Two Tails Productions rolled out the red and white stripes this summer, designing and fabricating the scene-setting pieces and activity stations for English Heritage’s Great British Summer at 18 of its busiest historic sites!
Running every day of the school summer holidays, from 18 July to 6 September 2026, the Great British Summer celebrated the nostalgia of traditional seaside holidays. Families picked up a passport-style booklet on arrival and collected embossed stamps as they tried their hand at fairground stalls, circus skills, puppet shows and more. The programme spanned sites from Dover Castle and Stonehenge to Whitby Abbey, Kenilworth Castle and Osborne on the Isle of Wight.
Inspired by circus big tops, deckchairs and beach huts, our teams created four key elements. Sculptural welcome signs set the tone at each site, while Punch and Judy-style puppet theatres invited children to stage their own shows. Seaside pier photo boards let visitors put their faces into scenes featuring holidaymakers from different eras, while bespoke covered sandpits brought beach-day fun to English Heritage’s iconic sites.
Working across such significant historic sites brought its own challenges. Every piece had to stand freely without ground anchors, hold firm in the wind, survive six weeks of enthusiastic play and still be light enough to move by hand, with everything delivered and set up across the country in time for the summer launch. We’re proud to have helped English Heritage celebrate the best of the British summertime, sunshine or showers!
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