Hillingdon is on the Metropolitan Line so we did not have to change onto the Underground system at a main line station (which was the plan if leaving from West Drayton). Saturday parking is also not especially busy and we were only charged £1 for the whole day.
It is quite a long journey into London as, of course, the train stops everywhere, 18 stops to Liverpool Street. The first half of the journey is overground so there were some things for the girls to see on the way before we dived into the darkness of proper underground lines!
After changing onto the central Line it was just one stop to Bethnal Green and then only five minutes walk to the museum. originally built as a general museum for the East End of London, it gradually specialised in the 1970's. It is not over-large and comprises a single large space with galleries around the outer edge supported by cast iron columns, rather like converted mills we have seen elsewhere, including the Hockney Gallery in Saltaire which we visited with the girls when they were with us on the boat in the summer.
There are several activities during the day and shortly after we arrived there was a story telling - the Nutcracker. The girls sat on the huge mat in front of the two ladies telling the story - Jess especially joined in the different actions!
Following the story we divided into two groups to begin to look at the various displays of old toys and childhood amusements. Actually, Jess thought that going outside to the adjacent playground was a good idea but as soon as she, Andrew and Christine went outside it turned wet so they came back inside and found a sand pit on the top floor.
Alice and Mike looked at several displays, mainly of construction toys - Lego was by no means the only one! Mike pointed out to Alice a set of stacking plastic cups that were popular when her Mum was very little! Sadly, Mike recognised many of the items as current in his own childhood . . .
By one o'clock we all met up in the cafe, which occupies most of the central area of the museum. It was very busy but we eventually collected a range of snacks and drinks and found a table.
By the time we had finished the Arts and Crafts activity was about to start. Alice and Jess were given a card with the figure of the Nutcracker Soldier printed on it with aq couple of other pieces to cut out and glue together to make the mouth change shape. Alice carefully selected matching colours for her soldier and added some tiny pieces of shiny paper and tissue to add to the effect. Jess found that decorating her figure with glitter was a quicker way of covering a lot of space in one go! She too added some pieces of paper.
We again divided up to explore the main exhibits. Alice particularly noted a paddle doll, the oldest item in the museum, dating back to 1300BC and came from Egypt. The zeotropes - forerunners to moving picture - were also interesting. She also made pictures with iron filings and a magnet.
Jess enjoyed riding on two huge rocking horses as well as seeing the displays about how photos and then films followed by videos gradually evolved.
Time then to set off back to the Underground and the trip back to Hillingdon. It was already dark as we left the museum.
Hillingdon proved to be an excellent choice of station and it was not long before we were back at the boat where Christine quickly lit the fire and Mike set about making the meal which had been decided during the train ride back. Eventually it was time to return Alice and
Jess to Windsor.
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