Dimbola Museum & Galleries — Attraction in Freshwater

Absolute shocking shambles.

We came here based on the advertising board just down the road, promising us a “friendly welcome and great food” We got neither … It appeared busy when we arrived but we soon realised that this was actually just the impression being created by several fussy rather unfriendly women flapping about but achieving very little. Everything was simply too much effort - including a smile or greeting. No sign yet of this friendly welcome - maybe that’s Monday to Saturday only? Coffee arrived, lukewarm, having been prepared by a young lad who looked, much as we did by this point, as if he’d much rather be somewhere (anywhere) else. Waitresses (although I think this is being generous) racing about, bumping into each just created a very unwelcoming atmosphere. The “great food”? Well, we can only take their word for it as they managed to lose our order: one cheese sandwich seemingly pushed all 6 staff over the edge and beyond their capabilities. After a long wait and no food the waitress initially didn’t seem to believe we hadn’t received our order but finally Informed us that “the order never even made it to the kitchen”. I’m not surprised, it probably blew out through the front door which was repeatedly left open by the staff.

Dreadful service and bad tempered staff who, from the rude hand gestures they were making behind each other’s backs, clearly dislike each other as much as they dislike customers. Seems to be run by a chaotic bunch more at home running a church cake stall than a commercial venture. Not so much a case of “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” but more a disorganised, chaotic mess run by a bunch of cowboys. Some basic training in customer service is needed all round here. I notice other customer reviews referring to the poor service and lack of friendliness; the response from the owners was that it must have been a busy day. Maybe they should amend the sign to “friendly welcome during quiet periods only”. I’d be minded to ignore any good reviews as no customer, when we were in, looked remotely satisfied and several were having the same issues as us. Avoid this place unless you really are desperate and even then I’d...

I visited Dimbola straight after doing the house tour at Farringford (just up the road towards Moons Hill, the former home of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who of course was poet laureate for a large portion of the 19th century). I'm glad I did, because Dimbola's owner, the renowned portrait photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, was a friend of Tennyson and his family and photographed them and members of his circle, including the great and the good of Victorian literary, artistic and scientific society. I recommend that anyone interested in Tennyson, Cameron or the intellectual life of Freshwater in the second half of the C19th do the same and visit Farringford and then Dimbola.

See my review of Farringford. As for Dimbola, it's excellent but there is one thing they should look at improving, which is the text in the displays, explaining Cameron's life and work. In places there are obvious mistakes, sentences with gaps or repetitions, and in at least two places there are examples where (presumably) visitors have amended the text. In particular the text which accompanies Cameron's photo of Charles Darwin, the word 'evolution' has been amended so that it reads 'evaluation' An example of fundamentalist creationist vandalism perhaps?

But don't let these minor issues put you off. The museum is wonderful, showcasing the important work Cameron did in the early days of photography....

Dimbola lodge cafe review- not the museum!

Without a doubt the worst cafe experience I have ever had- hilariously bad!

Ridiculously slow service- we had to get up and find someone to clean our table, bring us menus, take our order etc despite the cafe being half full and there being plenty of waitresses. After an age (and prompting), half our lunch arrived. When we asked for the other half, 15 minutes later an absolute monstrosity was delivered- a salmon and mustard panini. SALMON AND MUSTARD. I had asked for ham and mustard, and instead they brought me this despite it not being on their menu.

Maybe this should have been on their menu. The other options were nearly as ghastly, e.g. microwaveable pizzas (chicago town I believe). Not cheap either.

The disaster contined. They brought us tea with no milk. We asked for milk. They brought us an empty jug. Hmm...

I had to queue some time at the kitchen door behind other angry customers in order to get the bill (despite there being supposed table service- most of the waitresses were just hiding in the kitchen). When I finally got to the front, they had lost the bill- and had no recollection of our lunch. I wish I was similarly able to erase this experience from...