Accessible Britain

Lean back and take a visual journey across the night sky then step outside and repeat
your voyage through space on foot – at Ireland’s leading astronomical education centre,
you can do both and learn a great deal about our solar system in the process.
The domed ceiling of the planetarium is illuminated by a state-of-the-art digital
projection system and plays host to a changing programme of family-friendly shows
(pre-booking advised), from close-up tours of the Red Planet to learning how to identify
those constellations visible with the naked eye. Aside from the planetarium itself, there’s an
engrossing exhibition area featuring, among other displays, a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite.
Both the planetarium and the nearby Armagh Observatory are located in the fourteenacre
Astropark, whose rolling green landscape reveals all sorts of educational models that
complement the starry scenes you’ll have seen inside. Wandering round the impressive scale
model of the Universe, for example, gives you an immediate grasp of the relative sizes of the
nine planets, the distances between them and the supremacy of the Sun.
The planetarium complex is straightforward to navigate, with ramped walkways
approaching the main entrance and all areas of the ground floor, and two Blue Badge spaces
nearby. A lift provides access to the first floor and there are designated viewing areas for
up to eleven wheelchair users in the theatre itself. There’s an accessible toilet on each floor.
Signage in the main areas and the lift are given in Braille, and assistance dogs are welcome
– bear in mind, though, that the special effects used in the theatre could be unsettling for
dogs, and the revolving images overhead can take a little getting used to for human visitors
too! Both the reception and the theatre have an induction loop. Lastly, paved walkways
weave around the Astropark and there are plenty of places to sit down en route.
FOOD & DRINK aa The on-site café serves a good range of hot and cold drinks and snacks
(open Sat & Sun and school hols). In Armagh city, the snack bar and restaurant in
the Market Place Theatre (www.marketplacearmagh.com) are recommended, as is the
Charlemont Arms (www.charlemontarmshotel.com) on English Street.
NORTHERN IRELAND
175 Navan Centre and Fort, County Armagh
Address: 81 Killylea Road BT60 4LD Web: www.navan.com Tel: 028 37529644; textphone 18001 3752
9644 Hours: daily Apr–Sep 10am–6.30pm (last entry 5pm), Oct–Mar 10am–4pm (last entry 3pm)
Dates: see website for christmas closing Entry: Summer [D]£6.40 [C]free [A] £6.40 [over 5s]£4.25
[Con]£5.30 [Fam] £17.50; Winter [D]£5.30 [C]free [A] £5.30 [over 5s]£3.20 [Con]£3.95 [Fam]£15.45
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Known in Old Irish as Emain Macha, the Navan Fort is celebrated as the ancient
royal seat of the Kings and Queens of Ulster. It is a significant site that’s fascinating for
archaeologists – it has featured on the Channel 4 programme Time Team – but provides
a stimulating step back in time for any visitor.
Here, in the walk-through exhibition in the centre, children can learn about their
ancestry and the history of Ireland – from mysterious myths and legends in the “Vanished
World” to the “Real World” of archaeology, packed with artefacts. Celtic costumes are
available for children to dress up in. Outside the centre is a replica dwelling, showing
how our Iron Age and early Christian-period ancestors lived (open April–Sept). Celtic
characters bring all this to life – explaining and demonstrating the different aspects
of day-to-day life, from farming to weaving. There are models of the weapons the