Dartington Crystal

Dartington Crystal has been making glass in Torrington for forty years now. They have a lovely visitors centre, a huge shop and a restuarant that sells fresh, made on the premises, food. We spent a couple of hours here today, mostly 'doing' stuff. There are factory tours where you can see wine glasses, vases, etc being made and the bonus is that kids go free! Having said that, the visitors centre is set up with activities for the children to do that will hit your wallet more than an entrance fee might have done.

Today I took four children, my three and a friend: three decided they would paint a glass, and one wanted to make a necklace. Both activities cost £5 per person. The glass painting was fun, and took about 30 mins. They have to paint on an outline, then heat it, then paint the glass and heat it again. The necklace making took slightly less time but was fiddly and definately required adult help. My recommendation would be to paint the glass then leave it drying while you do the factory tour.

The factory tour is not so much a tour as a walk through two rooms on an elevated corridor. The first room is the most interesting. You get to see the whole process from taking the molten glass out of the furnace to blowing and shaping it and then the final product going off somewhere to be finished. All four children watched in fascination before declaring that they wanted to be glassmakers when they left school! The second room is just a packing room. The kids weren't impressed with that.

Other activities we didn't have a go at today were glass blowing, and making a hand cast in glass. We've done the hand casting before. It's a great keepsake, but it is popular so you have to book that one.