Monsters of the Deep exhibition at The Natural History Museum. Tickets from £15. 4/5 stars: Expect every trick in the book; massive computer animations, stamp trail (very addictive), life-sized skelingtons, trad squashed-bone plaster casts, genuine monster poo that you can TOUCH, colourful clear evolution diagrams, touch screen Q&As, floor2ceiling aquarium-effects.
Madeleine blending in with the local fauna in the Members’ area
I was joined by two budding reporters, Ivy and Sophia, aged 8, and harvested their reactions throughout the visit.
The main gallery with impressive multi-media displays
Firstly, we very nearly didn’t visit the Monsters at all, as Ivy was put off by the scary title. Afterwards she was glad we had persuaded her. ‘I was expecting 3D megalodons would come at me with their big jaws and give me nightmares, but it wasn’t anything like the title, it was just facts.’ Monsters of the Deep is a great title to get adventurers in the door, but for the more risk-averse? Over lunch we bandied about other titles: ‘Extinct Marine Reptiles’ seemed sensible, because they’re not monsters, they’re just looking for their next meal like us. Ivy: ‘We’re not monsters’. The curators would have to get rid of the survivors, like dolphins and turtles etc. Turtles certainly aren’t monsters.
Hazel sent the children off to find a fab fact and report back.
Ivy’s: ‘Liopleurodon had nerves in its mouth so it could feel the muscle movements of their prey, like a shark’.
Sophia’s: ‘A Japanese boy found a plesiosaur skeleton in the river bank near his home!!!’
The pièce de résistance in my view was the computer animation of the squashed brown ichthyosaur skelly hanging on the wall in the corridor just outside, the one we’ve all walked past for the last 40 years and not given the time of day. There it was suddenly growing some skin! twitching and stretching! peeling itself off the wall! yawning! and swimming off down the corridor. THAT should top it all off at the end of the final gallery.
After being spoiled with such submersive multi-media sensations, we went through a Victorian time-warp into the Crystal gallery, with varnished wooden cabinets as far as the eye could see. Sophia wanted to take the gems home, especially the Brazilian Topaz. Wouldn’t we all. They both loved choosing different gemstones for each day of the week. Ivy thought the crystal shelves in the corridor outside were too high for children to see the topmost exhibits.
The eye-popping Brazilian Topaz
It’s a great museum, not just for what it’s got, but for the conversations it triggers. We passed Guy the obese Gorilla who had been stuffed. Our companion Hazel felt sorry he had been taken out of Africa at all – it lead to a conversation about the rights and wrongs of zoos. On the subject of stuffed animals, Ivy was impressed by Darwin’s pigeons, how he made different breeds, what he called them, which he chose to mix; and wondered if there are still some in the wild today.
As we perched on a plinth in the shadow of Thomas Henry Huxley with our snacks, I read a quote of his; ‘For every man the world is as fresh as it was at the first day, and as full of untold novelties for him, who has the eyes to see them.’ This inspired me to ask the girls what animal they would study if they were biologists. Sophia chose oysters and Ivy human evolution ‘but I don’t want to touch the skulls’ she said, screwing up her face.
M: What other animals would you like to see?
I&S: ‘Cute stuff like capybaras (trending).’ ‘Rabbits.’ ‘Pandas.’
We are seriously lucky to have The NHM on our doorstep. The only downside is the crowds. The solution is Membership. We sped past the queues, got into the Deep exhibition for free and retreated to the members’ restaurant for lunch, making it less of a scrum and more of a pampering. The food is basic and good for children, but they also offer a unique High Tea to be booked in advance, with ammonite macarons for example, which pleased two love-birds no end.
The stamp card was attractive and the lever pressure good for children
Hi! I have a ‘portfolio’ lifestyle, jumping between mum, journalist, curator of my own museum, chauffeur, French tutor and carer. I love music, dance, theatre and dancing in the evenings, and helping others to enjoy life. I’ve been through the mill healthwise, along with my family, and am grateful for every day.
