Has anyone been to the Hunterian Museum and/or the Royal London Museum? I'm thinking of pairing one of them with a visit to the Old Operating Theatre, but I can't decide which so am hoping for comments. On the one hand, the Royal London has items relating to John Merrick and Jack the Ripper. On the other hand, the Hunterian has the remains of a woolly mammoth and a Megalodon shark. (The obvious solution would be to go to all three, but that seems like overkill.)
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33818 posts
Well, you 've got me there. I've been making frequent visits to London for nearly 50 years and thought I'd at least heard of all the main attractions, even if I have never visited some; for example I've been meaning to get to the Old Operating Theatre for nearly 15 years. I've never heard of either the Hunterian Museum or the Royal London Museum. Stumped.
Posted by
OP
Seattle
922 posts
Hmmm ... this does not bode well. I think I found about both of them in an article in the Guardian. Or maybe it was the Telegraph. Fifty greatest London museums or something like that.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1068 posts
For what it is worth I have heard of both, and have both on my bucket list for London! They both got blown off the schedule this time (we were there the first week in January), but I confidently expect to get there some day. :-) From what I know of them, having done some research, I don't think going to all three would be overkill if you are into that sort of thing. This year is the Hunterian's bicentennial, too! So there is probably some neat stuff planned.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33818 posts
I found both of them online now - they really are both very specialized surgery museums aren't they? Now I know more...
Posted by
OP
Seattle
922 posts
Yeah, and from the websites I'm kind of thinking that the Hunterian is the more "technical" of the two, but I can't really be sure. I mean: Megalodon shark remains! I'm wondering if it might be something of a bore for someone who doesn't work in medicine or a related field. But still: Megalodon! On the other hand, John Merrick! Curse my Virgo indecisiveness! Maybe I should give them both a miss and go to Bletchley Park instead.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33818 posts
Bletchley Park now has the National Museum of Computing on the site. See Colossus, the computer built in 1943 which now runs again. Check times carefully as both Bletchley Park and the National Museum of Computing have very small volunteer staffs.