Bus-, Tram- and Trainspotting

I was not expecting to be very enthralled by the London Transport Museum when we went there on Saturday, not being into trainspotting and the like - but I was pleasantly surprised at what fun it was.

We went specifically to see the small exhibition of poster art used in the tunnels of the London Underground throughout the last century, being interested in design, art and communication. It was fascinating to see the way that the Tube was advertised in the early years of the 20th century as a link between town and country and also to learn something about the evolving technology that defined the kinds of styles and illustrations that were used - some lovely paintings by reknowned artists of the mid-century had to be rejected because of the limitations of the lithographic print technology or because of the costs of reproduction.

Since we were there, we then took a look around at the rest of the museum and had a grand time exploring a claustrophic underground carriage from the Victorian age, sitting in the first ever (horse-drawn) omnibus and clambering up the stairs of a double-decker tram. I particularly enjoyed one of the tube carriages from the 1970s with mannequins dressed in bell-bottoms and big collars - I remembered not only the musty old carriage style but also the fashions from my first days in London as a child! It was also mind-blowing to learn some of the history eg that most of the early Tube tunnels were hand dug by armies of navvies under the streets of Victorian London.

The gift shop has the most amazing array of books and videos on railways, trams and buses I have ever come across including time-tables and maps of all the different rail and bus networks across the UK throughout the ages. You can get box sets of videos about all aspects of trains and trams and buses, many of the sets running to 18 hours or more!

For me, it was a cultural and historical eye-opener to an aspect of our daily lives that we tend to take for granted - or moan about, especially if you’re a Londoner - as well as an glimpse at an area of interest that I would not normally consider, well, interesting, but is a topic of fascination for many other people. I’m definitely not going to look at another tube train or bus in the same way again!