The 24 Hour Museum is proud to present its favourite pictures of 2004. We snapped some and some were sent to us, and all capture special moments in the 24 HM year. Who can forget the bananas in Trafalgar Square? And what about that Victorian urinal!
Our kids’ zone, Show Me, has had such a brilliant first year that it’s been nominated for a BAFTA!
Well, it’s no wonder when the site brings under-12s stories as good as this one about tree frogs. Courtesy the Manchester Museum.
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It hasn’t all been good news here at the 24 Hour Museum — our home city has been slowly waving goodbye to one of its most dramatic landmarks.
Most of the West Pier, once a smart tourist attraction, has fallen into a watery grave. © 24 Hour Museum.
Speaking of which, this sad looking leather sole was caught in the Solent.
Retrieved in August from the site of the Mary Rose wreck, the artefact was a poignant reminder of the fate of her Tudor passengers.
And what a fate for Boris Johnson, who washed up in a new job as a virtual tour guide for the River and Rowing Museum, Henley!
Here he is feeling the sharp end of one of his favourite exhibits, a Bronze Age sword found in the Thames. Courtesy River and Rowing Museum, Henley.
Here’s a reminder of the days when a man was likely to feel a sharp chill while in the water closet, open to the elements.
Pretty stylish for a urinal, eh? Courtesy Crich Tramway Village.
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This Victorian urinal at Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire has been given the Virgin Trains Volunteers Award after being restored to full working order.
Also spruced up by enthusiasts, the Flying Scotsman steamed into the National Railway Museum in York back in May to open Railfest, a celebration of 200 years of steam transport.
The first locomotive in the world to officially travel at more than 100 miles per hour, she was lucky to be saved by Alan Pegler (pictured here) when British Railways were scrapping steam engines in the 1960s. © 24 Hour Museum.
The very first passenger journey by steam locomotive set off from Shildon, County Durham, in September 1825. In September 2004, Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon opened its doors to the public.
24 Hour Museum was there to get this shot of the Museum Head and the Sans Pareil in action. © 24 Hour Museum.
Back in 2003, an astonishing discovery was made in west London. An inspector from English Heritage ‘found’ a bridge designed by IK Brunel. In March 2004, work began on dismantling the structure to make way for a road development (read about it here).
Our intrepid deputy editor went along to catch some shots of the bridge in its original place. © 24 Hour Museum.
You shouldn’t feed the pigeons, but feeding the tourists is art! Read the story.
Our editor snapped this pile of fruit in Trafalgar Square before it all disappeared. Artist Doug Fishbone let his 30,000 Bananas sculpture be dismantled on the same day as it was constructed. © 24 Hour Museum.
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Challenging concepts of art is one of the specialities of this bunch – the Stuckists. 24 HM’s own Richard Moss went to meet the anti-establishment group at their major show, Punk Victorian, at the Liverpool Biennial in September.
Click here to find out what Mr Moss thought of it all. © 24 Hour Museum.
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Goodness knows what Florence Nightingale would have made of punk, but she dearly loved her pet.
Pet Victorian. © 24 Hour Museum.
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Athena the owl was once a close companion of the lady with the lamp, but the Florence Nightingale Museum in London must raise funds quickly to purchase the embalmed bird for its collection.
No embalmed bodies (or birds) were found, but there was a fuss when these nails were unearthed, signalling a possible Viking boat burial.
The boat nails were just part of a hoard dating from the ninth century AD, discovered in Yorkshire and put on display at Yorkshire Museum in February 2004.
A fire on the Yorkshire Moors gave rise to a 4000-year-old find.
This rock carving is thought to be unique in England and was left where it was found after being digitally scanned for archaeological analysis.
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Another exciting find was a pot of Roman ‘make-up’.
Pale and interesting… Scientists analysed the contents of this small tin, uncovered near a Roman temple complex in Southwark, to find that it was probably white face paint. Courtesy Museum of London.
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Ancient make-up proves that looking the part has been important for millennia, and the National Trust made an unusual request in February to make sure its Birmingham Back to Backs looked authentic. It was on the lookout for glass eyes.
Here's looking at you. These eyes were possibly made in Liverpool and acquired by Henry Wellcome before 1936. © Wellcome Library, London.
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If those little balls of glass look strange, what about these stone spheres all bundled up in knitted cosies?
November saw Bradford’s Cartwright Hall get wrapped up all warm with knitted cosies on its stone spheres. Courtesy Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
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Looks like Captain Scott’s pals need all the woollies they can get in this last picture — just one of the photos taken during Scott’s expedition to the Antarctic between 1910 and 1912. For more images from the collection, click here.
The negatives have been purchased for the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. © Herbert Ponting.
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Well, that’s another year wrapped up and what a year it’s been. Who knows what’s in store for 2005 — excavated Roman shopping malls and vegetable sculptures on the Tyne Bridge, perhaps? Rest assured, the 24 Hour Museum will be there to fill you in if either of those things happen!
