Author Archives: raesquiggles
Natural History Museum (where Dippy and Hope live)
Take a walk down Exhibition Road in London, and you won’t find just one famous museum but three: The Victoria and Albert is home of the arts; the Science Museum, the industrial sciences and technology; and the Natural History Museum with its iconic frontage and dinosaur skeletons, is where nature, botany, entomology, zoology and mineralogy […]
Maritime museums – ships, war, and trade
Greenwich is famous for many good reasons. It is the home of the meridian line for Greenwich Mean Time, the location of the Astronomer Royal’s observatory, where John Harrison’s sea watches (for calculating longitude) are displayed; there is a tea clipper, by the River Thames, in dry dock, the Cutty Sark, a museum ship nearly […]
Lady Lever Art Gallery – a philantrophist’s museum
Philanthropy and museums work well together. When needing to avoid paying taxes, what better way to protect assets than to invest money for the public good. The scope for philanthropy is broad and historically diverse. In 1739 Thomas Coran established the Foundling Hospital in London for orphans, while later in the century, William Wilberforce lobbied […]
Kirkleatham Museum – exploring local heritage
Up and down the British Isles there are numerous local heritage museums; in towns, even villages, whether managed by the local council or privately funded, they represent the treasures and artefacts that belong to communities and not the nation.Kirkleatham museum in Redcar, Yorkshire, is one such museum. Housed in the 18th century Old Hall, which […]
Jamaican Inn – home to smugglers and an author
Once upon a time, a young author went riding on Bodmin Moors in Devon. She and her friend became lost in the fog, and loosened their horses in the hope they might lead them to shelter. The horses took them to an inn, and there they remained to recover, and were entertained by tales of […]
Ironbridge – complex and comprehensive
There’s nothing more exciting than a day out with the family, and what if that day out was so busy, you had to extend it to another day? The complex of museums at Ironbridge gorge offers this necessity. You can’t possibly visit all the museums in one day, and thankfully, they do offer an annual […]
Highland Folk – the open-air experience
Museums aren’t confined to just objects or artworks; there are places, buildings and structures, and the only way to view these things is from the outside. The tradition of open-air museum is familiar to Scandinavians with their Nordic and Skansen museums centred around a collection of historic structures. The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History in […]
Galleries – from long to national
Imagine a large palatial house, built to accommodate one family and a couple hundred servants. While the servants toil, the wealthy occupants have plenty of time on their hands. They would hunt, dine, make music, invite guests and entertain. On a rainy day, the ladies would walk up and down the long gallery, exercising and […]
Fitzwilliam Museum – from personal to public
A museum doesn’t begin with an empty building waiting to be filled. What is usually the catalyst is a bequest, and a generous one that requires space – the repository.The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge began with such a bequest by Richard Fitzwilliam, 7th Viscount in 1816 of his art collection and library, plus £100,000 (substantial!). […]
Edward Elgar’s birthplace
Not all museums are housed in grand custom built buildings. Sometimes it is the building itself that is the Museum, none more so than the birthplace of a famous person, like an artist, writer or musician.Edward Elgar, a British composer, famed for his Pomp and Circumstance Marches and Enigma Variations, was born in a house […]
The Quiet Writer 