Looking at dead animals for fun

We went to Tolson Museum yesterday. I’ve been meaning to go with Amy for a while now, we even got as far as the door once but it was closed for strike action (you don’t generally think of museum curators as militant union members but there you go). I am reliably informed that as a child I used to regularly demand to visit, mainly as a consequence of my fascination with its large collection of stuffed birds. I certainly can remember spending long periods of time staring in wonder at display cases featuring scenes from nature acted out by glassy eyed eagles, crows, and seagulls. In my memory the room was vast but, as is usually the case with these things, in reality the collection is relatively modest. I remember having a similar realisation of the effects of changing perceptions when I returned to my primary school for a visit and was amazed at how low the urinals were.

Amy wasn’t as enthralled by the birds as I once was, but perhaps she is still a little young to truly appreciate the marvel that is tatty and faded stuffed dead animals from the early 1920s. It probably didn’t help that I had forgotten that the collection was only birds and that I had answered “maybe” to her question about if there were going to be any tigers. Amy is quite sensibly terrified of tigers and spent much of our visit demanding to be carried in case they ate her toes.

All and all we had a good time. It was free to get in which is always a bonus, and as far as I could tell we were the only visitors so I didn’t feel compelled to keep Amy quiet. She enjoyed playing with a giant microscope and looking at some of the bigger exhibits like the tractor and horse drawn carriage, while I proved that middle age is almost upon me by finding the model of the iron age fortress on Castle Hill absolutely fascinating.

Another place to add to my “Things To Do” list I think.