Apr 14

Apr 14 Why the London Transport Museum is such fun for the whole family

An outing that provides children of every age with entertainment and education (in that order) whilst being equally enjoyable and informative (in that order) for adults as well, is pretty much the epitome of a successful family expedition.

Which is what makes the London Transport Museum pretty much the epitome of an ideal destination for a multi-generation excursion.

Of course that’s not to say you necessarily need to go with children, as his birthday visit with my lovely man to see the museum’s Hidden London exhibition (more about that below) proved.

My LTM first-time-visitor man making his way into the cleverly designed Hidden London exhibition

He said he couldn’t remember ever having been, and as both a LTM novice and a diehard history buff, found his apparently inaugural visit a revelatory delight.

I would say the only disadvantage of not having a small(er) person in tow when you go, is that you do have to, ahem, give way to the younger generation on the museum’s multitude of interactive displays, exhibits and simulators. (I’m definitely heading back with my grand-gang at the first opportunity so I can ‘help’ them drive the simulated cab of a tube train).

And I confess I found it more than a tad galling that I remember actually travelling on some of the historical transport exhibits (and no, that doesn’t include the horse-drawn cab as my children so cuttingly enquired. Rude).

Anyone else travel on trains with carriages like this when they were young?

Or, in more recent times, on buses that looked like this?

Aside from being uncomfortably confronted with my increasing…..er, maturity, I was as entranced as the rest of our fellow visitors, who included children and adults of all ages, and happily reminded why I brought my girls so often to this manageably sized, wonderfully well designed and warmly welcoming museum when they were growing up.

Then as now the London Transport Museum is packed full of fascinating insights into our transportation history over the past 200 years, stories about the people who have worked to keep it and us moving over the centuries (did you know that women bus and tube drivers were not a permanent part of the London Transport workforce until 1970 in spite of being vital to keeping the networks running through both World Wars?) and tantalising visions of what the future of transport has in store.

With so many interactive elements, cleverly innovative displays, and climb-on exhibits, there’s lots to keep young, and young-at-heart, minds and bodies busy, with plenty of sitting spots, including on the tubes, trains and buses themselves, to relieve tired legs and feet.

The museum is also fully accessible so anyone using a wheelchair or pushing a buggy can get to each of the three floors (although obviously some of the older vehicles can’t be accessed) and rather wonderfully they open outside their regular hours on certain days for children with Special Educational Needs, including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, so they can experience all the museum has to offer in quieter surroundings, with many of the gallery sounds turned off.

There’s a packed schedule of special activities and programmes (click HERE for their events calendar), especially during school holidays, and some - like their Friday evening Museum Late openings - are for adults only.

They also stage regular special exhibitions, and it was one of those - Hidden London - which prompted our visit. This immersive journey into some of the secret spaces in London’s tube network reveals fascinating stories about the capital’s empty and abandoned tunnels, platforms and stations, why they became redundant, or in some cases were never completed, and how have been put to use through history in various mundane, surprising and sometimes top secret ways.

These were two of my favourites:

During the Second World War, an electronics factory was built in newly constructed underground tunnels at the eastern end of the Central line. The factory had 2,000 staff, mostly women, working in shifts 24 hours a day. It closed in 1945, and the Central line extension finally opened to trains in 1947.

In the 1990s, Transport for London bought eight deep-level air raid shelters that had been built under Northern Line stations during World War Two. They leased the one under Clapham Common to the Growing Underground company which uses it to grow herbs using hydroponics and LED lighting.

Amazing, eh?

There are loads more fascinating facts to discover in the Hidden London exhibition (by the end of WW2, over 22,000 bunk beds were installed in 76 stations used as air-raid shelters) which has been extended until autumn 2023, and the museum is also running a number of walking tours so you can explore the forgotten parts of the tube network in person.

Click HERE for details of the exhibition and tours.

The entry price for the museum buys you an annual pass, so you can use it to return as often as you want. You do need to book a timed slot whenever you visit. Find all the details by clicking HERE

And as if all the attractions of the museum itself weren’t enough, it has the added bonus of its position in a corner of Covent Garden, with its terrific shops, market stalls, restaurants and ever-changing roster of street performers.