Category Museums
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 […]
Duxford, the aviation museum
If you want to get fit, walking the length of Duxford airfield will give you plenty of exercise. Duxford in Cambridgeshire is home to the Imperial War Museum’s (IWM) aviation museum and is built on a suitably historical site. Duxford airfield was constructed by German prisoners of war in 1918. It has housed RAF squadrons […]
Museum of Childhood (and toys)
Much emphasis is placed these days on museums appealing to all ages, so it’s no surprise that the more interactive a museum is with its visitors, the better its reputation. What could be more appealing than a museum about childhood? The objects are of course the big attraction – toys! The grown-ups go for the […]
British or Beamish – the museum dilemma.
The mother of museums, but not the oldest, founded in 1753 during period of Enlightenment. World famous, controversial, imperial, and a tourist magnetic. Famed for its library and antiquities, the legacy of the vast sprawl of the British Empire. The objects in the British Museum embody knowledge from which both public and scholars might learn, […]
The Ashmolean Ark
John Tradescant the Elder was gardener to Charles I. Tradescant (and son, the Younger) travelled extensively to find new plant species and collected ‘rarities and oddities’, including utensils, household stuff, birds, beasts and instruments of war. He brought all of these together into what is now know as a museum, but back then was described […]
A to Z Theme Reveal
Soon it will be April and this blog will for a while spring back to life. Why? It’s the A to Z blogging challenge, where I get to post every day (barring four Sundays) and try to keep you entertained. My chosen theme for this year, as with my previous years, is historical and focused […]
The Quiet Writer 