Summer Holiday Fun 2014!

The summer holidays are upon us again. Here is our guide to summer holiday fun in Peterborough!

Peterborough Museum

    The Age of the Dinosaurs' is the museum's main attraction this summer. Get up close to prehistoric creatures via some great hands—on exhibits! Watch out for monsters lurking around every ember! The museum is open from 10:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Saturday, and from 12:00pm to 4:00pm on Sundays in August.

Call 01733 864663 for details

Saxon Youth Club

    School holiday fun：Young people aged 13—19 will be able to produce their own music, compete in spots activities, or try their hand at cooking at Saxon Youth Club, Saxon Community Centre, Norman Road. Peterborough every Monday and Wednesday from 3:00pm．PLUS an aero ball tournament will take place on Thursday 12th August between 3:30pm and 6:30pm.

Call 01 353 720274 for details

Houghton Mill

    The new play Alice through the Looking Class — a new production of the family favorite on Monday 30th August. Bring rugs or chairs to sit on and a picnic if you wish to eat during the play. Gates open 5:30pm, performance 6:30pm—8:30pm. Tea room will be open until end of the interval. Adult ￡10．Child ￡7．Family ￡20．

Booking advisable on 0845 4505157.

Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey

    Farmland Gaines：From Wellie Wanging to Pretend Ploughing matches, come and join the Farmland Team．Collect your sporting stickers and create a colorful rosette that is fit for a winner！No need to book, just turn up between 12:00pm and 4:00pm on Thursday 19th August Suitable for children aged four and above, each child should be accompanied by an adult and all activities are included in the normal admission price Tickets Cost￡7 per child.

For further information, call 01223 810080.

    Seven years ago,back in 2010,some reports covered a story that the world's longest railway tunnel was under construction in Switzerland.At that point it had already been under construction for over a decade.It had been voted to be built nearly a quarter of a century ago!The idea to build it could date back to nearly 70 years ago—about as old as some of your grandparents!

Yesterday,it was finally ready!

    It's 35 miles long and runs 7,500 feet beneath the Swiss Alps,a famous mountain range in Switzerland.It even runs under an old tunnel that was there before.It took a total of 17 years to build at a cost of $12 billion.128 million tons of rock were dug.Two million truckloads of earth were removed!

    The tunnel connects northern and southern Europe.The opening of this runnel was such a big deal that the Germany's leader,Chancellor Angela Merkel,France's president,Francois Hollande,and Italy's prime minister,Matteo Renzi,were an there to celebrate,as was Austria's chancellor Christian Kern.

    It's called the Gotthard Base Tunnel.Eventually,325 freight and passenger trains will go through the tunnel,relieving a lot of traffic on the roadways there and making it a more environmentally friendly option.The Gotthard Base Tunnel is a wonder of engineering!Make us want to visit it!

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    Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river. People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade. New York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River. Over 300 years its population grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million. But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time. Boom towns grow from nothing almost overnight. In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness(荒野). But gold was discovered there in 1897, and two years later, it was one of the largest cities in the West, with a population of 30,000.

    Dawson did not have any of the natural conveniences of cities like London or Paris. People went there for gold. They travelled over snow-covered mountains and sailed hundreds of miles up icy rivers. The path to Dawson was covered with thirty feet of wet snow that could fall without warming. An avalanche(雪崩) once closed the path, killing 63 people. For many who made it to Dawson, however, the rewards were worth the difficult trip. Of the first 20,000 people who dug for gold, 4,000 got rich. About 100 of these stayed rich men for the rest of their lives.

    But no matter how rich they were, Dawson was never comfortable. Necessities like food and wood were very expensive. But soon, the gold that Dawson depended on had all been found. The city was crowded with disappointed people with no interest in settling down, and when they heard there were new gold discoveries in Alaska, they left Dawson City as quickly as they had come. Today, people still come and go — to see where the Canadian gold rush happened. Tourism is now the chief industry of Dawson City — its present population is 762.

    Family Fun in Canadian Museum of Nature

    Bring the whole family to rediscover our fully redecorated museum.

    WHAT TO SEE AND DO

    Check out What's On for all the events, educational activities and HD movies happening during your visit. Care for birds, dive down into the depths at the helm (舵柄) of a research submersible(潜水器) or explore a cave… on the first floor. Don't miss our gallery play areas on the third floor when visiting with kids. By visiting here, your children will learn more about nature. Check out Our Exhibitions which presents our special exhibitions and our galleries. Be sure to stop at our Nature Boutique on the second floor for a vast selection of games, books and nature-related souvenirs from 9:30 am until the museum closes for the day.

    HOURS, ADMISSION, SERVICES AND MORE

    The Canadian Museum of Nature provides a lot of information, images and videos on our websites about nature, such as http://www.nature.ca/en/family-fun and http://www.expeditionarctic.ca/. The museum also participates in several social networks. Follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

    Joey was born in 1990 in Connecticut and now lives in North Carolina in the United States. When Joey was six, he started racing small cars in competitions. He began to win many races, but they weren't big races. His parents decided to move to Atlanta, Georgia, so Joey could compete in bigger and better competitions. When he was 12, he set a record by winning 14 races in a row at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. He continued to win many races, and finally began racing with regular-sized (正常大小的) race cars.

    When Joey was 15 years old, he met the race car driver Mark Martin. Martin is a famous NASCAR driver. NASCAR is the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and it is the biggest and most popular car-racing organization in the United States. Martin was interested in Joey and thought he was “the real deal.” He said, “I am sure that he can be one of the greatest that ever raced in NASCAR. There's no doubt in my mind.”

    Martin was right. Joey started as a NASCAR driver in 2007. NASCAR has many races, and at first, Joey was only able to compete in smaller races because of his age. In his first NASCAR season, he won a championship (冠军). In 2008, he was able to compete in bigger NASCAR competitions. He competed in one of the top NASCAR racing series called the Nationwide Series, and at 18, he became the youngest winner in Nationwide Series history.

    In 2009, he became the youngest winner in another top NASCAR racing series called the Sprint Cup Series, and he also won the Nationwide Series for the fifth time. To be one of the best drivers in the history of racing, Joey has to win many more races. But at 19, he's off to a good start.

Benjamin West, the father of American painting, showed his talent for art when he was only six years of age. But he did not know about brushes before a visitor told him he needed one. In those days, a brush was made from camel's hair. There were no camels nearby. Benjamin decided that cat hair would work instead. He cut some fur from the family cat to make a brush.

The brush did not last long. Soon Benjamin needed more fur. Before long, the cat began to look ragged(蓬乱). His father said that the cat must be sick. Benjamin was forced to admit what he had been doing.

The cat's lot was about to improve. That year, one of Benjamin's cousins, Mr. Pennington, came to visit. He was impressed with Benjamin's drawings. When he went home, he sent Benjamin a box of paint and some brushes. He also sent six engravings (版画) by an artist. These were the first pictures and first real paint and brushes Benjamin had ever seen.

In 1747, when Benjamin was nine years old, Mr. Pennington returned for another visit. He was amazed at what Benjamin had done with his gift. He asked Benjamin's parents if he might take the boy back to Philadelphia for a visit.

In the city, Mr. Pennington gave Benjamin materials for creating oil paintings. The boy began a landscape (风景) painting. William Williams, a well-known painter, came to see him work. Williams was impressed with Benjamin and gave him two classic books on painting to take home. The books were long and dull. Benjamin could read only a little, having been a poor student. But he later said, "Those two books were my companions by day, and under my pillow at night." While it is likely that he understood very little of the books, they were his introduction to classical paintings. The nine-year-old boy decided then that he would be an artist.