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Old Operating Theatre, Museum and Herb Garret (London)
by alfiepeaches
I visited this museum just the other day as I have a new project and I was told this would be a good place for some research! The museum is next to the St Thomas Hospital but very hidden away in the Herb Garret of St Thomas Church. You enter the museum through a small door that leads to a very narrow, wooden spiral staircase and at the ... top of these stairs is another door. I think this creates a really good atmosphere for the museum as it was quite creepy!
In here is a tiny room where you pay to enter and full of little nick nacks and books to buy too. You then go up another few stairs to a large wooden attic room which is the museum basically. The actual operating theatre is in the back which I will talk about in a moment. The main room is full of all sorts including an operating chair, old medical instruments from the 18th and 19th century, packaging of pills, herbs, skeletons and even some organs in formaldehyde! Most items are labelled but aren't all explained what they are used for, although a lot of them you probably don't want to. There were a lot of scary looking tools used for midwifery! Almost everything you see in the museum is authentic from the 18th and 19th century, other things like the objects in the 'cabinet of curiosities' display were for decoration but even so these really add to the feel of the place. Some people may view the place as a little bit naff but it's so fascinating you look past it.
The museum is definitely not for anyone squeamish but whilst we were there the only other people in the museum were a class of year fives on a school trip (I think you pay and book these in advance) and we were told when entering we were welcome to listen to the presentations being given by the staff there. So obviously there is no age limit and everyone is welcome to the museum and a lot of the presentation is actually aimed at KS1/KS2 ages. In this room the presentation was about all the herbs and the children were told about what they were used for and how they are still used today and then got a chance to grind herbs with a mortar and pestle. After they were done we had a look up close at the herbs and you can touch and smell them.
In the operating theatre which is up another set of stairs the presentation was a lot more intense and extremely interesting! Again, definitely not for the squeamish, my friend had to leave part way through when the woman started talking about the blood and one or two of the kids left too. What interesting about this room is it where real operations and medical classes took place in the early 1800s. The presentation in here is a recreation of a story from the 1820s, when there was no anesthetic , about a woman who got her leg broken by being run over by a cart and it needed to be amputated. The woman giving the presentation got some kids to come down to the front for the demonstration, one to lie on the table who was the patient, two to hold her down and one to be the surgeon 'performing' the operation. There was a lot of explanation about infection and how unhygienic the procedures used to be, the Theatre had closed down before antiseptic surgery was invented and the main form of pain relief used was alcohol or chloroform and most operations performed were amputations. The presentation was very informative and fascinating. The woman then got out an authentic box full of real knives and saws and explained which were used, in fairly graphic detail. The presentation lasted for about 15-20 minutes and was very enjoyable, the kids definitely loved it as they were all desperate to answer and ask questions.
There is also a small area in between the two rooms which has more operating instruments and some information about the hospital through the years and how things were managed back then, which is basically very sanitary and would definitely not be allowed now! These information books were also available in the gift shop for £4.
Overall I would have to say The Old Operating Theatre is one of my favourite museums I have ever visited even though it is the smallest. There is absolutely nothing boring in the museum and I think it is well worth the price. The admission fee is £5 for a student like me, £6 for an adult and £3.50 for a child. You may think £5/£6 entry to just 2 rooms is a bit much however there is so much stuff to look at me and my friend were there for almost two hours. Plus the presentations are included in the price. I really recommend this museum for anyone interested in the Victorian era or medicine and operations but it still an interesting place for everyone.
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Titanic (Belfast)
by juicy_lucy
Titanic museum
We were recently in Belfast and so this was somewhere we really wanted to visit. Unfortunately we hadn't booked and there were no tickets for sale online but when I telephoned the museum we were told that they do release some tickets every day. Since we were in a coffee shop close by we ran along and were lucky ... enough to get some tickets, albeit with a two hour wait!
THE BUILDING...
The museum was opened earlier this year and is located 100 yards in front of where Titanic's hull was launched. It is certainly an impressive building. Not only is it extremely big with the facades leaning out at an angle, but it also has a crystalline appearance which makes it seem to shine and shimmer. There are also pools of water around the base of the building which really does give the impression of a ship on water.
Once inside its just as impressive with huge glass escalators and ticket desks designed to duplicat the wooden keel blocks on Titanic.
THE MUSEUM
So we had our tickets and given how busy it is, visitors are given a time slot and when it was our time to go in, tickets were checked and up the escalators we went...
As expected it was very busy and at the first stage, quite difficult to get a sense of the size of some of the exhibits. On entering the exhibition, visitors learn about the industries and design innovations that led to the creation of RMS Titanic. This is done through a series of very big screens showing people walking around the streets of Belfast and also lots of smaller areas with information boards. Careful here if visiting with children as lots of the rooms are quite small and given that there are so many people I kept panicking I would lose Little Miss.
At the end of this gallery, we passed through the huge original Harland & Wolff shipyard gates and went to the Arrol Gantry and Shipyard Ride.
Here we had to go up a replica of one of the huge pillars of the Arrol Gantry to go on the Shipyard Ride which is an electronic dark ride round the shipyard. This t uses special effects, animations and reconstructions to recreate of shipbuilding in the early 1900s. we travelled above ground level and were able to see people building the ships and get a real sense of the smells noises and sights of the time. This was all accompanied by a recording of the making of the ship, and the jobs which had to be done.
When we left the Shipyard Ride, we saw : a large window looking straight down the actual slipways on which the Titanic rested.the window itself is very impressive and . switches from the normal view to a superimposed image of the Titanic on the slipways. Its a good place to take a sit and sit and think about what it must have been like and there are some conveniently located chairs.
I especially enjoyed the Gallery containing an e range of exhibits, and models which show the interiors of the different rooms with people inside the cabins. They are obviously not real people but actually look like ghosts in the rooms which is quite eerie. There are also lots of stories about individual passengers and a model of the ship. Moving on through the museum there is an auditorium with a film showing the wreck of the Titanic and below this is a huge glass floor which visitors can walk along and look at the Titanic beneath them- strange feling walking on glass.
Close to the end of the museum is a to scale life boat with more pictures and information but one of the things we found fascinating was the interactive data collection. By selecting different data we could see how many of the fist second and third passengers survived along with the percentage of women and children. It makes it all very real when we thought about the loss of human life.
OTHER BITS OF INFORMATION...
Toilets are located in several areas but beware the ones on the ground floor sound as though you're going into water! Theres the usual shop selling memorabilia and a couple of reasonably priced restaurant/cafes.
PRICES...
Adult: £13.50
Child (5-16): £6.75
Child (under 5): Free
There are concessions for students and OAPs and a 5% discount if you book online
OPENING TIMES...
April - September
Monday - Saturday: 9am-7pm
Sunday: 10am - 7pm
October - March
10am - 5pm every day
Last admission is 1 hour 40 minutes before closing. However, given that we were here for about 3 hours, it may not be worth the money going so close to closing time.
VERDICT...
The museum is huge with way too many exhibits to mention in a review. The whole building inside and out are well designed and impressive and it is a real landmark on the river bank.
With stories of the Titanic myths and legends, scenes and costumes from the films and a whole range of interactive displays this museum gives a fascinating insight into a tragedy. At the end of your visi, visitors can collect a free certificate in old fashioned style to remember their visit- always good to get something free.
For anyone visiting Belfast or interested in the Titanic I would thoroughly recommend this museum.
Thanks for reading
Daniela xx
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Portsmouth City Museum and Records Office (Portsmouth)
by xy004998
This museum has 3 floors and is split into 4 sections. On the top floor you have Portsmouth football club's history archives. They have built this section very well, with many Tv's to relive alot of the football clubs best moments. There are also current artefacts, such as the previous FA cup win. There are spectacular views of the ... seafront from the top floor
The floor underneath is Portsmouth's local history. Spanning from both wartime Portsmouth to portsmouth through the ages. The war time portsmouth part is very interesting, because of the dockyards Portsmouth has been very involved in war. Not just the newest wars, there are sections of wood from the Mary rose, which set sail under Henry VIII from Portsmouth. The Portsmouth through the ages relies on local donations, such as a fashion section with beautiful dresses donated. Aswell as replica living rooms from the 60's to jog peoples memories!
On the Ground floor there is the two travelling exhibitions. Currently it is the Cannon Doyle to the left, and Dickens to the right. Dickens is very important at the moment, because he was born in Portsmouth and it is his bicentenery. The museum even borrowed an original manuscript from the British museum for the summer, so it shows there are some fantastic finds if you keep an eye out.
However, Disabled access is not very good. Wheelchairs were only allowed on the bottom floor. The cafe is very good, it is run by an independent buisness and it is cheap and cheerful food. A big overflowing jacket potato for about £3, and with lovely gardens behind, which are away from the road so kids can play.
In the summer the museum organises alot of events such as 'out to lunch', which are like arts and crafts events. A must do, to get the kids out of the house.
However, best of all... IT IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT FREE!!!! including the events
So, I whole heartedly recommend this place.
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