Factory Visits & Industry

Factory Visits & Industry

What are they and what do they involve?

Factories are places in which things are made; the outcomes can be products such as food, technology or clothing, and a visit to a factory can include getting an interesting behind the scenes look at how everyday items are made and learning more about engineering, technology and manufacturing processes.

What are the benefits?

A visit to a factory can be great for increasing students’ respect for things they consider commonplace; for example, learning about the extensive history of minting coins can make you look at the money in your pocket in a brand new way. Factories can also spark an interest in creating and designing for some students – seeing how things are made can encourage others into making their own designs!

What students is it suitable for?

Different factories will be suitable for different groups of students; make sure the main topic and any activities available will engage your pupils!

Costs?

Factory visits will usually have an admission fee, but should generally fall under the £10 mark.

Safety Implications?

If the factory in question is a working one you must be very careful with younger students and make sure they are supervised at all times. Machinery can inflict life-changing injuries in a split second, so brief well and remain vigilant.

Venues for this Category

Uncover a world of chocolate delights

With over 25 years' experience and more than 2,000 school groups attending each year, Cadbury World offers a unique experience that gives fascinating insight into the rich heritage of the nation's favourite chocolate brand.

Bonbon voyage!

The "Musée du Bonbon“ with its hundreds of old exhibits and documents is a unique place that offers a wonderful insight into the history of the production of liquorice, fruit gums and bonbons. Fans and friends of old advertising materials from the time around the turn of the first millennium will rejoice in a wide range of historical posters and packaging of all kinds.

Here in Yorkshire, close to the centre of the town of Pontefract, you’ll find everything we make in our Pontefract factory as well as products from some of our international sites!

The UK's premier grower of garlic and source of all things garlic

Visit the Garlic Farm and learn all about garlic, where it comes from, how to grow your own and how to cook with it.

Taste all of our unique and delicious products from garlic chutneys to garlic beer and ice cream in our taste experience before you buy.

Inspiring people to learn about, make and enjoy contemporary glass

Discover the history of glassmaking on Wearside, the science behind the glassmaking process and explore an exciting programme of contemporary glass art exhibitions.

A fascinating insight into Grimsby's maritime history - Our Heritage

The museum is suitable for all ages, we also have an easy access route. Many interactive displays and get dressed up as a fisherman or apprentice boy.

Opened in 1876 as a storage unit for household silver, jewellery, and documents, it became the main spot for silver dealers in London in the early 20th century. Still the biggest silver store in the world, it attracts a lot of tourists. And no wonder! The views are spectacular.

Britain's oldest manufacturing company, having been established in 1570 (during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I) and being in continuous business since that date

The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is the oldest manufacturing company in Britain and was the birthplace of Big Ben, the great bell of the Palace Of Westminster. Founded in 1570, it still produces and supplies bells all over the country.

House of Marbles are makers & purveyors of a world famous range of glass marbles, board games, classic toys, puzzles, pastimes & decorative accessories for the home and garden. We have been designing, making and selling fun and entertaining products since 1973, when our founder began making board games in his workshop to sell at local craft fairs.

Restored overshot watermill with threshing machinery and various agricultural artefacts. Set on a working farm. A 10 minute video shows the mill in action. The local history of the area and agriculture is displayed. Craft/souvenir shop. Toilets and tourist information point.

This 18th century fishing böd, located on the outskirts of Lerwick, is the birthplace of Arthur Anderson, co-founder of the P&O shipping company. Two rooms have been restored to how they looked 200 years ago, in the time of Arthur’s childhood. They also contain displays explaining the history of the whitefish industry at that time, when the böd was a fishing station house and warehouse.

The knitwear and tweed story

The Borders Textile Towerhouse tells the story of our proud industrial past in a lively hands-on exhibition. There is also an exciting taste of textile fashions here and now, in our catwalk and design studio display. Carding, dyeing, spinning, weaving, knitting, finishing and design …. learn about the processes, people, craft and history behind the clothes that we take for granted.

The National Mining Museum Scotland is the national coal mining museum for Scotland and cares for the Lady Victoria Colliery and the national coal mining collections. The collections at the museum comprise over 60,000 items, including objects, archive material, photographs and books.

We  tell the story of tin and copper mining in Cornwall with daily demonstrations of a working mill

The oldest complete mine site in Cornwall, King Edward Mine Museum in Troon, near Camborne specialises in the history of Cornish mining, telling the remarkable story of how the mine has survived for 100 years. In the tin processing mill machinery can be seen in action just as it would have been in the early 1900s.

Discover the story of the lead miners of Minera, the village named after the ore beneath, at Minera Lead Mines visitor centre and explore the remains of the 19th century lead processing works, where they worked.

Geevor Tin Mine, dramatically situated on Cornwall’s Atlantic coast is the largest preserved mine site in the country and the gateway to the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site. Explore the many surface buildings with their magnificent mining machinery, get interactive in the Hard Rock museum and go underground into 19th century Wheal Mexico mine!

The Last Working Mill in Yorkshire

Skidby Mill is a working four-sailed tower windmill, the last working mill in Yorkshire. It is set in an acre of land and has magnificent views over the Wolds. The mill is unusual in still having all its original outbuildings around the courtyard. Some of these buildings have been converted to form the Museum of East Riding Rural Life.

Made famous by John ‘Iron Mad’ Wilkinson, a leading figure in the Industrial Revolution, the once noisy Bersham Ironworks now nestles quietly in the attractive Clywedog Valley, two miles outside Wrexham in north-east Wales.

School history workshops for KS2 - KS3 pupils.

Have you ever wondered what happens inside a sewage treatment works, or how we clean water to the highest quality standard?

The Jaguar Land Rover Education Business Partnership Centres are based on the Solihull Land Rover Manufacturing Site, the Castle Bromwich Jaguar Manufacturing site and the Gaydon Research and Development facility in Warwickshire. Our Visitors come from all around the world to see the facility.

Built in 1877, this restored six storey mill with complete gear, sails and fantail still works today. The award-winning tearoom sells produce made from the mill's organic, stone-ground flour.

Explore the crawl through mock up tunnels in the Peak District Lead Mining Museum then head over the road and under the ground for a guided tour of the real thing! Fun, educational and immersive this pair of matched attractions will fill your day nicely and stick in the mind.

Discover how the town of Belper was turned into the world’s first factory community in this great mill and museum that is free to visit for under 16s. Family friendly hands on activities and exhibits.

It is recognised as one of the most important buildings from the Industrial Revolution in the whole world!

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is a unique eighteenth century industrial works. Catch a glimpse of life at home and at work at a rural scythe and steelworks dating back to the 18th century.

A steel, metals, recycling, and renewable energy hub

Newport Docks si the UK's second largest steel port and in 2014 handled over 70,000 tonnes of timber out of a total of 12 million tonnes of cargo each year. It is also a recycling hub.

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