A trip to the London Transport Museum

February is a month full of birthdays in my extended family. One this weekend and another the next. This of course means an excuses for celebrations, presents, cake and days out. This week was the turn of my boyfriends mother so I went up to London for a visit. 

Instead of a present I decided to go for some classic flowers. So I brought some and arranged the below bouquet - nice to bring some spring colours and smells into the house and don't they look lovely! Note to self must start investigating flower arranging as a future craft.

As our day out treat we decided to go to the London Transport Museum which I've wanted to go to for a long time. I'm a big fan of old travel posters (several already adorn my rooms at home). I've seen many examples whilst browsing the internet but it was lovely to see so many first hand at the museum. 

Here is a little selection of a few favourites.

What struck me most whilst wandering about was the history that the tube has seen over the last 150 years. I often feel that we take the London transport system for granted when we follow each other into the rat runs that lie beneath the city. Of course it's primary function is still to get millions of people from A to B, but we should remember that it has also seen us through two world wars and it's construction results from some amazing advances in technology. My favorite fact of the day was learning about how many of the tunnels were constructed using the "shield" designed by Brunel. This device allowed a number of men to dig out a small section of tunnel whilst being followed by those laying bricks around the tunnels edge. Once each stage was completed the shield would be jacked forwards a few more inches and the process would start all over again. Very slow work but it saved the lives of many men. 

So next time your are in London, if you get a chance, do head over the Transport Museum, get your fix of London history why climbing aboard old buses and tubes. If you don't get the chance simply take some time whilst wating on a tube platform to appreciate the feet of engineering the Undergroud system is and all the history that has travelled through those dark and mysterious tunnels.

Until next time

Em xoxo

NB. Photos on this post were taken on an iPad Air and a Samsung Galaxy S4 (so sorry if they are a bit fuzzy!). All the posters are property of the London Transport Museum and can be found in the museum collection. Reproduction of over 5000 prints can be purchased online in the museum shop.