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Like most of our beloved cultural venues, the Horniman Museum has been shut since March, but it will finally reopen at the end of this month. The south-east London institution, which has lost around £150,000 per month in income from ticket sales, memberships, the shop and the café since its closure, will welcome back the public from Thursday July 30.
Social-distancing measures will be in place, with a one-way system throughout the galleries, and advanced booking of a free timed entry slot will be essential, even for members. Hand sanitisation stations will be dotted around exhibition halls and attractions, so expect to hear lots of ‘Happy Birthdays’ as you take in the Victorian architecture and flower gardens.
The paid-for ‘Permian Monsters’ exhibition has extended its run until January 3 2021, which gives us all plenty of time to fully geek out on fossils and other really old stuff. The show takes you back 252 million years to a pre-Jurassic age when some pretty strange beasts called the shots on planet Earth. Meet animatronic sabre-toothed predators and giant insects... if you dare.
The Horniman’s grounds have been open throughout lockdown, but expect them to be busier now with the arrival of museum visitors keen to enjoy the Medicine Garden, Prehistoric Garden, Sunken Garden and many other green spaces. The food market will be returning every Sunday to provide locals with fresh produce including fruit, vegetables, cheese, bread and meat. And Plonk mini golf nearby has been open and taking bookings since July 4. It’s a full family day out.
Tell the Horniman walrus we say hi. We’ve missed him.
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