Walrus

I promise I am doing some work today! I did though pass near the wonderful Horniman Museum in Forest Hill today, so couldn't not go in - it really is one of south London's hidden gems, and one of my favourite ever museums. The museum started as the collection of Victorian tea magnate Frederick Horniman, and features cultural artefacts, musical instruments and natural history as the foundation of the collection, as well as an aquarium and extensive gardens. The walrus is a particularly iconic exhibit - when it was first obtained and brought to the UK in the late 1800s (I think it was) the British taxidermists had never seen a walrus before so didn't know about its natural rolls of fat. This walrus is therefore stuffed to bursting point as it sits proudly on its plastic iceberg.

I didn't stay as long as I'd have liked - I was trying to do some work-reading in the cafe, but it was absolutely full of people with young kids and the noise was something else! It's great though that it is a place where families come and bring their kids again and again, there's always something interesting to see and learn. They are also currently showing an exhibition on 'adorned bodies' as part of the London Cultural Olympiad which I found fascinating.