Museum of everything

I wanted to visit James Brett's Museum of Everything in Primrose Hill back in 2009 but somehow by the time I got round to it, it had already closed! Finally, just a few days before the closing of the third exhibition, I managed to visit this super quirky and fascinating museum filled with distorted mirrors, taxidermic animals, photographs of midgets and a miniature fairground! It's hard to use words to describe this place, one has to come and experience it, so come before it closes again!

I didn't know what to expect before my visit and was quite surprised by the size of the museum because I was expecting it to be like a small town house! But what surprised me the most was its content: Sir Peter Blake's huge eye-opening art and curiosity collection! If you are someone into politically correctness, then you will be in for a shock. There are some disturbing displays here (i.e. Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter's collection), but they also reveal how times and societies have changed over the years. There are many extraordinary objects here but I am particularly fond of ex-serviceman Ted Willcox's tapestries esp. his version of Alice in Wonderland. However, I am sure like many others, my favourite part of the museum has to be ex-farmer and antique dealer, Arthur Windley's miniature fairground. It looks amazing as you enter the room but it's even more amazing when the show begins... everyone in the room just lit up and smiled as if they were children again... there is something magical here and it certainly brought some unexpected joy to a group of us on a rather grim and cold February afternoon...