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My darling husband is a very fond of design and therefore the Design Museum was a must see during our early days in London. The museum claims to be "one of the world's leading museums of modern and contemporary design", and since its opening in 1989 it has won acclaim for some of its cutting edge exhibitions. The museum covers product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design.
It is housed in a converted warehouse, and its modern design makes the space worth a visit in itself, along with its excellent location by the river - check out the museum's café for lovely views.
Each year the Design Museum holds the coveted 'Designer of the Year' contest, helping to discover the countries up and coming young designers.
We enjoyed a wander through the exhibitions, with some chairs being of particular interest to Alex.
Open daily from 10am - 5.45pm, except for the 25th & 26th of Dec
Entry Fee: £7 adults, £4 students + concessions, Free for under 12s (Nov 2006) Leave a Comment Address: Butlers Wharf, 28 Shad Thames, London SE1 2YDPhone: 0870 833 9955Directions: Nearest Tube: Tower Hill is a 10 minute walk, across Tower BridgeWebsite: http://www.designmuseum.org/ Other Contact: info@designmuseum.org
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The Royal Academy of the Arts is an impressive complex located on Piccadilly, close to Piccadilly Circus. Its collection includes examples of fine arts from the 18th century to the present.
The Academy doesn't receive funding from the state or the Royals, but instead gets its revenue from hosting temporary art exhibitions. It is also home to the oldest art school in the country, and each year there are two exhibitions showing the students work.
The large courtyard at the front of the Academy is sometimes home to some unusual art - last time I popped by there was a colourful pyramid like structure, along with a large statue of the 'Virgin Mother' - one half showed the inside of the woman, unborn baby and all.
Inside the Academy, besides the various interesting exhibitions of course, there is a stylish restaurant and a more relaxed café. There is also an interesting shop, selling a range of items such as art books, jewellery and handbags. Leave a Comment Address: Burlington House, Piccadilly London W1J 0BDPhone: 020 7300 8000Directions: Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus or Green Park - both about 5 minutes walk awayWebsite: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/
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An afternoon spent with VT'ers in the London Bridge area found me paying a visit to The Clink Museum. This small museum is located just near Vinopolis, behind Borough Market, and it is probably most famous for being the place the term 'in the clink' was coined.
It is located on the site of the original Clink Prison, which is possibly the oldest prison in England. Initially is was a women's prison and it sounds like conditions were not too nice for the gals, nor the men who followed later. The prison was used from the 12th to 18th centuries, and a visit to the museum gives you a feel for the conditions they lived under - having to eat rodents and live in sewage-flooded cells.
The best part of a visit is that you can see and touch the torture devices and restraints that were used on the prisoners - my 'favourite' was The Boot. This is a large, iron boot that the prisoner had to put their foot in - then wood was packed in around their foot, which was then wet so the wood swelled and crushed the foot. Next, a fire would be lit below the boot, causing the contents to heat up so much that the foot would drop off! Nice.
The museum gives you a lot of history about the prison system in England and other general talk about life in the prison. To be honest it is a little disappointing and possibly not worth the £5 entry fee - look out for the 2for1 offers at Tube stations which makes it much better value and worth a quick visit. Leave a Comment Address: 1 Clink Street, London SE1 9DGPhone: 020 7403 0900Directions: Nearest tube/train: London Bridge is about 5 minutes walk awayWebsite: http://www.clink.co.uk/
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 Guards Museum at Wellington
Barracks. by breughel
The museum contains information and artefacts relating to the five regiments of Foot Guards namely Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards. Along with the two regiments of Household Cavalry they make up Her Majesty’s Household Division and are guarding The Sovereign and the Royal Palaces.
The Guards are elite regiments existing since about 350 years and involved in almost every major campaign since their creation. They fought in France and Belgium during WW I and WW II. The Guards Armoured division liberated a large part of Belgium begin September 1944.
For me they were the first friendly soldiers I saw on 3-4th September 1944 when they liberated Brussels. I received my first chewing gum probably from a Welsh Guard on a Cromwell tank (ref my tip on the liberation of Brussels in my Belgium home page).
The dominating colour in the museum is that of crimson of the Guards tunics.
It is clear that the collection is intended to help young Guardsmen learn about their regimental heritage and to show a wider public the multi-faceted nature of their operational lives both in combat and on ceremonial duties.
The tourist attending the change of guards at Buckingham might think that Guards are only there for the parade. This is quite wrong; Guard regiments are operational and now fighting in Afghanistan. On the day before my visit the Welsh Guards had their colonel killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand, South Afghanistan.
Opening Times:
10.00am to 4.00pm Seven days a week
(Last admission at 3.30pm)
Admission: Adults - £3
Senior Citizens and Students - £2
Serving Military Personnel - £1
Children (16 years of age and under) - Free
No photos allowed Address: Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk.Directions: St James's Park Underground station
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An exquisite and little known museum in the beautifully renovated St Mary at Lambeth Church - dedicated to plant and garden history. There's a replicated 15th century "knot garden" in the deconsecrated graveyard, and the tomb of William Bligh (Captain of The Bounty) is also here.
Within the museum are are collections of gardening tools and implements and artefacts throughout history - Elizabethan dibbers and barrels used to transport plants from foreign lands (which sadly and inevitably died from the salt in the sea spray :( But thankfully, some survived and gave us the variety of plant-life we have in our gardens today.
There is also the most wonderful little restaurant serving delicious organic, homemade vegetarian cakes and flans and soups, salads and teas, - at prices to suit all purses, ranging from £3 for the soup (with chunks of homemade bread) up to around £6 for something more elaborate. The phone number for the cafe is 020 7735 9821.
Entry for adults to the museum is £3 and is open from 10.30am - 5pm 7 days a week.
Check it out - it's a real "hidden gem" and please have a look at the website for more of the history of how this museum came to be. Leave a Comment
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The small but fascinating Florence Nightingale Museum is dedicated to the work of the pioneer of modern nursing - fondly known as "The Lady with the Lamp". Ms Nightingale was born in 1820 to a wealthy land-owning family and - much to their horror at her choice of career - dedicated her life to revolutionising the nursing system in this country following her ceaseless work in the1854-56 Crimea War between Russia and Turkey. Horrified at the treatment (or lack of it) of the sick and wounded, (some laying for days and days with the most horrific injuries and no care forthcoming)- she set about improving the treatment of the patients by raising standards of cleanliness, hygiene and the training and quality of the nursing staff.
This museum tells of her background, her life and her career. It's £5.80 entry for adults 4.20 for children and concessions or you can get a family ticket for £13.00 and includes a video presentation.
Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri 10am-5pm
Sat, Sun and Bank Hols 10am-4.30pm
Closed Good Friday, Easter Sunday and 24th Dec- 2nd Jan.
Car parking is £3.00 per hour and they recommend you allow 1- 1.1/5 (that's an hour to an hour and half) for your visit
Did you know... Florence toured Greece and rescued a Little Owl from some Greek youths? She kept it in her pocket and brought it back to the UK as a pet. Did you know she had a sister called Parthenope?? You can find out more of these little interesting facts at the museum! Leave a Comment
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This beautiful Art Nouveau "Free Museum" was built by Victorian tea magnate Frederick Horniman in 1897 in South London. With unusual collections of artefacts from around the world, in three sections, natural history, music and world culture it makes for an interesting day out for all the family! My boys loved this place when they were around 7 and 10, especially the giant stuffed walrus and the aquarium going up the escalators!
Special exhibitions have to be paid for and there's a little shop and restaurant too. Leave a Comment
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This tiny museum is home to London's earliest operating theatre. It was found in the roof of St Thomas's where surgeons performed operations centuries ago, before anasthaesia, ether, or aspirin were discovered, or the neighbouring Guy's hospital were ever thought about!
At the moment the actual operating theatre is undergoing restoration and tickets are reduced at £4.25, visitors are offered a half price ticket to see it another time. I first came here about 20 years ago when tickets were 50p! The current displays are of ancient surgical tools, instruments and other "medical" artefacts. There are "scientific illustrations" of operations and the human body (be warned! LOL!) There is also a lot of info about the herbs and their usage in medicine (the garret was used to store these).
The thing that I found most disturbing was the "Surgeon's stick" - when there was absolutely nothing else that could be given to a poor sod about to have his leg hacked off with a rusty blade, the surgeon would thrust the stick sideways into the patient's mouth for him to bite down on.... and the stick on display has teeth marks!! Leave a Comment
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 Museum in Docklands,
London. by planxty
There are a number of audio visual displays (narrated by Tony Robinson) and many interesting exhibits and displays. You start on the third floor and work down, and it is a chronological history of the area from Roman times up to 1997.
There is a film exhibition of the Blitz including previously unseen Fire Brigade footage - fascinating.
Perhaps my favourite exhibit is Sailortown, a reconstruction of the area I live in several centuries ago.
Admission is £5 for adults but the ticket is valid for a year, and includes admission to Museum of London exhibitions, so pretty good value, I think.
Fully wheelchair accessible. Leave a Comment Address: No 1 Warehouse, Hertsmere Road, E14 4ALPhone: 0870 444 3857.Directions: Follow the signs along the quay from West India Quay DLR station.Website: http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk/
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The Cabinet War Rooms were the secret underground nerve centre for Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his war cabinet during World War II. Although reinforced with 6 inch thick concrete slabs, it was still doubted that these hidden chambers would withstand a direct bomb hit - but this was never put to the test!
It was here in these tiny, dark and very atmospheric rooms and tunnels that he and his War cabinet, ministers, typists, telephonists, and cartographers etc etc worked relentlessly during the air-raids. His wife also chose to live down here with him (although they had separate bedrooms - both on display to the visitor). With every detail beautifully reconstructed to 1940-45 style, this is a fascinating activity for a rainy afternoon in London.
Make sure you don't miss the newly opened (Feb 05) Churchill Museum. Using audio-visual effects, this a highly interactive museum dedicated to the life of the "Greatest Briton" and explains the history and world politics leading up to WWII. You will also see here various personal items belonging to the Churchills, including his silk night-shirt, his trade-mark bowler hat, the cigars he smoked, letters from his wife, as well as maps, photos, letters, books, ancient film footage, radio broadcasts ( his command of speech and language were considered to be his most powerful weapon!)
Half way around your tour of the museum is a small cafe selling sandwiches, cakes, biscuits tea, coffee and cold drinks. At the end of the tour which should take around 2 hours depending on how long you take over each exhibit, there is a rather special gift shop, where you can buy a replica Churchill Pen and Ink writing set for £350. I was told they sell about 5-6 sets a year!
Opening times:
Daily 9.30-18.00 (last entry at 17.00)
Closed 24-26 Dec
Adult ticket £10.00 Leave a Comment Address: Clive Steps,King Charles Street, SW1APhone: 020 7930 6961Directions: Nearest stations are: Charing Cross, Victoria and Waterloo and the nearest tubes are Westminster or St James ParkWebsite: www.iwm.org.uk/cabinet
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