Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2009, 1:08 PM BSTAre there any nuclear submarine museums? That'd be fascinating.
Not nuclear, but HMS Alliance at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport is well worth the visit. And there is HMS Ocelot at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham.
What on earth did you do Bigfella? And why not the night as well?
And of course Bovington a tank museum founded by Rudyard Kippling.
Like looking at big armoured vehicles? Then it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Quote: Timbo @ June 20 2009, 1:17 PM BSTNot nuclear, but HMS Alliance at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport is well worth the visit. And there is HMS Ocelot at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham.
I've visited both and for those who have seen my ahem more than silf like proportions you will appreciate the courage that took!
The Gosport one is ace especially as they also have all the old Polaris equipment in another bit of the museum.
HMS Belfast another great ship museum.
Quote: DaButt @ June 20 2009, 1:17 PM BSThttp://www.ussnautilus.org/
I'd like to drive around the country and check out every one of these "attractions."
That is so cool can I hitch a ride?
Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2009, 1:01 PM BSTDo the otters and the butterflies get on?
Still good to see Tarka survived the end of that film.
They are separate. You have to go through the butterfly bit first which is an indoor tropicial garden that is boiling hot then you get outside to where the otters are chilling with the baby otters waiting for their close ups. 
I remember there was quite an evil similar thing in Dorset called the Abbotsbury Swannery where they bread swans.
2 things.
1 Swans aren't endangered what next a rat sanctuary?
2 Swans are vicious and rather evil, how many kids did this place traumatise?
In Buffalo, we have the Naval museum. The USS Sullivans is there (named after the family where all 5 sons died aboard the same ship) and is said to be haunted, the Little Rock (a light missile cruiser) and the Kroaker, an old diesel sub (I think). Not a bad place to stop and visit, and you end up being a stone's throw from Niagara Falls.
My favourite place around me though has to be the toy museum in Rochester. I've been many times and I get all nostalgic.
Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2009, 1:23 PM BSTThat is so cool can I hitch a ride?
Sure.
I'm trying to visit all the aircraft carrier museums in the country. The WWII carriers are impressive, but it'll be great when one of the nukes finally becomes a museum.
This is only a few hours south of me; I need to pay it a visit soon.
Rochester UK or US?
There's an old USSR diesel sub in Rochester UK. Some guy bought it to turn it into a disco and then lost interest. It's still there.
It's not so much endangerment as giving them a safe home. Some on the swans have come from ponds and lakes where they have been driven off by other swans or have been attacked and for whatever reason, cannot be returned.
We used to live near a lake and the swans would come to the back of our house to be fed, bringing their cygnets behind them. You are right, they are violent and can break a grown man's arm but if they trust you, they are very friendly. We were even able to feed them out of our hands eventually but again it takes time and a lot of trust. 
Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2009, 1:25 PM BSTI remember there was quite an evil similar thing in Dorset called the Abbotsbury Swannery where they bread swans.
Breaded swan. Yum.
Quote: sootyj @ June 20 2009, 12:40 PM BSTHas anyone else read Bollocks to Alton Towers? Fabulous book about all the weird and peculiar places you can visit in the UK that haven't (shudders) been taken over by corporations and sullen staff in baseball caps.
So here's some of Sootyj's feel free to add!
1 Kelvedon Hatch. It was the main bunker for the government in case of atomic war up until the 80s. Wander around 3 floors of undergroun cold war gloom and see the PM's bed in case of armageddon.
2 Brighton Tea Cosy. An insanely camp tea room done up like a 1950s uber kitsch dreamscape. With a list of appalling sins that'll get you kicked out including; being under 12, talking loudly, insulting the queen, not standing for the national anthem and dunking biscuits.
3 Black Gang Chine. As seen on Blue Peter in 1974 a defiantly rubbish British them park; go on the rides there's 2 and they're rather small, wander round the maze that's only about 3 foot tall, go in the crazy house! It's got a man making his own breakfast! (where's his wife?) In rubbishness it some how is defiantly and eternally British.
There's loads more, but remember small, unique and preferably pointless.
Does number 3 have a slowing spinning circular piece of wood you can stand on, a bench held in the air by a crane & a spider baby attraction?
So Abbotsbury is a place for (shudders) assylum seaking swans?
I bloody knew it! Some of those swans are quite clearly Albanian wearing down duvets and pecking children.
Quote: AndreaLynne @ June 20 2009, 1:29 PM BSTThe USS Sullivans is there (named after the family where all 5 sons died aboard the same ship) and is said to be haunted
The Sullivans' current namesake is a guided missile destroyer that was targeted by an al-Qaeda boat packed with so much explosive that it sank. They lightened their load and eventually succeeded in striking the USS Cole.
N.B. the breaking the arm thing I heard was an urban myth, but they can drown small dogs.
Rochester US. Buffalo has our Naval museum. But its a nothing drive. The best thing about our museum is the fact that the tour guides are all old guys who served and their knowledge is immense. I forgot to mention that the Air Force museum in Dayton OH is a great weekend trip. The Memphis Belle is being restored there, as is the Enola Gay. The Strawberry Bitch is there, along with a collection of Air Force Ones. Definitely worth a viewing.
Quote: Little Jersey Devil @ June 20 2009, 1:34 PM BSTDoes number 3 have a slowing spinning circular piece of wood you can stand on, a bench held in the air by a crane & a spider baby attraction?
It did but they took it away for being too stimulating.
The weird thing is Blackgang is actually incredibly beautiful and built out of a cliff face.
There is no rational reason for some one building a small theme park on it. It's the sheer irrationality of it that charms.
They also have concrete dinosaurs and a short film about Blackgang I believe voiced by Brian Blessed.
Quote: AndreaLynne @ June 20 2009, 1:37 PM BSTRochester US. Buffalo has our Naval museum. But its a nothing drive. The best thing about our museum is the fact that the tour guides are all old guys who served and their knowledge is immense. I forgot to mention that the Air Force museum in Dayton OH is a great weekend trip. The Memphis Belle is being restored there, as is the Enola Gay. The Strawberry Bitch is there, along with a collection of Air Force Ones. Definitely worth a viewing.
Probably the best military museum in the UK is Bletchley Park birth place of the computer and the defeat of Nazism.
Being the UK it's a decaying collection of old huts and the world's ugliest stately home.
But a couple of the blokes there rebuilt one of the computers for a laugh really. It's lethal but cool.