The Brunel Museum
Thames Tunnel 1825-1843
http://www.brunel-museum.org.uk/
The Museum
Located in historic
Rotherhithe the Brunel Museum is on the site of the Thames Tunnel, the first
tunnel under a river anywhere in the world, and the only project which both
Brunels (father Marc and son Isambard ) worked on together .
London has strong associations
with the Brunels. Near Rotherhithe is the slipway down which the Great Eastern
was launched, and upriver from the Museum are Isambard’s Hungerford Bridge and
also Tower Bridge which Isambard’s son Henry worked on as a structural
engineer. A little further south is Crystal Palace where Isambard built the
water towers and in West London is Isambard’s most famous creation –
Paddington, the start of the Great Western Railway.
The Brunel Museum is housed
in Marc Brunel’s original Engine House, and features a fascinating exhibition
on the Thames Tunnel’s construction and history. The museum has a bookshop and
its own café serving coffee and home-made cakes.
The Museum is open from
10:00 to 17:00 seven days a week with frequent special events held throughout
the year, such as tours of the tunnel shaft (formerly the Grand Entrance Hall)
and guided tours in the Rotherhithe area. The Museum also hosts corporate
events including book launches, company Awaydays and other functions.
The Museum is a significant
resource for the local community, running playschemes in the summer holiday,
welcoming schools throughout the year as part of Key Stage 2 history and
hosting community events in the evening. The Museum also provides visiting
speakers to organisations throughout London.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2012
Remember there are evening
activities through the year:
Monday Yoga
Tuesday Thames Walk &
Descent of Shaft & late bar
Wednesday Creative Writing
Thursday Wine Women and Wool
or Music Recital or Vintage Film Club
March 23rd – 25th
Anniversary of Tunnel Opening Benefit Concert for Parkinson’s UK
May 18th The Anniversary of
First Inundation Museums at Night
June 9th-10th Open Garden
Squares Weekend Model train rides along Railway Avenue
July 4th Rotherhithe
Festival
Jul 23rd – Aug 3rd Summer
Playscheme & Tunnel Fancy Fair
Sept 8th/9th Thames Festival
Sept 22nd /23rd Open House
Weekend
Sept 27th-29th Brunel Tour
with ACE Cultural Tours London to Bristol, Tour Director: Robert Hulse
Sept 29th Illumini at
Shoreditch Town Hall Crypt, 9pm
Haunted Tunnel, Haunted
Ship: a talk by Robert Hulse
Sept 30th Illumini
Installation in Grand Entrance Hall
‘Six Men Dead, Six Hundred
Feet’
October 13th (prov) The Big
Draw Event
Nov 17,24 & Underwater
Christmas Descent of the Grand Entrance Hall
Dec 1,8,15,22 & Underwater Shopping
Experience