The Museum of Mechanical Art Design, or how I went to Stratford-upon-Avon and didn’t do any of the Shakespeare stuff

A collection of automata and kinetic art turned out to be much more fun than any visit to Shakespeare’s birthplace

I went to Stratford-upon-Avon at the end of May. It was my first time. I went because there were plenty of things to do: walking, cycling, lots of cafés and restaurants, the theatre, plus Shakespeare’s birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s cottage.

I thought I might go and see a play. I was sure I’d go to Shakespeare’s birthplace at the very least. I like Shakespeare. Seeing the great man’s birthplace was the least thing I would do, surely? I didn’t. One ticket cost £20.

Twenty quid seemed a bit steep. It was valid for a year, with as many visits as you want during that year. But I would only be in the area the once. And even if I was planning on going back to Stratford-upon-Avon, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t need a second visit to the museum.

However, on one of my wanders around the town I came across something much more exciting than an old house: the Museum of Mechanical Art Design, or MAD Museum. It features a showcase of automata and kinetic art by artists from around the world. It’s also interactive – there are motion sensors you can wave your hand over to make the pieces move.

It’s quite possibly the most fun you can have in a museum. Legally, anyway.

The museum

Sandwiched between cafés, the unprepossessing entrance is easy to miss. After climbing up the rickety staircase (OK, it’s not that rickety, and there’s a lift – I’m building the atmosphere), you come to a large dimly lit attic room which is stuffed with fun and fascinating works of mechanical art. After paying for entry (a snip at £8.80), you push through the wood swing doors and off you go.

There are all kinds of exhibits: a bear made of flowers fashioned from metal that you can make move its arms and legs as if it’s walking; a wooden swimmer that does the front crawl; a giant spider; many contraptions with moving shelves, hollows, swinging arms and so on that carried marbles up, down and around. And many, many more works to play with.

A portrait of Shakespeare being vandalised by goblins was particularly apt. A moving Bayeux Tapestry was fun.

There are tableaux showing different scenes. The Día de Muertos skeleton musicians that dance and play their instruments when you operate them got a lot of play from me. There was also a seascape with fish and moving waves. Pirate ships were fun too.

I was the only adult not accompanied by small children, apart from the people who were working there. The kids were loving it, and so were their grownups. It’s a shame that more adults weren’t in there having fun. It was way better than any dusty old Shakespeare stuff.