Saturday 2 July 2011

The London Transport Museum

Well, well, well we finally reached the London Transport Museum!

For years when I worked in Covent Garden I used to arrive at the tube station, go up in the lift and roll my eyes constantly as the following announcement would be made: "Welcome to Covent Garden, why don't you take the opportunity to visit the London Transport Museum blah blah blah". I didn't have children then and I remember thinking that it sounded like the most dreadfully monotonous place and that I would rather stick pins in my eyes than go there!

Fast forward 5 years and how things have changed! Bringing up two, car, truck and train obsessed twin boys, it was only a matter of time before this particular museum maneouvered its way onto our 'what to do in London' agenda.

Initially, I was put off the idea because of the price but after talking to a friend I discovered that the price policy had in fact changed. Now (with no cost for children under 12) the tickets bought are valid for one year! So you can go as much as you like for the princely sum (for us anyway) of £27:00. So far so good!

So we headed off by bus to Covent Garden, stopping off at Wagamamas for a quick bite and by1:30pm we had reached our destination. There was no queue, which was good, so we were swiftly greeted and our tickets processed. The girl behind the counter kindly offered a little pack for the boys which contained one pencil and a mini magazine which was very nice but as a highly strung twin mum I  found myself babbling onto the girl about how the boys aren't that great at sharing, obviously hoping for another pack! But she simply looked me straight I the eye and told me that this would be a good opportunity for them to learn! Cheeky Mare!! NOT a good start but hey I wanted to enjoy the experience and carried on optimistically deciding quickly not to let her sheer naivety get the better of me!

Starting the journey I was impressed with the detail of the design. Global tube maps painted on the walls,  old posters and imagery depicting transport over the last 100 or so years (yawn!) No really, it looked good. The children really liked it! After marching up to the first floor via the lift, which cleverly had a digital reverse countdown to give us the feeling that we were going back in time; we alighted and arrived in 1890 flanked by pristine 19th century vehicles for us to enjoy. It was actually quite engaging! There was an actress playing some kind of Eliza Doolittle character talking us through what the experience would've been like to travel back then and getting cross about the development of trams! After a few well rehearsed facts were delivered to us in an auld cockney dialect we swiftly moved on to the floor below which had trains.

Obviously having sat on a train before, this was not the biggest highlight for us, so the interest of the children waned after about a minute! They spent most of that time peering over the balcony desperately wanting to see the buses on the floor below. We begrudgingly gave in. Hubby and I were enjoying sitting down for a moment of peace but there was no chance of that, not with two wide eyed  and curious little people excitedly pulling us towards the next big attraction.

So we headed off downstairs. This final floor consisted of a tube, well the front bit where the driver sits. Three London buses plus a standalone drivers section, a bus from the 1900's and a cafe.

The tube and bus front bits on display were fun because the boys could pretend to be the driver. The London buses however were disappointing because you couldn't actually go on them. Not sure why although unfortunatley that didn't stop the boys repeatedly asking us that very question! Tested as we were at that point we quickly realised that we could venture into the old bus YIPPEE! But we were soon dragged back to the big red buses by the offspring with their little faces looking up and each asking why we couldn't to go on. Looking for a solution we offered cake - always a winner - and the cafe was only a few feet away. they relented and all was fine! Thankfully, the cafe was surrounded by mini transport vehicles and a train set, so the boys were in their element.

Interestingly while people watching from the cafe, I noticed some teenage tourists gleefully taking pictures of each other by the buses and I couldn't help but ask myself why they were doing this. There are hundreds of buses on the streets of London where they could get a much more authentic shot. I was miffed!

Anyway, we promptly left through the gift shop and we were back on the cobbled, entertainment riddled, streets of Covent Garden almost bumping into Lenny Henry! Can you believe it?

So after years of being almost tormented by the voice in the lift, I finally took the opportunity to visit the London mecca to transport! There were highs and lows for the children, a momentary blip of excitement for me at the beginning whilst my other half found the experience somewhat underwhelming.

But the my  upshot my friends is this. If you want to head into town and need something to do with the children for a hour or so, then it's worth it because the rest of the time you're in Covent Garden you can indulge in more of what you really enjoy! So everybody's happy. Well kinda!

London Transport Museum

Mama xx

2 comments:

  1. I'm sure you'll grow to love the place on subsequent visits! Just wanted to add a bit about food: you can bring your own packed lunches to eat in the cafe area downstairs, and - if you fancy something a bit different - it's worth investigating the Upper Deck cafe (above the excellent shop).

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  2. I'm desperate to take my son to the transport museum, didn't realise the ticket was for all year, I was waiting for him to be a bit older as I wasn't sure it would be worth the money, but if we can go again and again might have to treat ourselves. :)

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