Horrible Histories® Pirates at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

We love days out where the kids get to have fun, but learn without realising it and one of our favourite locations to visit locally is Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Another family favourite is the book / TV series Horrible Histories, so we were very excited to learn that a new family exhibition would be opening here in time for the Easter holidays.

Horrible Histories® Pirates’ is based on the best-selling series by Terry Deary and illustrator Martin Brown and gives youngsters an action-packed insight into the mysterious and murky world of pirates across the ages.

Horrible Histories® Pirates takes a funny and foul look into pirate history, complete with parrots, cutlasses and all the gore and more.

The exhibition is perfect for kids, with lots of hands-on activities to try, including tying knots, designing your own pirate flag and firing cannons.

I did wonder why Isaac was having a ‘face-off’ with a skull at one point, until I realised that there was a question on the barrel below and you could only find the answer by looking into its eyes.

The kids also enjoyed playing the pirate game, which saw them sail the seven seas and delve into the often gruesome history of pirate ships, what it would have been like to live on them and what illnesses they were likely to catch.

There were also lots of fun information boards that had them practising talking like a pirate and learning what all the words meant.

The exhibition has been developed in association with Scholastic UK and was shipped to Portsmouth across the seven seas, all the way from the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.

The exhibition was the perfect mix of information and activity for the kids, with the older two reading all the information available, whilst Sebby was content to play and hunt for treasure.

Entry to ‘Horrible Histories® Pirates’ will be included as part of a ‘Full Navy Ticket’ to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, which offers a fun-filled day out for all the family.

A Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, you can also visit HMS Warrior, see Nelson’s legendary warship HMS Victory, HMS M.33 and it is also the site of King Henry VIII’s famous Mary Rose, but you need a separate ticket for this.

There are also several naval museums on site and the fabulous Action Stations, where kids can let off steam and scramble up the climbing wall, test their piloting skills or get involved with some fun experiments.

A ‘Full Navy Ticket’ to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard costs from £31 per adult and £18.50 per child. Family tickets are also available at £68. Tickets offer access to the site’s 11 attractions and are valid for multiple entries throughout the year. Book online at historicdockyard.co.uk.

Disclaimer: We were invited to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for the purpose of a review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

22 thoughts on “Horrible Histories® Pirates at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard”

  1. This looks so fun! My girls loved Horrible histories when they were younger, but we never had anything like this. The rock climbing would have made it extra special.

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  2. I used to love horrible histories as a kid, and this looks like a great exhibition, it’s really nice when things are really interactive x

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  3. I wish we lived closer because my 5 year old would LOVE this. Ships and Horrible histories…..he would be in heaven! What a great theme for teaching kids things without them realising.

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  4. This really does look amazing. I’ve been wanting to bring the kids down to Portsmouth for ages, maybe during the Summer, we might make it down!

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