For several years now, going to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been an annual tradition of mine. If I can, I will see it in a spectacular fashion at the Natural History Museum in London.

However, if a trip to London isn’t due, in Bristol we are lucky enough to have this exhibit also brought to us. So, last week, with a toddler to keep busy for the morning, I decided to grab us a couple of tickets.

Having seen the exhibition in Bristol before, I just automatically headed to the M-Shed – to be told that this year this exhibition is at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. Classic tired, end-of-the-week brain error.

My son had a great time

I hadn’t taken any sort of form of transport for my son but, feeling strong (both mentally and physically), I decided to have a go at walking to the top of Park Street with a two-year-old. After a bit of walking and mainly shoulder carrying, we finally got there.

The Bristol Museum (like all museums) is an ideal spot to spend an afternoon – but most of us often just walk past it, at most thinking of it on a rainy day. It took us about an hour to look around the exhibition, with my son excitedly shouting all the names of the animals he recognised; he was probably annoying some of the other adults, but I am a firm believer children are allowed to take space.

As usual, the quality of photography was exceptional and, while the display is not as grand as at the National History Museum, it was still lovely. I loved the one of the chimpanzees having a cuddle while my son was a big fan of an elephant one.

A stop at Mrs Potts was just right after the museum

Afterwards, we spent a bit of time walking around the museum (lots of stairs to go up and down) and also in the children’s area. We could easily have spent longer there but we had a friend to meet at the lovely (but increasingly expensive) Mrs Potts.

We will be back soon and, in fact, the Bristol Museum is holding a Lunar New Year celebration next weekend (February 8 and February 9), which is free and no booking is required.