visit – Page 23 – My Days Out Blog

London Transport Museum

The London Transport Museum, Covent Garden, is devoted to the history of London Transport. As well as storing and displaying historic vehicles, it informs about the history and development of the Tube and bus services, and the former tramway and trolley-bus services. Social history is also strongly presented, and the impact of the suburban railway services on the sprawl of London. It was mainly the poor who were displaced (and not re-housed) when large acreages were cleared to make way for railway cuttings, stations and depots.

A visit starts at the top of the building, with a sedan chair and horse-drawn buses. The next level down is devoted to the steam underground and the growth of the suburbs, and across a walkway is an area for temporary exhibitions. The main floor has a variety of exhibits including motor buses, Underground vehicles, the Underground at war etc.

During my visit there was a temporary exhibition of Underground posters, many being of artistic merit.

Exhibits of note: Steam loco designed for underground working. Two early electric locos. ‘General’ early motor bus.

The Museum is of medium size – it took me 3 to 3 1/2 hours to see almost everything. The admission charge seems on the high side at £15 for adults. Almost all displays are in English only. Access: most visitors will come by public transport. Nearest tube is Covent Garden, but if you travel by Northern line, it’s probably not worth the bother of changing lines to travel the short distance to Covent Garden and then queuing for the lifts – just walk the 1/4 mile up Long Acre instead. From Covent Garden tube station, the Museum is almost on the far side of the Piazza – walk round clockwise and you’ll see it.

Leighton House Museum, London

National Trust.
Leighton House was the home of eminent Victorian painter Frederic, Lord Leighton. The interiors have been restored to match their original appearance as closely as possible. The interior of the house is striking. The stairwell hall is tiled with colored tiles. There is an Arab Hall, also tiled, that is two floors high and is topped by a dome visible from the street. Upstairs, the artist’s studio is the size of a baronial hall and has three fireplaces. Remarkably, there was only one bedroom.
Visitors may notice downstairs a couple of fireplaces under windows, that seem to have no chimney breast. Apparently, in the case of the dining room, the flue is in the wall to one side.
The house originally displayed Leighton’s art collection, but this was dispersed after his death in 1898. A few items have been returned to the house, and replicas or similar objects substituted for others.
If you like Victoriana, a visit here is highly recommended. Note that, as the house is owned and operated by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, even NT members have to pay, but get a 50% discount.

The house is regularly used for art exhibitions, in the house itself and/or the attached gallery.

The house is near the south end of Holland Park, and the ‘nearest’ Tube stations are High Street Kensington and Holland Park, both at least 15-20 minutes walk away.

Cherryburn, Northumberland

National Trust
This site is of interest as being the small farm where Thomas Bewick, Northumberland’s greatest artist and wood engraver, lived and worked. He is best known for books containing a set of accurate engravings of British birds. There are two exhibition rooms, and across the farmyard is the house where Bewick lived, with recreations of two rooms. Most of his work was engraved on boxwood, which is only available in small pieces, so many of the engravings are of eye-straining smallness.
The Print Room has the original printing equipment and racks of typefaces, and a small display of prints. There is a short video presentation.

This is worth a visit if you are already interested in Bewick or are in the area.

Cragside, Northumberland

National Trust
Cragside was bought by the Victorian industrialist and arms manufacturer Willian George Armstrong, and the house was greatly extended between 1863-1884. Externally, the house is a jumble of English baronial styles, with mullioned windows, battlements, decorated barge boards, shouldered gables, tall decorated chimneys, steep roofs, and mock timber-framing, and has an irregular outline. Inside it has a number of unusual features incorporating Armstrong’s ideas, often very advanced for the time, including a water-powered spit turning mechanism, electric lighting from a hydro-generator on the estate, a hydraulic powered lift and a sauna suite. There are several rooms with elaborate Victorian interiors. The large drawing room, finished in a Classical Renaissance style, has a vast chimney piece, elaborately carved in marble. A long gallery is lined with pictures and other objects.

From the house, there are spectacular views over the woodland below. A rockery garden plunges down to a stream and an arched metal bridge. Out in the estate there are several of Armstrong’s installations to visit, and 40 miles of footpaths to explore. You can walk to the pair of lakes above the house and back in an hour or so, but the signposting on the paths is vague and the climb is steep.
The exhibition centre & tea rooms are next to the lake visible from the entrance. The formal gardens are 1/4 mile from the house, or from the main car park. The’re quite pretty but could be skipped if you are short of time.
A ‘hopper’ minibus provides free transport around the above-mentioned ‘near’ parts of the estate for those who have difficulty in walking. You can drive your car around a 6-mile one-way circuit to access the ‘far’ parts of the estate. Cragside is a clear candidate for an ‘all day visit’.
Visited 2012 and 2016.

View of Iron Bridge and house — Iron Bridge and house

Dining Room stained glass — Dining Room glass

Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral is the most prominent of the buildings in the old centre of Durham – a peninsula of high ground surrounded on three sides by the looping River Wear. Also here are Durham Castle, various buildings associated with the cathedral, and streets lined with old stone buildings.
The Cathedral impresses on several counts – its size – one of the biggest medieval buildings in England – its age – most of the construction is Norman – and the scale of its interior. Pillars and round arches are carved with distinctive Norman sawtooth patterns. There are three towers, two at the East end and one in the middle. (If you are ever confused about which end of a church is East, North, etc, remember that that most are laid out so that when you look towards the altar you are facing towards Jerusalem.)
When built (to house the relics and shrine of St Cuthbert), the cathedral was part of a monastery, and many of the typical monastic components either survive (like the cloisters) or their remains are incorporated in buildings serving later functions.

Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland

English Heritage & National Trust
Fragments of the wall remain at various places along its 71-mile length. However the most substantial remains are in the uplands where it was most difficult to rob the wall for purposes such as road-building, farm buildings and field walls. To the disgust of antiquaries, a lot of the wall disappeared when a military road was built alongside it in the 18th century.

At Housesteads, sections of wall remain to a height of several feet, and the complete outline and foundations of a Roman wall fort can be seen. The land is now owned by the National Trust. There is a National Trust building beside the car park, and a English Heritage museum and ticket office near the fort and wall, about half a mile up the hill.

It’s well worth making the effort to visit the site (unless it’s pouring with rain, as it was during my visit). While travelling there, look out for the vast Roman ditch systems alongside the road that runs parallel to the Wall. Two more forts, walks, and a view-point are within a few miles, making the area a candidate for an all-day visit.

Wallington, Northumberland

National Trust.
The 18th century house stands in extensive grounds, and the south front can be seen from a mile away on the approach route. Behind the house (north side) is a green surrounded by stable blocks etc.

Inside the house, one you leave the entrance hall, the preferred route is to turn right and go around the ground floor in an anti-clockwise direction, finishing with the south front rooms (Library, Drawing Room and Dining Room). Then go upstairs. Alternatively, you could go upstairs first. Noteworthy items in the house are the fine collection of Chinese porcelain, the pre-Raphaelite murals in the central hall, and the plasterwork in the south-facing ground floor rooms. Pictures, furniture, porcelain figures and a collection of dolls’ houses may also be of interest.

Outside, the Walled garden (half a mile from the house) is said to be well worth a visit. Unfortunately I was unable to see it because of lack of time. A full visit to house and grounds could take several hours.

Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland

National Trust:
The house is impressively composed, with a central block and two wings. At a glance, it looks complete, but the central block is a fire-gutted shell which was burnt out in 1822. It has been re-roofed and re-windowed to keep out the elements. It was originally built in 1719-30. The architect was John Vanbrugh, who also designed Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. The survival of the shell is a testament to the strength of its construction.
The east and west wings formerly contained stables and the kitchens. The kitchen block has since been converted to residential accommodation. Note the two stone spiral staircases in the central block, and the two rooms not gutted by fire. In the grounds are formal gardens and a small Norman church.

Foreign Office & India Office, London

Durbar Court at Foreign Office — Durbar Court

Open House London
Grade I listed Victorian government office buildings. The former India Office includes the magnificently decorated Durbar Court. It was opened as part of the “Open House London” weekend.
The visitor route takes one past, or through, various items of interest. The most spectacular rooms are on the latter part of the tour, after the Durbar Court, and the finale is the Grand Staircase. The magnificent Victorian decor compares with some of the best that can be seen elsewhere.
It is also an opportunity to find out about the work of the Foreign Office.
Well worth a visit.

Ceiling adjacent to Durbar Court — Ceiling by Durbar Court

Floor, balcony at Durbar Court — balcony at Durbar Court

Muses Stair lantern roof — Muses Stair lantern

Westminster Hall, London

One of the finest and largest medieval halls in Europe, with a magnificent hammerbeam ceiling. Founded 1097, rebuilt with the present roof in the 14th century.
Once one has got through security and reached the entrance of the Hall, the first thing one notices is its sheer size. It looks much bigger than it seemed from the outside. It is also very high, and high up in the gloom of the ceiling are enormous hammer-beam timbers with richly carved ends. It still impresses today, and one can only speculate on how much it impressed its medieval visitors. The camera has enhanced the actual light level in the Hall.
Once inside, one can pass on through the richly decorated St Stephen’s Hall as far as the Central Lobby between the Commons and Lords, or turn right up a flight of stairs to visit the Grand Committee Chamber and Jubilee Room.
It’s worth going just to see the Westminster Hall interior. It is also an opportunity to find out about the workings of Parliament.
For information on visiting Parliament, check their website.

The visitors’ entrance is about halfway along the landward side of the Houses of Parliament. Be prepared for a lengthy wait outside before passing through airport-style security.