For children obsessed by Top Trumps, a new collection of free playing cards being handed out by Cambridge University’s Museums – starting with the Museums Fair this Saturday - could prove a hit.

The Fair will take place at the Downing Site courtyard from 10.30am-4pm, come rain or shine. Under two marquees, there will be chance for children and adults to meet characters from the Museums’ past, take part in a whole range of family-friendly activities, and enjoy a Victorian afternoon tea.

And as well as visitors being able to get their hands on real artefacts from eight of the University and City’s museums, Saturday also represents the first chance for the public to start collecting Cambridge Collectors Cards .

Roman knife sets, meteorites and models of horses’ teeth used to train French cavalry officers are just some of the weird and wonderful treasures to be found in the University’s eight museums and Botanic Gardens.

All feature in the complete set of 28 cards being distributed by the University for the first time at its Museums Fair on Saturday.

The cards will be available in seven of the University’s collections — the Scott Polar Research Institute Museum and the Museum of Classical Archaeology are currently closed for refurbishment — to encourage visitors to discover some of the 800-year-old institution’s gems.

Organiser Imogen Gunn said: “The University’s museums are full of hidden treasures and quirky delights, and both the Museums Fair and the Collectors Cards will give the public the chance to discover them. Find out about the earliest collectors at the Museums Fair and then start your own collection with the Collectors Cards!

“Visitors will be able to pick up sets of cards every time they visit one of the University museums open throughout the summer. The cards are randomly packed so visitors don’t need to visit each museum to complete the set - just keep coming back and trade with their friends.”

Other cards likely to prove collectors’ items are samurai armour, complete with fearsome mask – found in the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology — and the skeleton of a White Rhinoceros at the Museum of Zoology.

Each card has four categories - age, distance from Cambridge, length and rarity – for players to compete with one another.

Unsurprisingly, the stony-iron meteorite cleans up in two categories and will be much sought-after by collectors. Its age is estimated to be some 4.6 billion years old and it has also travelled the furthest distance to end up in Cambridge – millions of km. However, at 5cm, it cannot take the prize for length. That particular category goes to one of the Botanic Garden’s Dawn Redwood trees at 3,500cm long.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s Museums Fair will be a chance for residents and visitors to Cambridge to find out exactly what the city’s museums have to offer.

The free event will see children and adults able to find out about the organs inside the body at the Whipple Museum – among other activities.

Added Gunn: “Cambridge has a long and fascinating history of museums and collections, and the Museums Fair is a great opportunity for everyone to get involved in celebrating them in a fun, hands-on way. It promises to be an exciting day!”
 

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