rose’s timbers are turned off.


Edinburgh Castle tops Scottish attractions list


pETE hayMaN


New research has confirmed that Edinburgh Castle – operated by Historic Scotland – was the most visited tourist attraction in Scotland last year, according to new statis- tics published by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. Te historic castle saw visitor numbers


grow by 1 per cent to more than 1.2 million and overtook Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum as Scotland’s number one visitor site. Visitor numbers to the Glasgow attrac- tion fell 21.75 per cent to 1.07 million.


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from the fund have oſten acted as a catalyst for further funding, which has been particu- larly useful for smaller museums. Its current incarnation was launched in 2001


and has, to date, awarded £28m to 217 projects over an eight-year period. Te last allocation was announced in August 2009.


Irish attractions post visitor number growth pETE hayMaN


More than 3.5 million people visited exhibitions and events at Ireland’s cultural attractions in 2010 – an increase of 7 per cent in the previous year. Figures were boosted by


the reopening of Dublin’s Natural History Museum in April, while the National Gallery of Ireland hosted two major exhibitions. Among the attractions to report “sig- nificant” increases was the National Library of Ireland, where visitor numbers were up by 34 per cent on 2009. Foynes Flying Boat Museum and the Science


Te reopening of Dublin’s Natural History Museum boosted the figures


Gallery, Dublin, saw numbers grow by 39 per cent and 29 per cent respectively Ireland’s minister for tourism, culture and sport, Mary Hanafin, said: “Te diversity of the


exhibitions and events that the cultural insti- tutions offer is outstanding and is part of what defines us as a nation. It is clear that they will continue to form a major part of the tourism attraction on offer.”


New underwater ride for Legoland Windsor pETE hayMaN


LEGOLAND Windsor has announced that it is to unveil its new £8m Atlantis Submarine Voyage attraction this summer. Travelling aboard custom-built, 14-seater LEGO-themed submarines, families will


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


voyage into a 1,000,000-litre (220,000gal) tank featuring more than 50 species of rare sharks, rays and tropical fish. Nearly 100 bespoke LEGO bricks and fea-


tures are being hand built to bring Atlantis to life, equating to around 2,683 hours of work.


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2011


image: national museum of ireland


image: pringle brandon


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