Kent Museum of the Moving Image

Film and television history gets proper treatment at this museum just outside Deal, where you can actually see the cameras, projectors and broadcasting equipment that made British screens come alive. It's the kind of place where you'll spot a 1920s cinema projector or a vintage television studio setup and suddenly understand why your gran talks about watching live broadcasts like they were events. The collection focuses on how moving images have been captured and transmitted over the past century - not just the glamorous end product, but the actual machinery and craft behind it.

This works best for anyone with even a passing interest in how telly and film get made. Kids can find it engaging if they're curious types, though it's not a screaming-fun day out - more the sort of visit where teenagers start asking proper questions about cameras and editing. Allow a couple of hours maximum. The real appeal is in the technical detail and the nostalgia factor rather than flashy interactive displays.

Being just three miles from Kingsdown Camping and barely four from Sandwich Leisure Holiday Park, it's a decent wet-weather option or a half-day activity to break up a seaside park holiday in East Kent. Deal itself is worth exploring - proper working town with a seafront and decent fish and chips - so you could easily combine a museum visit with wandering the prom. Check ahead for opening hours and admission fees, as they're not widely advertised online. It's the sort of specialist collection that rewards a bit of planning.