Enid Blyton Museum Piece

[Katharine]

Yesterday I visited the Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth. I found it's mix of exhibits very interesting, however I was stunned by one display near the end. After looking at fossilised mammoth teeth, broken Roman pottery, and a recreation of the houses in Yarmouth from the Victorian era, I was confronted with a display of toys and memorabilia from the 1960s - 1980s. There on one of the shelves was paperback FF book, with TV cover.

Noooooooooooooooooooo I'm not old enough for my childhood to be in a museum!

[Courtenay]

How do you think I felt recently when I visited the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green and saw toys I grew up with in the 1980s and '90s on display as museum pieces??

[Katharine]

Ha ha, glad I not the only one then.

I must get to visit that museum, it sounds lovely, and Bethnall Green isn't that far from here.

[Courtenay]

It is lovely, Katharine. You can even see the first-ever "Golliwogg" there, and a very smart and handsome toy he is! The label on him warns that he's a racist stereotype, of course, but if I had had him when I was little, I would have thought he was a toy to be proud of.

One thing from my own childhood that I did find heartwarming to see was a musical toy train identical to the one we had when I was a baby - it runs along the floor (battery-powered) and plays nursery rhymes from little plastic "records" that slot into the top of the engine. I used to love that. Happy memories, although a little sad to see it sitting forever on a shelf behind glass instead of entertaining children like it should!

[Katharine]

Ouch, I've just looked at the train fare - £45 return. My mother, daughter and I went to Great Yarmouth yesterday for much less that that. I don't think I'll be planning a family outing to Bethnal Green.

[Courtenay]

Ooh, yuck. Well, it's worth keeping in mind anyway - you might find a way to combine it with a trip to London for other purposes. Also worth using a site like thetrainline.com to look for cheap tickets. If you book several weeks in advance, sometimes there are very cheap seats going. I recently managed to book an advance ticket from Swanley (Kent) to St Austell (Cornwall) for £23.50 - the usual price is over £100!!

[Rob Houghton]

I hope they had a 'Troll' figure or a 'Cabbage Patch' doll in the museum with a label on it explaining they are also racist stereotypes?

[Katharine]

I think there were 3 trolls and a Cabbage Patch kid - didn't notice any labels though.

[Stephen]

I've been to the Museum of Childhood twice now. Wonderful, fascinating place that both brings back the memories and also is very educational about things you didn't know. I was especially pleased to find an old red locomotive that I used to own but had actually forgotten all about until seeing it there!

One thing from my own childhood that I did find heartwarming to see was a musical toy train identical to the one we had when I was a baby - it runs along the floor (battery-powered) and plays nursery rhymes from little plastic "records" that slot into the top of the engine. I used to love that. Happy memories, although a little sad to see it sitting forever on a shelf behind glass instead of entertaining children like it should!

My brother had one of those. He used to drive us crazy with it!

[Moonraker]

Yesterday I visited the Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth.

I hope you weren't late.

[Katharine]