Horniman Museum and Gardens

Finally I have made the effort and started to explore and revisit parts of Forest Hill. I am including the link to Horniman Museum and Gardens.

www.horniman.ac.uk

This is very close to me here, down the hill and around the corner. It has always been one of my favourite places in London. I have had to adjust to change, from the intact Victorian museum, complete with all those old fashioned cases of animals, birds, but specially musical instruments. It was an experience to visit. Slowly they changed it bit by bit to better reflect 'culture mix' of this part of South East London. I am nostalgic for the old I have to say. We now have 'interpretation' of every blessed thing.

However, it is so popular, as they have school groups and today mother and toddlers (not forgetting the occassional dad and quite a few grandparents). It is not just making it 'relevant' to children, but making it interesting and interactive. There is a free Christmas carol concert coming up in a few weeks, and I will make sure I attend. It isn't just the organised activities that are so popular with toddlers it has a small collection of live farm animals, and you can see this is what the little ones love.

Last night the wind was so strong that it blew all the pollution out of the Thames Valley and I stood in the wonderful gardens at Horniman and could see the dome of St Pauls and the Gerkin (that strange looking modern building close to where I used to work in Algate). The grass was an intense green in the sunlight, and sky a blue that was bright but not as intense as an Australian sky. I meant to walk through the gardens, but was sidelined into the museum itself.

The cafe was full and is in part of the new building. The architecture here is so mixed, and I am not sure it all goes together. You have the original arts and craft rather over-decorated building -a lovely reddish colour, then the extravagent Victorian conservatory moved from the Horniman family home to the museum grounds some later time. In more recent years the Lottery Fund has paid for the significant modern sod roof building that houses the education and library facilities. More recently again, they have made a new entrance, all glass and jazz and this is where the cafe is.

Now, just an hour later the sun is gone, and the clouds are scuttling across the sky covering up the blue. Suddenly it feels like a different place.

The caretaker here has told me I can have a smoke alarm fitted by the local firebrigade for free, and as soon as he puts the leaflet through my letter box I will follow this up. He tells me that he has a spare door knob as my front door knob is damaged. He is kindness itself.

Do check out the website for the Horniman, particulaarly look at the gardens.