The other National Maritime Museum (National Maritime Museum (Falmouth))

Member Name: wxcat

Product:	National Maritime Museum (Falmouth)
Date:	09/09/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good location, lots of boats, lots of displays,

Disadvantages: Busy, can't get to activities

The National Maritime Museum in Falmouth is the little brother of the museum in Greenwich. Situated in the centre of Falmouth on the quay, across the opposite the cruise berth, in a new development of shops and restaurants. There is no parking at the centre, although the shopping centre has a small car park but is fairly expensive. Falmouth has a park and ride and park and float just outside the town centre.

The museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Admission costs £8.75 for adults and £6 for children. If you Park and Float you get 10% discount on your entry. Also if you gift aid your admission fee, you can use your ticket for up to a year.

When you get in you walk into the main gallery with several yachts and boats on display. Some are at ground level and others hanging from the ceiling. There are lifeboats, dinghies, some just iconic designs, and some famous boats including Ben Ainslie's Olympic dinghy. There are three floors round the ends and side of the building, the river end, has exhibits and displays, including a Nav Station with interactive displays for kids. Below the Nav Station is the Quarterdeck, with lots of model ship and yacht displays. Also up that end of the museum looking over the harbour is the Look Out Tower, which goes right up two levels up with a full panoramic view over Falmouth harbour and any cruise ships in port at the moment. There are displays, maps, and interactive computers you can use, but we never got chance to use any of them as it was a small space full of people. Much more interesting for us, was right the way at the bottom of the tower, which goes two levels below ground level under the ocean floor where there is a viewing gallery through two glass windows, where you can see the tides come in and go out, and there are fish in the river you can see as well. The glass could have done with a clean outside! Both of these in the tower have lift access.

On the other side of the building, the ground floor has the entrance and gift shop on the ground floor, above that it has a cafe with riverside views. Also on that floor is the Cornwall galleries which gives an amazing insight into Falmouth's packet ships that used to go all over the world from Falmouth. And also displays about modern sailors that have started and ended their record breaking voyages in Falmouth, including Ellen MacArthur and Robin KnoxJohnston.

Overall you do get alot of displays and exhibits for your money, but it doesn't seem to take that long to get round the whole museum. I do think it's good value for money, I have got an interest in yachting and studied it at university so perhaps I'm slightly biased and I never knew anything about Falmouth's history of the Packet Ships before I went in the museum.

Summary: A good few hours in a beautiful modern museum