The History of Scotland. (Museum of Scotland)

Member Name: daseaford

Product:	Museum of Scotland
Date:	20/04/01 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to interest everyone.

Disadvantages: Legs ache after all the walking.

When you look at the Museum of Scotland from the outside it does not look like an enormous building, but when you get inside it is amazing just how much there is to see here.

The museum is housed over six floors and the exhibits are displayed in chronological order starting at the basement with Early People (8000 BC) working up to the Twentieth Century on the sixth floor. The museum was only opened in December 1998 so there is a wonderful feeling of freshness about the whole place.

The museum presents the history of Scotland, telling the story of the land, its people and their achievements. Over the different floors there are many rooms and halls and although you can get a plan of the whole museum in a free leaflet, we found it much better exploring around ourselves and stumbling across the different areas. Maybe this did mean that we may have missed a few things, but there is so much to see and do that it may not be a bad idea to leave some things to see on another visit.

One real bonus for this building is the Roof Terrace. There is a spiral staircase (or lift) from the sixth floor up to the open air Roof Terrace where there is a fantastic view over the whole of Edinburgh and the surrounding area. It is worth going to this building for this view alone. Before you head for the roof go to the information desk where you can pick up a free leaflet showing the Edinburgh skyline and naming all the landmarks you can spot from the roof.

From the 1st April 2001 entrance to the Museum of Scotland has been free and this obviously is great for visitors. Around the museum there are a large number of listening points, where you can listen to an audio tape giving more details or a history about a particular exhibit.

There is also the ExhibIT which is a separate room with six PC’s giving full multi media information about the museum and the displays. There is also a full time member of staff in this room to help anybody not compu
ter literate or wanting a bit of assistance.

Throughout the day there are free guided tours around the museum and as well as the times being displayed at the information desk, these are also announced over the PA system a few minutes before each one starts.

A few of the exhibits really do need a special mention as for us they really stood out. There is a wonderful, very large beam engine in excellent condition, although unfortunately not functional any more. There is also a device known as The Maiden. This is a beheading machine, thankfully this is also non-functional, but there is an inter-active computer screen that shows how the guillotine would fall. (There is no blood!)

On the third floor there is a Discovery Centre for the younger visitors, where there are many activities for them to participate in. It was also interesting for us older children.

On the fifth floor there is a restaurant that looks very nice, but was too dear for us, for a three course meal it would probably cost about £30 each.

The sixth floor represents the twentieth century where you will see a lot of items that you will recognise. (If you are older than 21!) There are early computers and game consoles, Bakelite radios, black and white televisions and some of the earliest microwaves and other kitchen appliances. There are also some bigger exhibits such as a Hillman Imp car, a steam train (yes, full size) and an early farm tractor. For the drinkers there was also a full size whiskey still, but no whiskey!

On the first floor there is a gift shop with a wide variety of gifts and souvenirs to suit all ages, at all prices.

Throughout the museum there are lots of seats where you can rest your legs for a bit, and you may well need a rest as there is so much to look at which means a lot of walking.

For a museum that has only been opened for a copy of years it has already put together a whole series of galleries and displays that
reflect all aspects of life in Scotland over 10,000 years, in a truly excellent way.

We were in the museum for hours and still did not see it all, but our legs were giving up by that time.

The museum has an appeal for all age groups and I would certainly recommend a visit for anybody going to Edinburgh.

Summary: