Hi there! Welcome to the Museum Walker blog page!
My name is Ian Wilson and I've started this blog as a means of converting my recorded journeys around the museums of the United Kingdom from paper to webtext. I am hoping that, in time, this will expand to something bigger, but for now I will explain what's going to be happening with this blog for the time being.
Since the beginning of 2008, I have wanted to turn my somewhat unused degree in History into something practical, which began my road towards an MA in Museum Studies. To prepare for this - in addition to working for 18 months to fund it - I started visiting museums. Now I have spent most of my life going to museums, but the difference this time around was that I would write up my visit afterwards in a green hardbacked book (which I would later christen "The Green Book"). Initially I did it as a means of having some kind of record of material to work from when I finally got to university, but it became a means of visiting friends who had moved away to most every corner of Britain, as well as providing me with a number of weekend breaks between working. And when I finally got back to university, I didn't stop.
What is going to follow is the electronic form of the entries in my three museum journals, which is aimed at describing the site, the collections housed within it and how they are presented. If you want additional details of on-site refreshments, toilets or opening hours, I suggest you look at the site's website (which the entries will link to) or the Culture24 website. Some entries will be slightly outdated, but the date of the original visit will be provided for context and, where possible, I will add in separate updates if I have made a subsequent visit to the site and can report on any changes since the initial visit. In time, I'm hoping to get more people on board to collaborate, so that this blog can extend and offer a wider to guide to museums across the country, and maybe even overseas! Still, one step at a time....
If you have been to any of the museums or visitor attractions that appear on this blog, it would be great if you could leave a comment for that post to make your opinion known on either the site or how it has been written up.
I reckon that's enough of an introduction. Please let me know what you think of this blog once it gets off the ground as all feedback will be appreciated. Well, within reason obviously!
Enjoy the site!
Ian
