Behind the Scenes at the Horniman

A couple of weeks ago I finally made the trip ‘South of the River’(Thames that is) to visit the Horniman Museum & Gardens. They asked me to be a patron a few years ago and so began 2 years of guilt of not having visited. To be fair, I’m not in London that often and when I am it’s in and out in no time.

However, this weekend I put aside the time to fulfil my patronising duties (not sure that’s the right term - I hope not). Train links to South London are so much better (only 5 minutes walk from Forest Hill station on the Overground) so despite my inability to read a map on my smarter-than-me phone I managed to arrive at the impressive entrance for my afternoon visit. Knowing that they only had an afternoon to get across the enormous amount of activities that go on here I was whisked around the garden redevelopment that will open next year extending their wildlife themes and a new state-of-the-art animal walk. I got very excited at the rabbit enclosure that can help spread the word about appropriate housing for this misunderstood creatures.

Another area of interest for me was the aquariums. Jamie (above) talked me through some of the research they have ongoing with corals diseases that may have huge impacts on global management of reefs. Museums are not dusty, decaying spaces, they are bustling, busy hives of activity allowing visitors and researchers to fill their brains with lovely science (my interpretation, obviously). I didn’t get a chance to see round the world renowned musical instrument collection or the equally well thought of anthropology collection so there’s so much more to explore. Can’t wait for my next visit.

To visit the Horniman Website click HERE.