London is rather blessed with museums, as of course are many other major cities, in terms of both quality and quantity. As most of the major museums in London are very cheap to get into, the more minor museums that, elsewhere, would get a little more traffic, don't. Apart from being smaller, they often charge to get in too, so there is a certain type of person that would go to them.
The Brunel Museum (£3 entry for adults) is based very near the Thames Tunnel and closest to Rotherhithe on the London Overground. The Thames tunnel is still being used very regularly (that overground line which was part of the east London line) but before it was brought back into service (thanks for that), there were some tourist trips down too.
The museum is pretty small and is covered in around 2 rooms. Downstairs, there are a number of pictures and a DVD player (I know it is a DVD player as it is open to the public, and I was actually asked by the staff to press the play button for everyone) showing a video of some of Brunel's achievements in engineering but it felt quite a bizarre video. Luckily, I knew a little about some of the context of Brunel's work but there is very little context provided as to what was being done, why, and the types of social change that were effected by these projects. Some of the video was just pure and simple bridge porn - not a phrase I would even have considered in existence until today.
Once the video was over, a trip upstairs was in order where there were a few small exhibits explaining some tunneling and bridge manufacture. In a move that encapsulates the museum, there was a model of the spectacular Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash, Cornwall underneath another exhibit, almost entirely obstructed. I noticed it later as I had earlier thought it part of the shelving.
The museum is pretty small and is covered in around 2 rooms. Downstairs, there are a number of pictures and a DVD player (I know it is a DVD player as it is open to the public, and I was actually asked by the staff to press the play button for everyone) showing a video of some of Brunel's achievements in engineering but it felt quite a bizarre video. Luckily, I knew a little about some of the context of Brunel's work but there is very little context provided as to what was being done, why, and the types of social change that were effected by these projects. Some of the video was just pure and simple bridge porn - not a phrase I would even have considered in existence until today.
Once the video was over, a trip upstairs was in order where there were a few small exhibits explaining some tunneling and bridge manufacture. In a move that encapsulates the museum, there was a model of the spectacular Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash, Cornwall underneath another exhibit, almost entirely obstructed. I noticed it later as I had earlier thought it part of the shelving.
Other than these two rooms, there is a garden outside (although it was raining when I went and so not that much fun in the wet) which has some rather cute benches designed to be similar to three famous Brunel bridges. I was unable, due to the timing of the visit, to see the Grand Entrance Hall and so I feel I may have missed an important component of the museum but it is still relatively small. There is also a cafe/gallery/shop which had a smallish selection of very nice items in stock such as prints, old maps and books which could be great for gifts.
As a visit, I am not sure it warrants a special journey for those that are not particular fans as it is a little context free and so to really enjoy it, you do need to know a bit about the Brunels beforehand. I enjoyed it and found the ramshackle style to be just the right side of the line such that it was quaint and endearing rather than terrible - but we all place that line in different positions.
The museum seems to host an interesting set of events [link] such as concerts and walks/talks and so I may return for one of those. Rotherhithe itself is a relatively quiet part of town so there is not a great deal to do there directly near the museum but it is, of course, near lots of other interesting things. On that basis, I'd say the museum is an interesting curio for the more "specialist" tourists amongst us, but maybe not the hidden gem to take other people to that I was hoping for.
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