City’s Pen Museum fails to draw in the crowds...
BIRMINGHAM’S Pen Museum was the city’s least-visited attraction last year – with fewer than people passing through the 6,500 doors.
Data from Visit Britain revealed just 6,276 people visited the Jewellery Quarter museum in 2017.
That was down from 7,315 visitors the year before and it means it is still the least-visited tourist attraction in the whole of Birmingham.
The museum, in Frederick Street,was opened in 2001, and is the only museum in the UK devoted to the history of the pen-making industry.
Soho House, the former home of industrialist Matthew Boulton, was the next least visited attraction in the city.
It saw 9,454 visitors over the course of the year, which was down from 11,231 in 2016.
Blakesley Hall, Sarehole Mill and Aston Hall completed the other five least-visited attractions, despite all seeing an increase in visitor numbers in the last year.
The most visited attraction in Bir- mingham was Mac Birmingham, in Edgbaston’s Cannon Hill Park, with 1.1 million visitors in 2017 – the same number as the year before.
It means the Mac had around 3,096 visitors for every day it was open last year, compared to the average 20 a day at The Pen Museum.
But nowhere in Birmingham came anywhere near the least visited attraction in Great Britain.
That dubious honour went to the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry Museum – a free attraction in London dedicated to the history of the British Army unit.
An estimated 40 people visited the museum in the whole of 2017 – though this may be because visitors have to arrange an appointment in advance to look around.
In comparison, the British Museum is the most visited attraction in the whole of Great Britain, with 5.9 million people going through its doors last year – although that was a drop from 6.4 million in 2016.
Birmingham Pen Museum costs £5 for adults, and is open from 11am to 4pm Tuesday to Saturday, and 1pm to 4pm on Sundays.