MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD
Had a brilliant day, went to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnel Green. It is run by the V&A. In 1855 Prince Albert proposed the construction of an iron formed building in South Kensington to house parts of the Great Exhibition of 1851. In 1860 they physically moved the whole building from South Kensington to its current location.

As I first walked in I thought the place was quite small and we would be done in half and hour. I obviously forgot we had two kids with us. We were there for a very enjoyable three hours (including lunch). The museum is on two floors with a temporary exhibition on the top floor. The current show was childrens chairs. Now this may not sound too exciting at first but it was brilliant. They had kids chairs through out the ages. From modern day plastic crap to hand carved chairs from the 1800’s. But then they took the concept of the ‘chair’ beyond ones initial interpretation. They showed other items that you sit on, there was a toilet with an orange seat, a baby potti as a formula one car and the Trunki which is a kid’s suitcase shaped like an animal that kids can sit and ride on while in the airport. They also had hands-on exhibits where kids could build their own chair or design their own chair and enter it into a competition. Fantastic.

The rest of the Museum was in large cases each were themed. I loved reminiscing about my youth when looking at the Star Wars figures, the Action Man figures and the amazing train track demonstration they had set up. My favourite part was these very simple three showcases. The exhibition designers wanted to show the diversity of residents of North London. So they choose three families, and within each family three generations–Grandmother, Mother and Daughter. Then each family displayed items from their childhood in the showcase. The Caucasian family had Doris Day records and a Chopper bike from the 80’s. The Indian family had traditional Indian dolls and a rack of many brightly coloured bangles. It was really well done and you got a great sense of the different cultures and the diversity that makes each unique.

MEAT, MEAT AND MORE MEAT
Later that day I cooked dinner for my friends  which was great as I haven’t cooked for a week and a half (so strange). Made a  big bacon, chorizo sausage and ground lamb chili – most lovely, especially if you’re a meat lover (meaty heaven). Several beers later and great conversation we all crashed and had an early night.

SEE IMAGES ON FLICKR:
part 1, part 2, part 3 & part 4

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