A Grand Day Out at Bristol City Museum

Lucas with Newshound Gromit

The Bristol City Museum has always been one of Lucas's favourite places to go.  Dinosaurs, need I say more?  This summer it was even more enticing as it had not one, but two giant Gromits visiting for Gromit Unleashed, so I took Lucas there as soon as I could to claim them!

We stopped in at Gromit Unleashed HQ to claim Gizmo, who had been painted by Sir Quentin Blake.  Lucas loves his Mister Magnolia book and I've always been quite fond of his illustrations of Roald Dahl's books, particularly in The Twits.

Gizmo meets Luca

We then continued to walk up the hill toward the museum, passing some lovely little gift shops and art galleries as we went.  On the way there we saw this lovely piece of graffiti--you're left in no doubt about what the shop below sells, right?

As Park Row turns into Queen's Road, you pass the Wills Memorial Building.  I've driven past it loads of time, but since we were on foot and it was a lovely sunny day, we paused to have a quick look.  The neo gothic tower is an imposing sight as you climb the hill and its recent sandblasting makes it easy to see the gorgeous carvings around the main door.

Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol

As we entered the museum we spotted Tutan Gromit I, who was kind enough to pose for a picture with Lucas.  This is a beautifully painted Gromit, but a bit tricky to photograph well as the sun was pouring in behind him.

Tutan Gromit I

Just upstairs in the foyer of the museum is Newshound Gromit, by Nick Park, the creator of Wallace and Gromit.  This is the only statue on the Gromit Unleashed trail to feature Wallace and it was lovely to see them together.

Close-ups of Wallace and Gromit

After marvelling at the sheer number of headline puns that Wallace had plastered all over Gromit, we wandered around the museum happily for a couple of hours.  It's been a few years since I've visited the museum, so it was nice to reacquaint myself with all of its treasures.  These are some of my favourites.

Replica of Bristol Boxkite plane

Fossilised plesiosaur wall hanging, Bristol City Museum

It always pays to look up in an old building.  While craning my neck to look at the Bristol Boxkite replica earlier, I spotted that there were a series of carved reliefs lining the second floor of the lobby atrium.  Each bore the name of a famous artist; Reubens has always been my favourite artist, so here's a picture of his one.

Reubens relief, carved on the museum wall

I loved the replica or imagining of the Dodo.  Such an ungainly bird, and such a shame that all those sailors ate it into extinction.  It must have been delicious!  We couldn't help thinking of Polly from Aardman's "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!" which was a rollicking good film.

Replica of a Dodo

All the main staircases in the museum were guarded by a pair of carved stone lions.  Look at his magnificent mane!

Carved stone lions guard the staircases

Back downstairs in the lobby we found an immense Chinese bell, cast from bronze, which was absolutely beautiful.

Bronze Chinese bell

With one last look at Newhound Gromit and Tutan Gromit I,  we stepped back into the blazing sunshine.  'Twas a grand day out, indeed.

Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery
Queen's Road
Bristol
BS8 1RL