Ilkley Toy Museum

I’m a hoarder. That’s I’m a hoarder not I’m a heifer, how very rude. One of my main sins is keeping toys and quite frankly tat from the age dot. I’ll never be parted, so it’s nice to visit the Ilkley Toy Museum and see what other toys from yesteryear have escaped my memory.
Oh and are there plenty. It’s a treasure of all things tiny (and not so tiny) and is one of the finest collections of toys in the North. The many exhibits feature dolls, dolls houses, teddy bears, tin plate toys, lead figures and a selection of games together with wooden and paper toys. You’ll also see stuff dating back from 350 BC, that’s just about older than me.
The bears are wicked and are how «proper» bears were made. Lovingly crafted and made to last not mass produced. You’ll also be able to don your silly «me lady» voice at the fine Thunderbirds section. You’ll really have a trip down memory lane here but if you don’t like toys then don’t bother. That’d be like Mary Whitehouse going to an Anne Summers party.

Hmmm this is a funny one for me, I will try my bestest to remain objective and give an all rounded review, and not let the fact that things like this by and large give me the eeeby jeeebies and make me want to run behind the nearest adult taller than me by about 5 inches. Of course in the company of kidlets you have to suck it up, and they generally like all this creepy stuff.
So what is it that’s so creepy? Toys, lots of them, old ones, ones with realistic features, ones that move, wooden ones, furry ones, plastic ones, bears too. I never boded well with The Nutcracker, but taking a couple of bra… children around Ilkley Toy Museum brings out some kid corkers… when telling one of them that this particular doll was from over 2,400 years ago, she replied, «wow, did you have one?» why I oughta…
From an education meets fun standpoint, it’s interesting to show and see for yourself the progression of toys and dolls throughout my own lifetime, and that of my parents, through traditional dollhouses, the gallery includes English and German structures, traditional boys toys and then traditional girls toys, toy soldiers, dolls, a full minature fairground activated on payment, and Steiff bears too, all complete with a history of their existence.
Entry is £3 for adults, £2 for kidlets, free for under fives, and £8 for two adults and three kids on a family ticket, so it’s really reasonably priced. It’s ok for a poke around, and to break up the day with the kids, but it’s not a place you could spend all day.