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Event Description:

Visitors to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden are in for a ‘disgusterous’ half term this October as the leisure attraction celebrates one of Roald Dahl’s best-loved books, The Twits (Saturday 24 October - Sunday 1 November).

The visitor attraction, set over two floors and featuring artefacts including Dahl’s original writing hut, has a host of activities lined up to keep families entertained everyday of the half term holiday.

The 1980 bestseller tells the story of the mischievous Mr and Mrs Twit who spend their days playing mean tricks on each other until they are outwitted by the Roly Poly Bird and the monkey, Mugglewump, and his family.

Natalie Wallace, Head of Learning, at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, says: “We have plenty in our Twits and Tricks programme to keep little monkeys entertained this half term holiday.

“Visitors can get stuck into our clay workshops to make some of the disgusterous dinners enjoyed by Mr and Mrs Twit including Bird Pie and Worm Spaghetti, as well as the many food items Mr Twit kept in his beard to eat later. We also have storytelling everyday of the school holiday where our professional storytellers will be sharing some notable excerpts from both The Twits and Dahl’s take on classic fairy tales, Revolting Rhymes.”

Unique items from the museum’s archives will also be on display including early drafts featuring unpublished tricks that Dahl devised for his books Matilda and The Enormous Crocodile, as well as Dahl’s own sketches to illustrate the growing tortoise in his 1990 book, Esio Trot.

Natalie adds: “This is a fantastic opportunity to peek into the mind of Roald Dahl, a master storyteller, and see the trademark mischief and trickery he brought to so much of his writing.”

The museum is also running a guided Terrific Tricks Trek around the village led by professional actor, Michael Parkhouse on Monday 26 October. Visitors will see some of the local places that inspired many of the locations in Dahl’s work and get the chance to hear more about the famous tricks which have appeared in his stories including a live newt in Miss Trunchbull’s water jug and a dead mouse in Mrs Pratchett’s sweet shop.”

Back by popular demand this year is the museum’s Twilight Tricks evening on Thursday 29 October. Guests can explore the creepy courtyard after dark with entertainment and crafts before heading out into the village to meet some unexpected characters on the museum’s Trick or Treat experience.

And on Saturday 31 October, guests can enjoy a spooky interactive family workshop with local writer, David Gilbert. Inspired by the archaeology of Berkshire’s Cookham Abbey, David will be taking families back more than 1200 years to discover how clues from the past can inspire new stories today.

Natalie adds: “Part of the museum’s purpose is to help inspire creativity in our visitors, so I am really looking forward to The Cookham Chronicler, David Gilbert, joining us for a spooky Halloween workshop. David’s stories fuse historical facts about Anglo Saxon life near Cookham Abbey with imagined characters and events that form the Cookham Chronicles. In the workshop he’ll be taking us back to the eighth century to share some spooky goings-on and give our younger guests the chance to craft their own ghostly character for Halloween.” 

Twits and Tricks at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre takes place from Saturday 24 October - Sunday 1 November between 10.00am and 4.30pm. Online pre-booked tickets are £13.95 for adults, £9.95 for children and concessions while children under five years old and registered carers are free of charge. Twilight Tricks is £12 for adults and children over three years of age and booking is essential. There is a small additional charge of £5.00 for walks and workshops. Pre-booking tickets is advised for the school holidays; you can do this online right up until your visit. Pre-booking workshops is recommended in advance as they sell out fast.

For more information, call 01494 892 192, visit www.roalddahlmuseum.org, or like and follow @roalddahlmuseum on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest news and updates.

* Event details accurate at the time of publishing; please check the organiser's website for the latest updates.

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The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre
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