Horniman Museum

[frogspawn]

Yesterday I made a pilgrimage to the Horniman Museum in south London to see their concertina collection. It's a pleasant environment (except for the small children running about the galleries uncontrolled by their parents and IMO some rather unpleasant atonal/discordant music coming from a free concert in the 'Gallery Square').

 

Anyway, there aren't that many concertinas on display in comparison with those listed and illustrated on the museum's website, but it's still good to see them 'in the flesh'. There are also a lot of other musical instruments there that may be of interest.

 

That only a proportion of their collection is actually displayed is understandable and presumably not unusual. What really disappointed me, however, was the poor signage. A combination of dim light, distance, font size and the thickness of the glass conspired to make the signs very difficult or even impossible to read for someone of my age.

 

I fully appreciate that artefacts need to be protected, but the signage should be larger, further forward or illuminated as it is in other parts of the museum. I did fill in the feedback form about this and also expressed my disappointment to a young girl who was conducting a visitor survey - she also had difficulty reading some of the signs.

[Alan Day]

It is a strange place and a museum I have visited many times, before it purchased the "Concertina Collection" from Neil Wayne.

It just happened to be on the route from where I lived in Clapham to Eltham where my Grandparents used to live.

It contains many strange tribal artefacts collected by the founder of Horniman's Teas. The whole place was not well lit when I visited it, so it sounds as if the place is still a bit behind times as far as presentation is concerned.

Al

[Dan Worrall]

Yesterday I made a pilgrimage to the Horniman Museum in south London to see their concertina collection. It's a pleasant environment (except for the small children running about the galleries uncontrolled by their parents and IMO some rather unpleasant atonal/discordant music coming from a free concert in the 'Gallery Square').

 

Anyway, there aren't that many concertinas on display in comparison with those listed and illustrated on the museum's website, but it's still good to see them 'in the flesh'. There are also a lot of other musical instruments there that may be of interest.

 

That only a proportion of their collection is actually displayed is understandable and presumably not unusual. What really disappointed me, however, was the poor signage. A combination of dim light, distance, font size and the thickness of the glass conspired to make the signs very difficult or even impossible to read for someone of my age.

 

I fully appreciate that artefacts need to be protected, but the signage should be larger, further forward or illuminated as it is in other parts of the museum. I did fill in the feedback form about this and also expressed my disappointment to a young girl who was conducting a visitor survey - she also had difficulty reading some of the signs.

 

I had a smilar experience three years ago...the displays are dimly lit and rather dreadful, and 90% or more of the collection is not on display. A highlight of my visit, however---one that made the trip well worthwhile--was an afternoon plowing through several large boxes of concertina documents collected by Neil Wayne. In particular, they contain several volumes of photographs and descriptions by Neil of all the instruments in the collection. Other documents include Victorian era tunebooks, playbills, photographs and the like. One must make arrangements well in advance with the librarian, Margaret Birley, in order to schedule such a visit, as the archives are not in the public library stacks.

[frogspawn]

The museum certainly betrays its roots as a Victorian collection of curios. The most modern gallery is probably the aquarium, which is small but well-done. There is also an attractive conservatory like a miniature Crystal Palace which is used as a tea house. Unfortunately it was too wet to walk the gardens, so we're planning another visit in the spring.

[cnrobinson]

It certainly is a strange, but wonderful place!

 

I grew up just down the road, so the Horniman's was a very regular Sunday afternoon visit in the 50s and 60s. When I had kids of my own I took them, just as my father took me. Some of the taxidermy left a lot to be desired, the overstuffed walrus is still there!

 

It has changed a lot over the years but it is still worth a visit!

 

Chris