LEAVE THE NRM ALONE
I have been following with mounting dismay the various stories regarding the changes being made to the NRM (SR476). The NRM is a fine institution; a place of great importance to the country and its industrial heritage, in which railways played an enormous part, but especially to me and my family. My daughters love the place and continue to make their annual pilgrimage. The Warehouse is a wonderful place and even after many years I can still find things to look at that I haven’t noticed before. The Workshop is also a place of fascination and we were very pleased to be able to see Flying Scotsman undergoing maintenance there. People love to see how things are made and how they are repaired and restored. We have seen exhibits change over the years, but they’re always on the same general theme. The streamlining of Duchess of Hamilton was a masterstroke, as was the ‘Great Gathering’ of the ‘A4s’. To be able to sit in the ‘Shinkansen’ is to be transported to Japan and to get a glimpse of another way of life. And it’s all totally relevant to the history of railways. Yet, there seems to be a theory among the decision-makers at the Science Museum that visitors to the NRM are just random tourists who need to be entertained. That assumption is a mistake. Many – probably most – people who visit the NRM go there because they are fascinated by railways, even if they are not gricers. I have chatted to many visitors, many of whom would not call themselves railway enthusiasts, yet their knowledge of railways and familiarity with the things they see is clear. The Science Museum should realise that there are many regular visitors to the NRM who do not want to see the exhibits given away and distributed to far-flung sites that are difficult to visit. We go there to see the trains and to be immersed in railway history. It is a tactile place, it smells of railways, and you can experience the presence and witness the size of a steam locomotive. I’m sure most visitors are not really interested in flash-bangwallop multimedia presentations. These new ideas might hold a visitor’s attention for several seconds before they move on to look at what they’ve really come to see. So here’s my message to the Science Museum mandarins: hands off our NRM. Let’s keep it the way it is. It works. It makes visitors happy and provides a very pleasant experience. I doubt I’m the only one who feels this way.
Nigel Furness,
by email