Reading in Lewisham's Parks - Horniman Gardens

By Tim Connolly from Lewisham Branch

 

As children, my family would make frequent visits to the iconic Horniman museum and gardens. We would take the 185 bus from Camberwell Green, on a trip that seemed to take forever.
During the summer holidays, a trip to Horniman was pretty much guaranteed (mainly as a way of getting 4 kids out of the house and giving Mum some peace and quiet). We’d always take a packed lunch and our favourite books.

  

Horniman Flower Garden, picture by Tim

 

 

Entry for Frederick Horniman in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Our lunch was pretty much the same every time; cheese and pickle sandwiches, a club chocolate biscuit, an apple, satsuma and a packet of Golden Wonder crisps and some highly calorific supermarket lemonade that was so fizzy your eyes would water and a competition for the loudest burp would induce mass giggles.

Seen through a child’s eyes, there was always something macabre and exotic about the exhibits. Taxidermy, shrunken heads, poison darts – the collection could be creepy and bizarre and ghoulish, but always fascinating.

 

 

 

Tim's picture of an enclosure

 

We would spend hours staring at the stuffed animals, where a carefully placed hand on the shoulder would make you jump out of your skin.
 When hunger and tired legs got the better of us we’d head out into daylight and stuff our faces, while taking in the amazing view of Saint Paul’s Cathedral. It seems tiny nowadays in comparison to the Shard, Walkie Talkie and Gherkin.
With full bellies there was always time for reading.
We’d carefully select a book that wasn’t too heavy for those long journeys, and there were 2 reliable choices: Asterix (48 pages) and Tintin (64 pages) which we got from out local library.

 

 

  

Asterix was always a family favourite, and ‘Asterix in Britain’ always raised a smile with its depiction of overly-apologetic Brits.

 Asterix introduces tea to the British, whose favourite drink until then had been warm milk with hot water, or warm beer (bitter).

The Brits believe they are drinking Getafixe’s magic potion giving them the confidence to repel the Roman invaders. 

 

Asterix in Britain from Lewisham Libraries

 

 

Horniman Flower Gardens, picture by Tim

  

When the book had been read from cover to cover, (especially to see what mishap had befallen on Cacofonix the Bard) we would take time to admire the flower garden before heading back into the museum.
And what of the museum some 40 years on? It’s still as fascinating as ever. Hopefully it will reopen as planned on the 17th of May, re-emerging from lockdown.
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I strongly recommend a visit, and suggest a full day to take it all in; the museum, gardens and newer additions such as the aquarium, butterfly house and Monkey Business exhibition. And don’t miss out on the Alpacas who have very cool haircuts which match their aloof demeanour.

Here’s a link to the Horniman website  which will confirm which exhibits will re-open on the 17th – check beforehand to avoid disappointment. Don’t forget to bring a packed lunch, and a good book!