Sunday 1 September 2013

A Grand Day Out at Bristol City Museum

Newshound Gromit 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.

Lucas with Gizmo Gromit, part of Gromit Unleashed
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?

Surf, skate and snow board shop with cool graffiti advertising, Bristol

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
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, part of Gromit Unleashed
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-up pictures of Wallace and Gromit from the Newshound statue
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 the Bristol Boxkite plane
Replica of Bristol Boxkite plane
Fossilised plesiosaur wall hanging, Bristol City Museum
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 Dodo, Bristol City Museum
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 museum staircases
Carved stone lions guard the staircases
Back downstairs in the lobby we found an immense Chinese bell, cast from bronze, which was absolutely beautiful.
Large Chinese bronze bell, Bristol City Museum
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

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14 comments

  1. That looks so cool! I love Wallace and Gromit and didn't know you could find them huuuge in a museum! :-D

    Becky x

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Becky! We've had a summer-long art trail of giant Gromit statues in Bristol this summer. There's 80 of them--just finished finding them all today--and they'll be auctioned off at the end of September to raise money for the Children's Hospital. It's been SO much fun finding them all!

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  2. Great photos! The museum looks really cool and your son is super cute! :)

    heyniki.wordpress.com

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    1. Thanks, Niki! I think he's pretty cute, too, but I'm biased :)

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  3. Aw looks like such a fun day out!<3

    http://lameyy.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Thanks, Lamey! I'm pretty fond of museums and a kid's enthusiasm makes everything more fun!

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  4. This looks so fun and Lucas looks so happy! Also I love the Wallace and Gromit pieces!

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    1. Lucas was utterly thrilled to see Newshound. Mind you, he's generally super-excited when we go out for the day :)

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  5. Oh, I wish I could go here! A little far for us, but maybe someday. Awesome photos and recap.

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    1. Yes, definitely a little far to come from America! (Although, the Gromit Unleashed trail has apparently had people flying in from as far away as Singapore to see all the Gromits!) Thanks for the lovely words xx

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  6. oh my god a big fat yesss to the W&G exhibition, gosh I'd love to go to this! x

    The Little Things

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    1. There's going to be an exhibition for a few days at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol where all 80 Gromits will be on display together. It's between the 18th and 22nd of September if you fancied making a Gromit pilgrimage!

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  7. Great pictures! Newshound Gromit is fab with all his headlines :-)
    I remember going to the musuem several times when I was at school but apart from bagging the two Gromits, I haven't been back for a good 15-20 years. Think a visit to the museum is long long overdue :-) x

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Louisa! I suspect the main exhibits at the museum haven't changed much--they still have the old Romany caravan from Dave's childhood--but they have some lovely travelling exhibitions with pieces borrowed from the British Museum and the like xx

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