The Pen Museum

Immerse yourself in the exciting world of pens and calligraphy and explore our amazing collection of over 5,000 objects related to the Birmingham steel pen trade and the history of writing.

The Pen Museum tells the story of Birmingham’s important role in the information revolution.

Discover how the Jewellery Quarter was home to over 100 factories manufacturing the ‘Birmingham pen’ which supplied 75% of the world’s pens during the 19th Century.

New Forest Centre

Free museum entry. The New Forest Museum is packed full of displays and activities about the New Forest National Park, including our FAMILY FUN TREE interactive exhibit. The Impressions of the New Forest National Park film show welcomes you to the New Forest Museum and sets the scene for your visit.

Natural History Museum at Tring

The Museum is a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre.

We use our unique collections and unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today.

We care for more than 80 million specimens spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually.

Blackwell Arts and Crafts House

Enjoy a serene day out at the most enchanting historic houses in the Lake District. When you visit you are invited to relax and immerse yourself in all the beauty and craftsmanship of Blackwell. We encourage you to sit and soak up the atmosphere in Blackwell’s fireplace inglenooks, which have fine examples of tiles by Arts & Crafts designer William de Morgan. The inviting window seats offer stunning views of the surrounding Lake District scenery. You can appreciate the house as it was originally intended, without roped-off areas. Blackwell retains many of its original decorative features, including a rare hessian wall-hanging in the Dining Room, leaf-shaped door handles, curious window catches, spectacular plasterwork, stained glass and carved wooden panelling by Simpsons of Kendal. The rooms contain furniture and objects by many of the leading Arts and Crafts designers and studios.

British Optical Association Museum

Learn about the history of the British Optical Association Museum – the oldest of its type in the world and still one of the most significant. You can also learn about the people who have cared for its collections over the years within two parent organisations and four different locations. If you’re brave enough, read up on the resident ghosts who may haunt the museum rooms at the College.

London Fire Brigade Museum

The London Fire Brigade pop-up museum provides our visitors a unique opportunity to find out more about the history of the Brigade. This exhibition explores key events which connect the Lambeth site to the history and development of London’s fire service. Visitors have a rare chance to glimpse a select part of the Brigade’s fascinating collection of objects, photographs, documents and videos. Visitors can also view our display of two modern fire engines and all of the equipment a modern firefighter uses to help make London a safer city.

The pop-up museum has been designed to give visitors a taste of what our new permanent home will look like. This is just the start of a very special move for the museum, as 8 Albert Embankment was the original home of the collection before it moved to Southwark; the museum is coming home.

If you are planning a visit, please allow for 30 minutes to see all of the exhibits on display. Throughout 2017, we are planning to host a number of lectures, tours and events at The Workshop. If you would like to know more then please join our mailing list here

Royal Academy of Arts

World-class exhibitions

Variety, excellence and originality

Melrose Abbey Commendatorʼs House Museum

Discover a place so beloved by Robert the Bruce, he chose it as the final resting place for his heart. Melrose Abbey is a magnificent ruin on a grand scale, and it was a highly desirable place to be buried.

David I founded Scotland’s first Cistercian monastery in 1136. Being so close to the border, Melrose Abbey suffered at English hands during the Middle Ages. Rebuilt in the 1380s, it was used as an abbey until the Protestant Reformation of 1560. Afterwards, the existing monks were allowed to stay on: the last died in 1590.

What to see and do

• Admire the graceful architecture of the abbey church, among Britain’s finest church architecture of the late 1300s
• Take in the charming sculpture – look out for the famous bagpipe-playing Melrose pig
• Step inside the chapter house, where a heart believed to be that of Robert the Bruce is buried
• Visit the Commendator’s House Museum to see a rich collection of medieval objects found in the abbey cloister

Renfrew Museum

Built in 2012, Renfrew Museum is a 4 star-awarded visitor attraction. Small, but perfectly formed, visitors will be treated to a truly rich and interactive experience as the story of the former Royal Burgh of Renfrew is presented from medieval times until the present day, using objects, pictures, film and audio. The museum is based on the elements of Earth, Fire, Air and Water.

Earth

This section looks at life in Renfrew over the centuries. Renfrew is known as the Cradle of The Stewarts because of its important historic royal connections. Images over the last 150 years including shops, houses and street scenes show how the town has changed over that time.

Fire

This part of the museum focuses on the heavy industries in the area, such as boiler making at Babcocks, who were at one time, the largest boiler making factory in the world.

Air

This section shows the importance of Renfrew Airport both locally and in aviation history. Visitors can see a real Merlin engine from a Spitfire fighter built at Hillington.

Water

The town’s position on the River Clyde made Renfrew an important ship building centre producing ships which were exported all over the world.

Come and learn more about the incredible contribution Renfrew has made across the world, and see how the local community, including Renfrew’s young people, contribute to making it the town it is today.

Highland Folk Museum, High Life Highland

Here at the Highland Folk Museum we give our visitors a flavour of how Highland people lived and worked from the 1700s up until the 1950s! We do this by displaying over 30 historical buildings and furnishing them appropriate to their time period.  Some have been built from scratch on site and some have been moved here from other locations.

Our site is a mile long with our 1700s Township (featuring 6 houses) at one end through to our 1930s working croft at the other.We have an cafe, gift shop and a fantastic children’s playground. We are located at Newtonmore in the Scottish Highlands amidst some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.