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| Imperial War Museum |
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We have mixed feelings about the Imperial War Museum.
But first the basics: it's in South London, a short walk from
Lambeth North tube station. Follow the street signs. You may find the area a
little gloomy - be fair, let's call it seedy - but it's not far to walk.
Lambeth North tube station is easily one of the most astonishing dumps on the tube
network. When we went, there was not one single advert in the station, which surely
says something about how rundown this London Borough of Lambeth is.
The official website is here.
The naval guns mounted outside are quite impressive, and the details of the guns'
histories are also interesting.
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| The impressive front of the building. |
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The shells for the guns are almost 6 feet tall.
Those massive naval guns are in the background.
And now we go inside and we'll explain our mixed feelings about the contents
and presentation. |
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| This is the newest exhibit; a burnt-out and crushed vehicle (landrover ?)
from Iraq, 2007. Perhaps poignant, but pride of place in the main exhibits hall ? |
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| The display of tanks, other vehicles, and artillery guns can be interesting,
but the floor is strewn with exhibits giving a cluttered feeling. |
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| The grey light coming through the ceiling makes is difficult to see
the aerial exhibits, and everything is so close together that it's impossible
to see one exhibit without an exhibit behind it merging. |
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| The architecture of the building does not lend itself to easy display or
viewing. There's always something in the way, or something in the background
that prevents you from admiring. |
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| A tank. |
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| A smaller tank. |
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| A Red Cross landrover. |
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| A V2 rocket. Deadly to Londoners in WWII. |
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| We couldn't find a plaque telling us the type and history of this plane. |
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| A big gun. |
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| Another big gun, with two small submarines behind it. |
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| An old bus. |
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| Several guns all together. |
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| Half the cockpit of a Lancaster Bomber. |
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| The Spitfire was key to winning the aerial battle in WWII. |
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| The balconies running around the main exhibition hall give a better
view of many of the exhibits. |
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| From the balcony, looking down, you can see how the main exhibition hall
is arranged. There's a lot of randomly placed armaments, and all you can do
is stare at them for a while. |
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| There's a separate area, moodily lit, detailing the creation of MI5 and
the equipment used in the Secret Services. |
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| Displays of historical memorabilia. |
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| Surely there must be a better way to display guns and weapons ? This picture
was taken with flash, of course; the moody lighting normally hides the blank background
and provides an ominous tone. |
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| There's an attempt to bring you closer to the realities of
war, but I'm not sure if this hole in the wall works. |
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| A german cipher machine from WWII is interesting to see. |
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| It's impossible to get a clear, good, shot. |
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Outside, there's a Tibetan Peace Garden, but to be fair you need to be
very charitable to admire it.
So that's our mixed feelings about this place: could do better, but would need
a new building, new exhibits, and more variety, to achieve it. It's only
our opinion; we fully respect the IWM, it's staff, and their hard work,
and you may love this place. Don't take our opinion, go and see ! |
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