Cartoon Museum

On the ground floor of this transformed former dairy, the cartoons are displayed chronologically, starting with the early eighteenth-century when high-society types back from the Grand Tour introduced the Italian practice of the caricatura to polite society. From Hogarth the displays move on to British cartooning's 'golden age' (1770-1830). 'Modern times' covers political wartime cartoons and social commentary produced between 1914 and 1961. The 'new satire' section ñ works published from 1961 onwards ñ includes Ralph Steadman, Steve Bell, Dave Brown, Matt and others. Downstairs the artists' names are immediately recognisable; upstairs ñ where comic strip art from 2000AD, the Dandy and the Beano is displayed ñ is much more about the characters portrayed: Rupert, Dan Dare, Judge Dredd... The Young Artists' Gallery is used to include underground work with a less 'authorised' feel, designed to appeal to younger audiences, and a workshop space hosts regular children's classes in the art of animation and claymation (see www.cartoonmuseum.org for details). The excellent shop is recommended, as is the library where ñ by appointment ñ you can search the catalogue of some 3,000 books.