Discover
| Published: 27th March 2007 21:28 |
Until you visit this attraction, it is hard to know exactly how to describe it to fully do it justice.
I will start with it's history, which begins with a sad bunch of run down office buildings in the highly uninspiring setting of Stratford Broadway. An independant charity took over the buildings and spent £6 million transforming it into the wonderful activity centre that it now is.
What makes Discover so unique is that it looked to children for ideas and inspiration. A panel of children were consulted throughout the planning and what you see in the centre is largely their imaginative ideas. When you enter Discover you are taken on a journey of story making and makebelieve. Everything is geared towards a childs imagination, from the first meeting with the Lollipopter, to crossing the Sparkly River and hiding in the 'Caves'. They can invite guests to a teaparty, dress up in the vast array of costumes, or make puppets and put on a show.
Outside there is the wonderful Discover Garden, which is enough to make any small child whoop with delight. They can't wait to take a trip in the wooden taxi or ship. There is a space rocket for trips to the moon and willow tunnels for hide and seek. There are also watertroughs to play in, so a spare top is not a bad idea!
This is an ideal place to visit from Billericay. We visited Discover last summer during term time in a group. We dropped our elder children at school and met at Billericay station for 9.30am. Our little pre-schoolers were so excited to be travelling on a train together - it is still a regular topic of conversation now! Discover is an easy walk from Stratford station. There is a small refreshment area for drinks and snacks only, so take a packed lunch or if you don't have time to make one, pick up a take away from Sainsburys, which is opposite the station. We had a lovely time at Discover. We arrived at about 10.30 and left at 2.00pm, easliy in time for the school run.
Throughout the year, there are many special activity days and below are the details of the current special event:
City of Stories
from 29 March - 29 August 2008
How do you make nail soup? Why did George kill the Dragon? What makes the Mango wondrous?
Find out by exploring our wonderful world of legends, folk stories and traditional tales. Explore stories from London's east end communities including Bengali, Polish Roma, African, English and Tamil. Watch out for chairs that tell stories, magic furniture and hidden worlds.
Designed by artist Cathy Wren and composer Jon Owen, City of Stories will open your eyes to London's rich tapestry of tales and adventures.
Open every day during the holidays from 10am - 5pm
Open Saturdays and Sundays from 10am - 5pm
Open Tuesday - Friday 4pm (special family sessions)
During busy periods timed visits need to be introduced
Discover is at:
1 Bridge Terrace
Stratford Broadway E15 4BG
Tel 0208 536 5563
The DISCOVER STORY TRAIL and DISCOVER STORY GARDEN is open everyday 10am - 5pm, except Mondays during London Borough of Newham school term times.
