Every year on The Daily Constitutional, as the high season for visitors to London hots up, I spend August sharing a few archive posts. This year I'm reposting recommendations from our If You Do One Other Thing In London slot (a regular feature of our Saturday London Spy posts) and updated posts from the Best Museums In London series, in which the London Walks guides shared their best London museum tips.
If theres' a London Walks tour starting or ending nearby I'll add the details at the bottom of each post. I hope you find these posts helpful over the course of the summer.
Keep in touch - I'm not going into hiding! - I'll be posting throughout August and, of course, I'll see many of you "out there" on London Walks tours. All of our regular features – and some new ones, too – will return in September.
A.S-G London, August 2016
Visit the London Canal Museum.
Great setting, excellent for children (cheap, too - £2 for kids), the London Canal Museum is a perfect example of one of our so-called "hidden" museums. The Canal Museum may not attract as much publicity as the big guys at the BM and the National Gallery, but it's a little gem. Great venue too - I once attended a lovely wedding here…
Here's what they've got to say for themselves…
At the London Canal Museum you can see inside a narrowboat cabin, learn about the history of London's canals, about the cargoes carried, the people who lived and worked on the waterways, and the horses that pulled their boats. Peer down into the unique heritage of a huge Victorian ice well used to store ice imported from Norway and brought by ship and canal boat to be stored.
This unique waterways museum is housed in a former ice warehouse built in about 1862-3 for Carlo Gatti, the famous ice cream maker, and features the history of the ice trade and ice cream as well as the canals.
There are two themes in this unusual London museum. London's canals have a fascinating past and you will learn not only how they came to be built but about the lives of the workers, the cargoes, horses and how canals work. We are a waterways museum first and foremost, but also an industrial museum telling the story of the ice industry in London.
It is the only London museum of inland waterways and is situated at King's Cross, an accessible central location. It is suitable for adults and children and it is fully accessible to all visitors.
12-13 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RT. Tel: 020 7713 0836
Adult £4.00 Child £2.00 Senior £3.00 Student £3.00 Unwaged £3.00 Family £10.00 Trust Members & Museums Association members £2.00
www.canalmuseum.org.uk
The Canal Museum is open from 1000 to 1630. Late opening until 1930 on the first Thursday of each month. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
Click here for info on London Walks canal walks. A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession.
Accompanied Children Under 15 go FREE.
To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
