Trip to London

Last week I went down to London for the day. Firstly to visit the Science Museum at South Kensington, to see the Flight Gallery and specifically the Spitfire and Hurricane display. There was a disappointing amount of information about the construction of the planes - it was limited to one board. I also found the gallery to be so dark that it was very difficult to see the planes themselves. As a result I only took two photographs.

I then went on to the Imperial War Museum. It had been many years since I last paid a visit and I was very impressed with the space and presentation of the themed displays. It was packed with visitors too.

There was a gallery entitled 'A Family in Wartime' which used the experiences of one London family to explore the wider issues of the home front during the Second World War. There were photos and films of factories of the period.

Of specific interest was a painting entitled 'Building Spitfires' by Norman Wilkinson. There was no indication whether this was at Castle Bromwich however. The Museum book shop had several books on the Spitfire, but none made anything but a passing reference to its construction at Castle Bromwich and those who worked there.

In another area of the museum were the remains of a Japanese Zero fighter. The thin aluminium skin was torn and severely damaged, but the rivets and previous repairs could also been clearly seen, giving a real sense of its construction.