Bank Holiday at CAT

by Alan Cole · Published Thursday, August 30th, 2012 · Updated Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

Despite living just down the road from the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), we’d never been there as a family. Morgan had been with school or holiday club once, Anna had been with her Mum years ago, and I’d never set foot there. So, as it was a miserable day on Monday and we were all at home for the Bank Holiday we decided to pay it a visit. We hoped it would be a good day out without too much driving and with plenty to do and see despite the miserable weather.

We made a picnic lunch, donned our waterproofs and set off.

The first surprise was that because we agreed to the Gift Aid option when paying, we were entitled to a ticket that would last a year. This was nice as we could go back whenever we wished and therefore didn’t feel that we had to stay all day today to make the most of the entry fee. So, if the heavens really opened we could head home safe in the knowledge that we could return again.

We took the water powered cliff-railway (the steepest in the world apparently) up to the top of the hill and started making our way around the various exhibits. I have to say we were a little disappointed really. The whole place had an old, tired and slightly jaded feel to it and the various exhibits weren’t very engaging or interesting.

I can see how getting people excited about alternative forms of energy production and greener living is difficult, but there was nothing new here. Maybe when CAT first opened back in the 1970’s when wind and tidal power were new and it would have been interesting, but they are pretty much old hat these days. We all know how wind turbines work and see them every day dotted around the countryside. The same is true of the exhibits that show us how to save energy – we all do these things already. One of the exhibits had a model of a house with various electrical appliances that you could simulate turning on and off, doing so would change the readings on an LED display that showed how much energy they were using and how much money turning them off saved. Trouble is, we have a real Energy Monitor in our house so we can see this happening every day in real life. Nothing new there then.

The same is true for the exhibits about insulation and water saving and even things about recycling, composting and growing your own food. We do all of this already and so do most people so they weren’t telling us anything we didn’t know. For us, even the bee-keeping display was pretty dull, we at least expected an observation hive but instead it was just a couple of hives that you could see about 10 metres away in a bit of scrubby woodland. We couldn’t even be sure if they had bees in them or not. We can see that (at much closer quarters) in our own garden.

What made matters worse was the fact than many of the hands on displays and ‘interactive’ exhibits were broken. Some just weren’t working at all and others were in a poor state of repair. On top of which the instructions and explanatory signs that accompanied them weren’t great and certainly didn’t inspire Morgan or us to really engage with the message they were trying to convey.

I realise that the subject matter is a little ‘run of the mill’ these days so really inspiring people with it is difficult but that isn’t an excuse for things not working as they should. Even the ‘kids activities’ that they had going on were a bit of a let down. You were supposed to be able to make a solar powered model but as we entered the room we were told “you can make whatever you want, but it won’t work today because its too cloudy so you’ll just have to pretend”. This is Wales, surely they should be prepared for cloudy weather and have an alternative activity for the kids on such days – How difficult would it be for them to make a water or wind powered model instead? Making the models was pretty pointless anyway as you weren’t allowed to take them with you once you’d made them!

I don’t like complaining about one of the larger ‘visitor attractions’ in the area, especially one that is so well known and is trying to ‘save the world’, but the entire site felt as though it was in need of a makeover and an update. If it had been the middle of winter then I may have forgiven them, but this was August Bank Holiday so the place should have been at its peak. I know the weather didn’t help but by the end of it we felt as though we’d spent a winters day traipsing around an old, unloved visitor attraction, not the bright, vibrant forward-thinking eco-tourist attraction that it should be.

: The Cliff Railway

: Morgan in an Alcove

: Treadmill

: Wind Turbine Hub

Alan says:

Friday, August 31st, 2012 at 2:09 pm

A comment from Andrew via Facebook:

Sums up exactly what I and others have been saying about CAT for years. It is in desperate need of a revamp. They had a reorganisation last year but it just made things worse. They spent millions on their WISE building and let their displays become more and more neglected. Agree that they’re not keeping up with the times either.

It’s not a new problem however, Helena used to work there and things were far from perfect then. Lack of direction and not spending enough on maintenance / new exhibits being the main problems.

I’d be very surprised if the majority of visitors don’t feel mightily ripped off because it’s not cheap. We only go because we get free entry due to living within SY20.

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shem says:

Friday, August 31st, 2012 at 9:48 pm

I have to agree with you Al. Living in the Dyfi area, we all seem to be to be living quite sustainably. Most villages have solar PV or thermal, windmills, ground source heating, etc. I think they need to diversify up there.

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