The Peak District National Park isn't short of things to do on a lazy, sunny, Saturday afternoon, but nestled high up on the hills overlooking Cromford and Matlock Bath is a piece of history you must go and see.
 
Crich Tramway Museum isn't, as the name might suggest, a stuffy building containing old vintage trams for people of a certain age to go to and look at while having a sandwich.
 
Instead, when you go through the gates, you'll find a living museum complete with a chance to ride on one of three vintage trams off into the National Park and back again.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, there are the sheds with old trams from all over the country, and certain parts of the world, but there's also a vintage tea room, pub, sweet shop, and ice cream parlour among other things to keep you entertained.
 
It certainly did the trick for my four-year-old son Noah when we visited the museum in late August 2022.
 
Upon entering the museum Noah only had eyes for the children's playground, perched high above the tram tracks.
 
But once he saw one of the vintage trams go by filled with people and that oh-so-familiar sound of the bell being rung, he was hellbent on making sure he could have a ride on it as well.
 
As you enter the museum, it doesn't look like there's a lot to do, all you see is an impressive bridge, tram tracks, and a bandstand on the other side of the road.
 
Venture down underneath the bridge however and you find everything that the place has to offer.
 
First, you'll find the vintage pub, The Red Lion Hotel, complete with a lion sitting on top of the building keeping watch.
 
Venture further down the road and you'll come across the old-school sweet shop, complete with sweeties in jars that are measured out in "quarters".
 
Next to that is the old-fashioned ice cream parlour, and beyond that you'll find the printers, and the main stop for people to climb on board one of the trams.
 
Across the road is also a version of Derby's Assembly Rooms that houses exhibitions, the Forge gift shop, and the sheds where the rest of the tram collection is housed.
 
There is also an indoor museum filled with other examples of trams from the past and a viewing gallery where you can see the restoration work being carried out on other tram cars.
 
The tram rides are included in your ticket price, and you can ride up and down the line as many times as you want, taking you past further exhibitions covering the types of mining that used to, and sometimes still do, go on in the Peak District National Park.
 
The trip on the tram usually lasts about 10 minutes, depending on how many stops it makes on its journey, and when we were there we had a choice between two double-decker trams and an old single-decker from Portugal.
 
All the trams have a very unique feature that you can turn the back of the seat from the back of the chair to the front so you're always facing where you're going no matter if the tram is going up the hill away from the museum, or down the hill back towards the pub and sweet shop.
 
Yes, things are a little bit pricey in certain areas of the museum, a quarter of jelly babies, or any other sweet in the shop, for example, will set you back £2.20 and ice cream with a flake is nearly £3.
 
But you expect things like that when you go to a tourist attraction.
 
The gift shop could do with some work, gone are the usual branded note pads and pencils and they've been replaced with some Doctor Who items, a lot of books and animals that can hold gin bottles!
 
Other than that though, Crich Tramway Village did keep us entertained, more importantly, it kept Noah entertained, for a good few hours until it was time for the museum to close.
 
There was also the added joy, for me, of finding two tram cars that used to patrol the streets of Chesterfield around the turn of the 1900s, something I had a feeling I'd find after researching the Chesterfield Tram Network.
 
Tickets for Crich Tramway Village start at £20 for adults and £12 for children aged 4-15 years.
 
A family ticket, covering two adults and up to three children, or one adult and up to four children, is £44.
 
The Village is open now until Sunday, 30 Oct 2022, but closed on Fridays, and your ticket allows you free returns within the next 12 months.
 
Jonathan Chubb.