Category: Museum

Museums and collections

SS Great Britain, Bristol

SS Great Britain, Dec 2006
SS Great Britain, Dec 2006
When she was built, the Great Britain was the world’s first screw-propelled, ocean-going, wrought iron steamship. The ship was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the great Victorian engineer. At the time of her launch in 1843 she was by far the largest ship in the world, over 100 feet longer than her rivals. She was built as a luxury transatlantic liner, but didn’t prove to be a commercial success. Subsequently she had a long and chequered history, involving numerous alterations and changes of engines, changes of mast layout, and changes of decking, and different uses as emigrant ship, troopship, sailing ship, and coal hulk, before being beached in 1937.

In 1970 the rusted hulk was recovered and towed back to Bristol for restoration and display. Restoration has continued from the 1970s to the present day.
I’ve visited the ship two or three times, and seen changes each time. Today’s visitor will see the innovative “waterline” glass roof which looks like water from above, but below provides a low-humidity space to conserve the hull and allow the underwater shape and propeller etc to be seen. The hull has been conserved and holes patched with fibreglass, decks have been repaired and renewed, a 1845 replica steam engine has been fitted, and replicas of various cabins and the passenger saloon have been fitted.
In addition to the ship itself, there is a museum of artefacts from the ship’s history, and a dock where other vessels are moored.
Sept 2014: No huge changes since my last visit, but there are now lifelike mannequins posed in various cabins. There is a realistic recreation of the stokehold forward of the lower engine room. The galley is fully fitted out (it even has a rat and dirty dishes), as are the steerage sleeping areas and the first-class promenade deck and dining room. In fact most of the ship is now fully fitted out to replicate its early layout and usage, with the exception of the forecastle (closed) and the forward hold (a stripped-out hole) and boiler room (a modern function space).
It looks that the ship’s boats will be added next, as replicas are on the quay-side.
Well worth a visit if you are at all interested in history, or Britain’s maritime heritage.
Finding the ship may be easier with satnav, but it is possible to find it by following the brown anchor signs. There is a pay car park – the parking meter makes one pass an IQ test on parking one’s car, entering the numeric half of the car registration. However long you park, you only have to pay £2, as you can claim the rest back when buying your Great Britain ticket.
It is possible to see the ship in about one and a half hours, but there is a historic dockside nearby that is worth a stroll.

Buildings and dockside
Museum hall, 2006

Yorkshire Air Museum

The Yorkshire Air Museum, situated on a former WWII bomber base at Elvington, lays claim to be the largest independent air museum in Britain. It features 15 exhibitions, 50 aircraft, many of them in working order, and a large range of military vehicles. Also commemorated is the wartime presence of two French heavy bomber squadrons – the only two to operate from Britain. Aircraft in the collection range from WWI replicas to a Nimrod. Airplane buffs should allow at least half a day for a visit.

York Railway Museum

Also known as the National Railway Museum, York.
For a train buff, heaven would probably consist of a day here, plus a ride on a steam-hauled mainline excursion train. There are about 100 locos, 200 other items of rolling stock, and hundreds of thousands of other objects, everything from rubber handstamps to turbine powered railcars.
The museum has free admission, and is a couple of minutes’ walk from the York mainline rail station. It’s possible to walk to the museum from anywhere in York town centre in about 10 mins. There is a car park in Leeman Road adjacent to the Museum. If you think the daily parking charges are a bit much, you could take a bus from your accomodation to the centre of York, or use the ring-road park and ride from Rawcliffe Bar or Askham Bar, from where services 2 and 3 should drop you outside the museum. Central York during the day is not a place you want to be if you are a car driver. (I was staying in the suburbs of York and came in by bus).
BTW, there is another branch of the NRM at Shildon, Co. Durham. The collection there includes the Advanced Passenger Train.

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

The Centre is a railway museum situated at Quainton station, near Aylesbury. This is primarily a static museum site, though there are short train rides on steaming days. There is quite a lot to look at in various parts of the triangular site, some of it under cover. There are displays in the reception hall, and in the museum across the tracks, and you can also look into the repair shed at the further end of the site. Then there is rolling stock in various states of disrepair, parked in the sidings, with labels. The loco and rolling stock collection is quite large. Look out for the enormous narrow-gauge engine from South Africa.
The admission charge covers everything, including rides on steaming days. The centre also hosts events for vintage road vehicles. Since railway preservation societies have to attract families, they also host “Thomas the Tank Engine” days.

Didcot Railway Centre, Oxfordshire.

This is more of a static museum site, and there is a lot to look at. On the long, roughly triangular site are an engine shed and various displays, and three short train ride tracks, one of them being 7ft broad gauge. There are also stalls and a refreshment room. I recall that on my last visit after two or three hours I’d had enough of being on my feet and went to refuel in the café, while my train fanatic friend continued poking around the engine shed for another half hour. The admission charge includes everything, including train rides on steaming days. A modern railway runs alongside the site, so one can from time to time see a 21st century train swish past an early 20th century train pushed by a tank engine.
The site adjoins Didcot Station, so if you feel that arriving by car to look at old trains is a bit silly, you can arrive by train from the north, east, or west.

Cutty Sark, Greenwich, London

Forget it for 2011 – it’s under restoration, complicated by a serious fire, and even if you are outside the site you can’t see anything. For the curious, there is a restoration website.
In 2002 I visited the original Cutty Sark, and found it a most interesting visit. While the planking is timber, the ribs are of iron, and looked surprisingly small in section. What you will be able to see next year will be jolly fine, but it will be heavily restored.

Royal Observatory, Greenwich

An interesting visit for astronomy buffs, as there are displays of historic instruments and the original buildings. There is now an admission charge, to the considerable annoyance of visitors who just want to be photographed standing on the Greenwich Meridian.
If you are in or around the park at noon GMT or 1pm Summer Time, watch the ball on top of the Observatory, which is slowly raised and then suddenly dropped at exactly noon GMT. It’s a traditional time signal to shipping in the Thames.
There are several other places to visit in and around the Greenwich Park, and some of those are free. (National Maritime Museum, Queens House, Royal Naval College, Rangers’ House, etc)

Cobbaton Combat Collection, Devon

One man’s collection of over 60 military vehicles, plus weapons and artefacts, crammed into several cluttered buildings. There is also a shop selling collectibles and a working NAAFI canteen.
If you like militaria, this is clearly for you. The items, which include everything from uniforms to tanks, are not restored to pristine condition, but you can imagine that they’ve recently been used. Suggested visit time: 2 hours +

Cotehele, Cornwall

A historic estate on the banks of the Tamar. The Tudor house and its contents have changed little over the years and are well worth seeing. Most rooms have extensive catalogue notes provided. The house has no electricity, so it might be worth bringing your own torch on a dull day to better see objects in some rooms. Many of the rooms are lined with tapestries.
Outside are two orchards, gardens, a folly tower, walks, and a little further off, Cotehele Quay with its museum, and restored Tamar sailing barge Shamrock. Half a mile from the Quay is Cotehele Mill, a working mill.
There is a lot to see in the house in various rooms spread over three floor levels. Around the house are attractive gardens. The triangular folly tower, in a field with inquisitive cows, can be climbed for a view of the surrounding country. The Mill has a working watermill and several displays of old workshops.
There is enough to see to make it an all-day visit. Road access is by narrow twisty hilly roads. It is possible to arrive by water from Plymouth.
For visitors not over keen on walking, a minibus runs between the house, Quay and Mill. It is also possible to park by the house and then move one’s car to the lower car park at the quay. There is a restaurant at the house and another at the Quay.