Christmas Lucky Dip Trail!

The Museum of Gloucester is running its Christmas Lucky Dip Trail from Saturday 28 November through to Thursday 31 December, so it's on for most of the run-up to the big day. It's aimed at little explorers, and the format is straightforward: you wander through the galleries, hunt for clues, and uncover a few fascinating objects along the way. Once you've finished, you get a go in the museum's festive lucky dip box to take home a surprise prize.

If you've not spent much time in the museum, it's worth remembering what's actually in there. The building is a fine Victorian one, and the collection holds more than 750,000 objects that tell the city's story from its Roman origins through the Dark Ages and the Medieval period. On the ground floor, there's a Roman kitchen playhouse, a medieval street, and part of the original Roman wall. The archaeology collection includes the world-famous Birdlip Mirror, some impressive Roman tombstones, and the Gloucester Tables Set — the oldest complete backgammon set in the world. The trail takes you through the galleries, so you'll be seeing those things while you're on the hunt.

It's a drop-in, so there's no booking required; you just pick up the trail from the museum reception. Each one is £2. The museum is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and the trail runs from 28 November right through to 31 December, so you've plenty of time to fit it in whenever suits you best. You'll find the museum on Brunswick Road, GL1 1HP.