LIFESTYLE OUR FAMILYFRIENDLY MUSEUM AWARD WINNERS
The two worthy winners of this year’s museum award capture the imaginations of young visitors, writes Jake Wallis Simons
The joint winners of the 2013 Telegraph Family Friendly Museums Award might seem to have little in common. The first is a very large museum in London, boasting six separate galleries, more than 100 staff, 650,000 annual visitors, and its own extensive parkland. The second is a compact museum in Devon focusing on local history, which from the outside looks like little more than a rambling Victorian house. But the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, south London, and the Brixham Heritage Museum, between Torquay and Dartmouth, have one important thing in common. Both provide outstanding, stimulating and immersive experiences for the whole family. And they share the same fundamental philosophy: for children to be truly engaged with a museum, they have to get stuck in. Take, for example, the Handling Collection at the Horniman. It contains a wealth of fascinating exhibits, from a group of masks from around the world to an army of stuffed animals (the badger is a particularly popular). There are also obscure musical instruments, scores of brightly coloured costumes, and real animal skeletons. At first glance, this seems like just another exhibit; the objects are kept in locked cabinets, and displayed with great care. But there is a twist. A team of “explainers” can be found in the gallery, and if a particular object catches your eye, you can ask to play with it. An explainer will remove it from its case, put it into your hands, and tell you all about it. “It makes a massive difference to children when you can actually hold an exhibit and play with it,” says David Bolger, 58, who has worked at the museum for 15 years. “The objects do get broken from time to time, but we have craftsmen who can fix them. It’s worth it to give the children that feeling of engagement.” Similarly, the Brixham Heritage Museum has a host of exhibits with which children can get involved, from real police cells (the building was originally a police station) to a model train track. “The museum stands out for two reasons,” says Tina Mansfield, one of the mums who helped judge the award. “First, the people are really friendly and dedicated. And second, the children know that they can play and touch things without worrying that an adult will disapprove. To begin with, my seven-year-old son Ethan thought we were going to a stuffy old museum. But it didn’t feel like that at all. He really enjoyed it.” The Horniman was set up in 1901 by a Victorian tea trader, Member of Parliament and philanthropist called Frederick John Horniman. Despite the fact he did not leave Britain until he was 60, by the time of his death he had amassed an extraordinary collection of ephemera, from stuffed walruses to African sand paintings. The building was purpose-built in the Arts and Craft style – with a noticeably Art Nouveau twist – and dedicated with the surrounding parkland to the people of London “forever” for their “free recreation, instruction and enjoyment”. A further four buildings have been added to the original, including an eco-building with grass on the roof and an original Victorian wroughtiron conservatory which houses a tea room. The galleries house exhibitions of natural history, African culture, musical instruments and temporary exhibitions. An aquarium has also been built in the basement; this is not free, but entry costs just £2.70 for an adult and £1 for a child. For this princely sum you can see sea horses, jellyfish, tropical fish and live shrimps; you can also experience a simulation of an electric eel’s sting (it hurts). But although the scope of the Horniman is remarkable, greatness does not demand extensiveness. The Brixham Museum – which is too small to even have a café – succeeds because it is a place with a heart. “They have clearly spent a lot of time thinking about how to engage families of different generations and children of different ages,” says Tina. “Things that are very precious are kept well away from little hands, but there is plenty to touch and the atmosphere makes children want to get involved with things, rather than keep quiet.” The Brixham Museum and History Society was founded in 1957 to “record, preserve and promote the story of our historic town and its people”. It started life in a pilchard press before moving to the first floor of two neighbouring cottages, where it hosted the collection of the National Fisheries Museum. It moved to its current premises in 1975, and in the subsequent decades added new elements to its collection, including documents and memorabilia from the Coastguard training school and the archive of the Brixham British Seamen’s Orphan Boys Home. Both museums are fascinating, passionate about engaging with young people, and hugely successful. It is this that makes them both very deserving winners.