Brief Overview of other things I visited on my trip

Westminster Abbey

Here is the postcard of the sculpture I spoke of in the Shakespeare Locations in London post. It really doesn't do it justice!



The Charles Dickens Museum

This building is one of the places where Charles Dickens actually lived. There was such a huge collection of Charles Dickens book editions here, cases full of them. On special display were some of the very early publications.



In the first half of the school year I did a book cover for Charles Dickens' "Bleak House". Before I started illustrating, I did research on the existing book covers, naturally I discovered the original cover. There it was sitting in a case, the very cover I had seen on the internet. Not only the Bleak House copy either, but also a large amount of ther books from the same printer/illustrator.



The Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221b Baker Street

I arrived at the Baker Street Tube Station and finally I had found what had been missing from the other stations. This one, unlike the other new and clean stations, was dark and grimy, it was positively creepy... I LOVED IT!!! As I was heading off to 221b Baker Baker Street this was such a treat. I could just imagine Moriarty hiding around the corner and Watson following Holmes as he eagerly discovered clues to unravel a mystery. It immediately set the scene and made me feel a bit dissapointed that I didn't have any Sherlock Holmes projects coming up, but no fear as there's a long fun future ahead.



I carried on to locate the famous 221b Baker Street. While waiting outside, as only so many people were allowed in at a time, I chatted to the guard in full bobby costume of the period. Very nice bloke, as were all the people working there which always makes a visit so much nicer.



When I was allowed to enter, I found that the house had been recreated to give as strong an atmosphere as the Tube Station. After walking up the first flight of stairs which creaked beneath me with every step I came to Holmes and Watson's living room. No surface was safe, the room was absolutely heaving with trinkets and tools of detection.



Next door was Sherlock's bedroom which was the same as the previous in it's plethora of items. Up another moaning flight of stairs and I came to a room which held all sorts of supposèd artefacts from the Sherlock Holmes tales. (These were accompanied by quotations, for if one's knowledge of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels wasn't quite up to scratch, I have to admit mine wasn't. I should be as equally agitated by myself as by the Rossetta Stone lady it would seem.) Into Watson's room there were all sorts of potions and other odd things hiding in cabinets as of course he is a Doctor by profession.



Up the last flight of stairs to find two rooms full of waxwork figures (Madame Tussauds is only just down the road) from the books including Holmes, Watson, Moriarty and other victims and passers-by and not to be forgotten the Hound of the Baskerville's head which was mounted on the wall. If you weren't convinced this was his house yet, which I'm sure any easy-to-fool tourists probably were, another small flight of stairs was to be found. Up there, flung into a dark dusty corner, was a collection of old suitcases ready for any trips, just like you'd expect in any house.



Portobello Road Market

I watched many Disney movies when I was little, one of them was Bedknobs and Broomsticks. This featured a scene set in the Portobello Road Market so I really wanted to go and see what it was really like. It was a lot busier than on the movie and come to think of it there were probably as many people singing there as well. I did look for a stereoscope, thinking I might get a good deal, but I didn't even find one.



V&A

As you may remember, I mentioned earlier that there was a particular reason for me to head back to the V&A. At the beginning of this school year I did a project on Punk Clothing. My workplace at school had numerous Adam and the Ants pictures up on the wall which were a pleasure to look at ;). Well I discovered that Adam Ant's Prince Charming outfit was at the V&A. It was in the performance section which I had just literally been around the corner from when I was there the first time.



When I went into the Performance section I had another surprise before finding Adam's very dishy outfit. As I like making clothes and costumes, I regularly google pictures to find inspiration. One time when looking up faerie dresses and skirts I found the most beautiful picture of a tutu-like dress. I saved the picture but had no idea where it had come from. Then at the V&A I turned the corner after having worked down a long hallway adorned with Beatrix Potter originals (:D) and there it was, the very dress. I was completely amazed. I managed to snap some very bad and out of focus photos, due to low lighting and not a particuarly great camera.



Carrying on I saw loads of cool costumes and then... Prince Charming. It was absolutely wicked, I want that outfit and if the young original Adam Ant could be thrown in that would obviously be a bonus :P I also had the luck to discover all of the Shakespeare items I mentioned earlier in the Performance Section, so it really was worth going back.



The British Museum

As I said before, the British Museum was as impressive as I had expected it to be. Just quickly before I move on, there were a few other things that were really cool in the Egyptian section. One thing was a collection of three men but what I thought made them particularly cool was the way in which their faces had been smashed. It made them look like zombies or you could imagine like the sculptures that came to life in th Mummy Movies.



A couple of other notable things were a giant scarab beetle (Cheper) and a very cute Falcon.



Along with the Egyptians I also really love the Celts, the Vikings and other old European civilisations. I was amazed to see in the postcard section of the shop that this was the actual home of the Battersea Shield, not only this but also the Sutton Hoo Grave artefacts, a large collection of the Lewis Chessman and a shield which I had drawn last year in the summer from a photograph in a book. I was also very happy to discover some of John Dee's possessions while looking around.









The Science Museum

Although this would have been a lot more fun if I had not been alone, as a good amount of it was interactive, I still saw a lot of interesting things. There was a huge collection of clocks and watches, a section on geometry which was very interesting and two floors of medical history diaramas and items which I enjoyed seeing as I studied this for a term at school in England.







I visited a quite a few other places as well but these are the ones of relevance to illustration.

I had a brilliant time in London. It was great staying with Keith and Patrick and it was such a lovely evening with them, Graham, Jim and Doug.